The Golden Thread [CD]

Stellamara | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 15, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Label: Lucidity Music
• ASIN: B002PADQ2C
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,487 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Each masterful release by Stellamara has appeared years apart, but the treasures and rewards are well worth the wait. Led by the exquisitely gifted singer Sonja Drakulich, with her Hungarian and Serbian ancestry, this group runs on a feverish energy that always stops sufficiently short of frenetic, although they never lack intensity. Right from the start, the virtuoso playing of the members of Stellamara becomes ever-present, while the stellar interplay lends an even greater power to their wonderful web of sound. You'll find yourself wishing for an even stronger vocal emphasis if only because of the magnificent vehicle of vocal expression that Sonja possesses. Her voice is at a never-ending peak of clarity and luminosity, from soft, distant and tailing off into the night, to lively and ignited by fires that burn brightly within. At times she may bring to mind Lisa Gerrard, Loreena McKennit or Azam Ali, but the magnificent way she uses her voice is hers alone. There is no lack of power or presence in this intricately realized music, and those who favor Balkan, Medieval, Persian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish or Far Eastern music will find themselves captured quite easily in the free-flowing marvel that is created. Gari Hegedus has a repertoire that utilizes various Eastern modal systems, and he plays Oud, Baglama, and Mandocello proficiently, taking each passage to a soulful level of modern passion. Cellist Rufus Cappadocia, percussionist Tobias Roberson and clarinet player Peter Jaques join in the sublime magic, moving the music from evocative to inward while driven with a balance that is carefully maintained yet not controlled. Featured as well are two Lyra players (a small pear-shaped upright fiddle from Crete): Irish-born Ross Daly (who also plays Baglama, Divan Saz, Tarbu and African Rebab) and Kelly Thoma (she is also part of the group Labyrinth w/Daly). There is a deeply devotional sense to this music which ebbs and flows from faraway places and times, making for a listening experience that is quite remarkable and unforgettable. --Lloyd Barde, Common Ground Magazine

Having enjoyed Stellamara s ethereal world beat exotica on CD for some years now, I have no explanation for my stunned reaction when vocalist Sonja Drakulich sang her first note at the Vault, other than that this was the first definitive proof I ve seen that such a perfect voice does, in fact, come from a human being. Drakulich stepped on the Vault stage looking a little like Cate Blanchett in The Lord of the Rings, quickly winning the audience over with her world-class singing and unpretentious stage presence. One of the most impressive tricks she pulled out was a highly disciplined vocal waver: imagine an impressionist voice painting of a flickering candle flame. She and the other half of Stellamara s core, multi-instrumental string lord Gari Hegedus, were joined by two lively percussionists and a new member, cellist Rufus Cappadocia, who exorcised notes from his instrument with a near obsessive passion. --Good Times, Music Seen

The core of Stellamara is singer Sonja Drakulich. ...she intones her Eastern European and Galician dialects in a way that draws your ears toward their musicality rather than their literal meaning. Within her voice, often layered in choirs, she synthesizes Bulgarian, Middle Eastern and Gregorian chant styles, entwining them around a percussion bed of frame drums, darbukas and dumbeks. Stellamara is a global symphony spun through minarets and grounded in the earth. --John Dilberto, Echoes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classical Stringed Instruments, Lovely Female Vocals w/ Eastern European Flair, November 6, 2009

By 

M. Mierzwa (Davis, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Thread (Audio CD)

About the Band:

Stellamara can be best described as a female fronted world music / Eastern European folk band specializing in using traditional instruments and classical stringed instruments (such as cellos). The core band includes Hungarians, most notably vocalist Sonja Drakulich and folk instrumentalist Gary Hegedus, and Californians (Sonja was raised in L.A.). At present the band is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

About the Album:

I strongly believe is not really a "single", but a full-length album. I can not confirm this though, as I bought my copy directly from Stellamara. However, the amazon reviews describe my full-length.

The Golden Thread is Stellamara's third album, and until recently was not available here on amazon.com, following their 2004 release The Seven Valleys (highly recommended)! For this outing, the band is joined by a number of additional musicians, each specializing in the traditional instruments. The ensemble cast manages to really bring the Golden Thread to a much more traditional and faster pace than Stellamara's previous albums, which will surely delight fans of medieval music.

The first track prelude is just that ... an introduction, a good one at that. The second track, Aman Doktor, was also released on the French label Prikosnovsnie's Fairy World V compilation.

My favorite track is Miskolc. Though short (about 4 minutes in length) the track features three distinct movements. It starts dominated by Sonja's vocals, then it breaks into an instrumental middle that I am assuming is Gary's Mandocello solo, and then returns to Sonja's vocals. The effect is wonderful, in that the song conveys both a physical and emotional journey. Perhaps to put this in a more contemporary perspective would be to suggest that the track is not unlike when rock-n-roll bands quiet the vocalist, allowing the lead guitar player a chance to show off.

The fifth track Azade has a strong middle eastern "belly dance" feel too it, that makes it hard to not visualize a woman twisting and twirling around in a dervish. The pace of the album slows down with Prituri se Planinata, which while beautiful is much more introspective than the other songs on the album. It is a song of mourning. Fans of some of Bear McCreary's Battlestar Galactica compositions or the Lord of the Rings soundtracks will really enjoy the track.

People familiar with England's Mediaval Baebes will enjoy Odam Kirec. Only slightly more upbeat than Prituri se Planinata, the song is seductive and a bit more energetic. Fans of drums will really enjoy Lado. The liner notes describe the track as a dedication to the Croatian fertility god, and yes, I can easily see the song being a dance and foreplay to a group "fertilization". The album closes on the high energy instrumental track Element, composed by Cellist Rufus Cappodocia. Cappodocia was not credited on Stellarmara's previous albums, but his influence on all the tracks is obvious, as the Golden Thread features his cello work in most (if not all) of the tracks, giving the album a much more traditional sound.

Track Listing:

- Prelude

- Aman Doktor

- Miskolc (RECOMMENDED)

- Yemen Turkusu (RECOMMENDED)

- Azade

- Prituri Se Planinata

- Odam Kirec

- Lado

- Element

Similar Artists:

- Irfan

- Faun

- Loreena McKennit

- Mediaeval Baebes

- Qntal

- Love Is Colder Than Death

- Das Zeichen

- Bear McCreary's Battlestar Galactica soundtracks (selected tracks)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Depth, October 4, 2009

By 

Dan Fries - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Thread (Audio CD)

I have had this disc in my CD player for the past month, and I never tire of hearing it... the lush arrangements and beautiful exotic singing, heartfelt playing, and professional production make this disk an essential part of any true music lover's collection.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another favorite, August 2, 2010

By 

Margaret Stanley "Rubber Stamp Designer" (Upstate NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Golden Thread (Audio CD)

Hadn't realized they had a new album out until recently. I don't feel the need to listen to samples before buying one of their albums - and I was not disappointed. Gorgeous - very pleased.