Iva Bittova

Iva Bittova (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 17, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000006E4E
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than avant-garde vocalization..., May 9, 2000

By 

Ivan Sever (MA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Iva Bittova (Audio CD)

In 1986, after ten years as a successful stage and movie actress, Iva Bittová co-founded, with her husband/drummer Pavel Fajt, a progressive rock group - Dunaj. Two albums and four years later they left the band in order to concentrate on Iva's solo career.

Bittová introduced her unique style of avant-garde vocalization accompanied by solo violin in 1991. It became a critical success almost instantly. This current Nonesuch recording draws from her self-titled debut, with three other tracks from the 1994 release, 'Ne, nehledej' (Stop Searching).

The first cut, 'Before,' which features intertwined East European melodies over a chugging rhythm; "The wheel of history will pause and the fast train will call at Kolodeje station", sets the stage for the rest of the album: A delicate balance between the voice, the violin and the lyrics, an open, ethereal sound, and a sparse arrangement. The lonely Grandfather; "...the clouds swell, growing heavier on the grey sky", is followed by the lyrical River of Milk; "As I fall asleep...I wade to the far bank, with white skirt held high through the River of Milk".

The emotional highlight come with The Little Calf. The lyrics seem harmless enough:

The wind laughs, The wind in the grain. It laughs and laughs and laughs, It laughs all day long. A whole day and half a night.

So why this anguish, this atonal violin screeching, the screaming? And what's with the 'Little Calf' in the title, anyway?

Well, Bittová and Fajt's version is based on Dos Kelbl, an old Yiddish song which contains other verses in addition to the one used here. And those verses speak of a little calf being slaughtered in a field of grain, while the wind laughs and laughs and laughs...

I must hasten to add Bittová's style is much closer to Laurie Anderson, Stravinsky and Bartók than to Yoko Ono. Her musicianship is undeniable and the emotional impact is closely tied to the lyrics. At the same time this form of avant-garde performance art is not everyone's cup of tea. However the vision, the talent and the courage of Iva Bittová is remarkable.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unlike anything else, March 22, 2000

By 

Amy Newman Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iva Bittova (Audio CD)

I bought this CD after hearing just a few seconds of Ms. Bittova's music on NPR's "All Things Considered." She creates in the spaces outside what would normally be categorized as classical music. The results are interesting and enchanting, but definitely do not fit neatly into any classification system. I've played it for friends who love classical and they hated it; ditto for the friends who don't love classical. Not sure why I find it so appealing, but I do.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An expressive violin, December 14, 1999

By 

"francoisd" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Iva Bittova (Audio CD)

Iva Bittova is a czech violinist who had succesfully found her own way of playing.. Mixing cleverly traditionnal czech music with improvisation parts, or what one would call free jazz, and even singing, or acting as if the sound of the violin strings and the sound of her voice were linked, were completing each other in a common existence. This CD is a very nice way to discover this rare artist. Every time i saw her in concert, this was a real hit...