Music and Words
Music and Words
- by Geert van Boxtel click for complete review (in Dutch) >”Without a doubt, the performance of Monica Germino – for whom Annie Gosfield wrote a piece – was impressive. Long Waves and Random Pulses was inspired by radio waves from the Second World War, sounds which functioned as the basis for Gosfield’s solo violin composition. With her violin, Germino searched for the frequencies of the reproduced radio waves – with the suggestion that her sounds were plucked from the air on the spot as a result. The romantic-leaning, striking passages sometimes reminded one of a Beethoven sonata, which at some time between 1940 and 1945 undoubtably would have filled the airwaves with hope and expectation. Gosfield also writes screaming, howling passages, like the screams that filled many a European city in that time period. The piece was a striking tribute to the radio waves of times long gone, a world of sound that harbored and concealed so much – and much long forgotten.”
Feast of Music (NY, USA):
After the NYC premiere of plugged & unplugged:
For complete article: www.feastofmusic.com
‘an extraordinary musician’
‘…it was when her voice kicked in on top that her astonishing range was revealed’
‘Playing a stringed instrument while singing is a bit like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time. Only harder. …an extraordinary musician who managed to pull off that double feat with grace and ability…the solo violinist Monica Germino at Le Poisson Rouge, performed a program of works for electric and acoustic violin, most never before heard in New York. Germino, an American who has lived in Amsterdam for the past decade, has been a muse for a number of European composers, among them Heiner Goebbels, Louis Andriessen, and Jacob TV, all of whom have written works for her. Throughout her set, she employed a series of pedals and processors that made her acoustic squeal like a Fender (Goebbels’ Bagatellen) and her electric roar like heavy machinery (Michael Gordon’s Industry.) But, it was when her voice kicked in on top that her astonishing range was revealed. At times, she would sing and play a repeating theme (Nick Williams’ HELL), while at others (Andriessen’s “Song” from Xenia), her voice and playing followed along completely different paths.’
-by Peter Matthews
LondonJazz (UK):
Spitalfields Summer Festival, Bishopsgate Institute, London, UK The Night of the Unexpected, curated by Roland Spekle and Ed McKeon. Artists: Han Bennink; Monica Germino & Frank van der Weij; Evan Parker & Joel Ryan; Philip Jeck; Stewart Lee, Tania Chen & Steve Beresford; Scanner; Trinity Laban Chamber Choir & Contemporary Music Group and video installation from onedotzero.
‘Monica Germino, working with sound artist Frank van der Weij on pieces by Gordon and Dennehy, accentuated and manipulated the wirey, metallic qualities of her violin with dramatic flair in concentrated live interactions with her complex, painstakingly constructed pre-recorded tracks.’
‘The concept of The Night of the Unexpected is rooted in the adventurous, the exceptional and the unpredictable. Programmes like this have been featured annually since 2003 at Amsterdam’s Paradiso, and take the form of an uninterrupted flow of musical performances […] ‘…modernist classics by Cage, Andriessen and Gorecki, saw scintillating improvisations by jazz masters Han Bennink and Evan Parker, and wavered into electronic and acoustic interventions by Scanner, Philip Jeck and violinist Monica Germino.’ -by Geoff Winston
for the complete review: http://londonjazz.blogspot.nl
Trouw (NL):
“As a magical central point, violinist Monica Germino leads the spectator through the choreography… Germino’s presence is inescapable. Her electric violin sounds are truly bewitching.”
“Amplified violinist Monica Germino performed elegant rock by Michael Gordon with power and precision…”
“The Second Violin Sonata of Charles Ives was brilliantly interpreted by violinist Monica Germino…”
De Telegraph (NL):
“Jacob ter Veldhuis composed a solo for Monica Germino, who drew long, plaintive tones and piercing outbursts from her powerfully amplified electric violin, alongside a soundtrack of indefinable sounds…The violinist is the central figure on stage. She breathes life into the dancers with her notes and summons the memories in them to wake. She leads, inspires, manipulates.”
AllMusic (USA):
click for complete review
“Violinist Monica Germino plays expansively and with beautiful tone in the rock- and new age-tinged Suites of Lux, for electronic violin and soundtrack, the largest work on the album. -by Stephen Eddins
The Independent (UK):
“…an astoundingly good performance (from London Sinfonietta and director Oliver Knussen). Guest violinist Monica Germino excelled…”
Stringendo Magazine (Australia):
“American/Dutch violinist Monica Germino is a frighteningly-talented young soloist…the Andriessen concert was sensational, Monica was fabulous, and the performances that night were easily the highlight of the festival.”
De Volkskrant (NL):
“…violinist Monica Germino delivered an outstanding performance with her transparent solos and tender accompaniment figures…”
Dance Europe (UK): “The violinist Monica Germino performed the music on stage with much passion, almost dancing her way through syncopated sections, and keeps drawing near to the dancers… At the close of the piece she ends up alone on stage, softly repeating the last notes of the music…”
The Observer (UK): “…no problems with Monica Germino’s violin, sometimes accompanying the voice in wild obbligatos, at other moments moaning darkly to itself.”
General-Anzeiger Bonn (Germany): “…a moving machinery of percussion, two grand pianos, bass- and contrabass clarinets agitates hearts… Cristina Zavalloni (voice) and Monica Germino (violin) were the soloists who since the first performance have performed the piece ‘blind’ – from memory – with supreme conviction.”
Brisbane City Paper (Australia): “We were treated to the first (Australian) performance of Passaggiata, featuring Zavalloni’s voice and the searing non-vibrato violin of Monica Germino, crisscrossing big brush-stroke long notes with saxes and brass…”
The Classical Source (UK): “…the intertwining of charismatic violinist Monica Germino and ‘chanteuse’ Cristina Zavalloni…”
Courier Mail (Australia): “Impressive performance of violinist Monica Germino in Andriessen’s ‘Passeggiata’…”
Financial Times (UK): “…La Passione, a double concerto for amplified violin and chanteuse…Monica Germino and Cristina Zavalloni were bewitching interpreters.”
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (USA): John Pitcher: Andriessen premiere passionate “Violinist Monica Germino accompanied Zavalloni with effortless virtuosity, shaping phrases that seemed like diabolic commentary on the singer’s words.”
Kolnische Rundschau (Germany): “Monica Germino (violin) and Cristina Zavalloni (voice) were marvellous soloists, and the ensemble MusikFabrik led by Stefan Asbury presented itself in absolute top form.”
Rotterdams Dagblad (NL): “Violinist Monica Germino performs Jacob ter Veldhuis’ new score live and moves like an eleventh dancer through the group. The amplified electric violin music lures you into another world…” “Dancers are lashed into action by violinist Monica Germino, who is always on stage. She (Germino) resembles a kind of snake charmer, but then not with a flute but rather with her electric violin…”