Ayre / Folk Songs

MARBECKS STAFF SURPRISE DISCOVERY OF THE YEAR 2006

"An astounding disc, and a photo-finish for Disc of the Month. Golijov's Ayre is the overwhelming reason to buy this: it's an intoxicating, endlessly haunting mixture of styles and musical cultures - deeply infused with the tuneful melancholy of Jewish Klezmer music. Dawn Upshaw, Golijov's muse, whoops and croons like a force of nature. Too gishing? Okay, the Berio isn;t in the same class, but buy it anyway."
Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine March 2006

Osvaldo Golijov, one of the most exciting and unique personalities in contemporary music, begins his collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon with the album Ayre (pronounced 'eye-rah').

His works merge Eastern and Western classical influences and meld them with Mediterranean folklore. The explosive power of Golijov's art derives from the fact that Golijov has always used it to reflect his triple exile - from his roots in Eastern Europe, from his Jewish heritage, and now from his native Argentina.

Golijov's debut album features his own song cycle, Ayre , and Luciano Berio's Folk Songs , both interpreted by the celebrated soprano Dawn Upshaw. Golijov says that he 'saw a rainbow' when first realized the nuance of colour in Upshaw's voice and Ayre gives her the chance to demonstrate the breadth of her vocal range.

Golijov notes that he has long felt a connection to the music of Luciano Berio, and Ayre is scored for an ensemble similar to Berio's. Golijov also incorporates the accordion and ronroco (an Argentinian variant of the charango, a South American fretted lute) as well as the laptop, which Golijov regards as a 21st-century folk instrument.

In addition to its classical roots, the album is tinged with world music sounds and stars, including Gustavo Santaolalla, who wrote two of the songs on the album, and the Arab superstar Fairouz. Miles Davis's 'Sketches of Spain' is the inspiration for the final song on the album, and the Klezmer-tinged clarinet solos throughout Ayre were inspired by the world's most acclaimed Klezmer innovator, David Krakauer.

Golijov's multifaceted oeuvre will attract connoisseurs and a wider 'arthouse' audience, as well as anyone interested in exploring new acoustic and emotional worlds with this extraordinary listening experience.