A beautiful marriage between a fantastic voice and an amazing symphonic orchestra
Disadvantages:
none
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
First of all, may I point out that the title of this album is "11 Episodios Sinfónicos" (11 Symphonic Episodes) and not "Sinfónicas".
Gustavo Cerati is one of the biggest names in Latin American rock music, a huge name indeed, and as such, this album surprised a lot of people when it first came out, or rather, before it even came out. It was a live recording of a show, which originally, was not meant to turn into a CD. But its quality, originality and success led to the decision of releasing it as both a CD and DVD (of the same title).
Cerati is renowned for experimenting with new rhythms, instruments and styles, but "11 Episodios Sinfónicos" was totally different, as it was recorded (after extreme rehearsals) with an entire symphonic orchestra, and consisted of a set of 11 songs in total: 4 from his career as a solo artist ("Bocanada", "A Merced", "Raíz" and "Verbo Carne") and 7 from his previous career with Soda Stereo (all the remaining songs on the album).
All the songs have been, in Gustavo's words "re-written" in a symphonic language (with the talented and extensive involvement of Alejandro Terán, the man who directed the orchestra but describes himself as a director "without an academic formation"), and indeed, he has changed the form in which he sings them, to match the mutation of each song.
The pristine and warm voice of Gustavo Cerati and the well studied symphonic arrangements of the songs make this a very enjoyable CD to listen to. Trained ears will be able to take pleasure in discerning little conversations between the instruments, and between Gustavo's voice and the instruments.
Gustavo Cerati will never be able to fully shed his skin as the singer of his former and extremely successful band "Soda Stereo"; wherever he goes and at all his concerts, he is literally begged by his public to sing songs of Soda, and he always complies.
However, his reputation, and more importantly, his strength and merit as an artist in his own right has clearly been established in the whole of Latin America, and for connoisseurs, in many other countries of the world as well.
It is often said that Soda Stereo "revolutionised" Latin American rock, and indeed they did, but one must bear in mind that Gustavo Cerati was from the very beginning, the composer of pretty much all of Soda Stereo's songs and the writer of all their beautiful lyrics (with very few exceptions). He is undoubtedly the brain and creative talent behind Soda Stereo's triumph, and although hidden behind Soda's name for so long, Cerati has been, in actual fact, the instigator and mastermind of this "revolution"!
The enchantment of Gustavo Cerati lies not only in his genius as a composer, but in his constant willingness and eagerness to experiment new forms of music making; to explore new musical dimensions, without ever losing the special spark that is his unmistakeable mark of quality.
"11 Episodios Sinfónicos" was a challenge that Cerati had the personality and boldness to set himself and get through, despite a lot of criticism, as often happens with artists who dare to move away from what has been labelled as their "norm". This in itself is an achievement I applaud.
The elegance of Cerati's voice goes very well with the symphonic music. A hurdle to get through in the case of fans of this artist, was "accepting " the utter transformation of some songs, which were serious rock songs, into melodious symphonic hymns. But anyone with enough sensitivity and open-mindedness to the many facets of musical delights, should find it easy to slide into the fluid-like charm of this metamorphosis, and indeed many have.
After all, real music lovers do not feel the necessity to stick a label on the "sort of music they like", but rather are capable of enjoying any music which is beautifully composed and constructed.
In the same way that a real artist has the potential and often the need to dive into the ocean of music and create compositions that touch upon and reflect the many hues and wonders of this diverse world.
If anyone is interested, here are some of Cerati's releases as a solo artist:
"Amor Amarillo" "Colores Santos" (with Daniel Melero) "Bocanada" "Siempre es Hoy" "Reversiones" (Remixes of songs from "Siempre es Hoy", perfect for a dance party or a rave) "Canciones Elegidas" (A collection of some of his own favourite songs from the albums above)
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Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Outstanding
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