NDR Kultur

“With her well-focused, finely articulated soprano voice, which shines beautifully at the top, and her refined sense of languages, she shows many different facets, humor and interpretive prowess.”

Eva Maria Schramm, 13.01.2021

ORF – Ö1 Des Cis

“Pia Davila then leads the listener through an imaginary day. The accompaniment for the soprano voice is as varying from piece to piece as the compositions themselves: a cappella, electronic sounds, piano and baroque guitar.” Daniela Knaller, 26.01.2021

Der Tagesspiegel

The sun rises, and later the moon: the Berlin soprano sings of the events of a day on her debut album spanning 400 years in music history. With lutes, with electronics, solo. Clear diction, cheeky sayings, a shimmering timbre, weightless – the way in which one would like to go through the day. 

Christiane Peitz, 14.3.2021

AZ/AN

The debut CD of the Berlin-native soprano Pia Davila brings together the unexpected and the unusual in a delightful manner. With “her” moon as the chosen title, the listener may be justified in suspecting that some humor has crept into the program. (…) All of which is carried by the 32 year-old soprano’s voice, which is exceptionally pure, bell-like, and at the same time perfectly capable of radiating warmth. Musical intelligence and talent form a happy union here. The combination of the extremes of contemporary and baroque works particularly well. For Debussy’s symbolism, more dramatic voices have more glowing colors; nevertheless Pia Davila’s interpretation of the two famous Claire de Lune is captivating. A fantastic debut. (Ark) 9.1.2021

Lüneburger Landeszeitung

Classical music for three: Pia Davila ventures tremendous leaps between periods on her debut album. The soprano compiled very few well-known songs, which revolve around day and night and stylistically include a range from early baroque to contemporary. (…) Adding to the coherence of the album is the accompaniment by Eric Schneider (piano) and Andreas Nachtsheim (lute), which underlies the intimate, personal character of the quite demanding album with all of its expressiveness. oc 23.2.2021, Nr 45

Klassik Heute

Without question it is an exceptionally original and impressive debut album, which the Berlin soprano Pia Davila has presented here. The eponymous moon acts solely as a point of reference for a journey through a day and (musically) over four centuries. The very old and the brand new are constantly colliding and set in relation to each other. Feeling at home in every genre, the singer is a competent “travel guide”. 

(…) the singer, who – predominantly a cappella – has to alternate between speaking, whispering and singing, takes us to the outer limits of the voice: a brilliant vocal performance by Pia Davila. (…)

Ekkehard Pluta, 27.1.2021

Das Opernglas

(…) How courageous does one have to be to bridge several centuries! Pia Davila deliberately placed three pieces (with electronic accompaniment), composed in 2019 for an opera, directly after Merula and, in doing so, achieves a wonderful effect as the early baroque songs influence the music of the 21st century and visa versa. A cleverly put-together program always offers new perspectives. J. Gahre, February 2021

WDR3

A concept for a song album, far removed from anything mainstream. (…) Kerstin Peetz:

“Anyone recording an album such as this is deliberately handing out a musical business card to advertise his or herself to organizers and agents. If the result is also a well-thought-out album, as is the case here, it shows Pia Davila has done everything right. Her program “O Luna Mia” is thoughtfully put together and shows her enormous vocal and stylistic versatility. The young soprano traverses the interpretational horizon of this constellated repertoire with ultimate confidence and impressively demonstrates the technical possibilities of her exceptional voice.”

operngestalten

(…) Above all, however, she is an artist who confidently does not do what “one” does, or do it how “one” does it, but instead dares to take untrodden paths. 

(...) Like good literature, this music is best enjoyed in small bites. But with a focus on the melody, text and soprano voice.

(…) On this album Pia Davila offers pure singing without any frills or arbitrariness that are not specified by the composer. 

Birgit Kleinfeld, 16.2.2021

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Pietà

Pia Davila, soprano

Marco Blaauw, flugelhorn

Sebastian Schottke, recording

Label Musikfabrik Köln

2021

Unabridged audio book production complete with 3D sound

This release offers a lavishly produced 3D audio book with a captivating soundtrack of music and sound design. Tom Vogt, also known as the voice of Colin Firth, Clive Owen and Laurence Fishburne, among others, gives a dramatic reading with enthralling clarity and brilliant flexibility. Alternately and with fascinating vibrancy, the author also lends her voice to the recording in narrating the dark past of the labyrinth. 

Music, sound design, production & direction: German Wahnsinn Team. Special thanks to Javier Navarrete for giving us permission to rearrange and use his masterpiece “Mercedes’ Lullaby”. Guest musicians: Cello: Fidi Steinbeck, Soprano: Pia Davila Voice editing: studio_wort, Berlin product design: Cover artwork: ZERO Webeagentur, München, based on an idea and using an illustration by Sarah J. Coleman. Black and white illustrations: © Allen Williams. 

Audio book design: Andrea Pieper

Information about this audio book

Authors: Cornelia Funke & Guillermo del Toro

Read by: Tom Vogt & Cornelia Funke

Unabridged Version: 423 minutes

Formats: available as 1 MP3 CD elaborately packaged in silver foil or as a download

The Hamburger Bachchor’s current CD is available in the Petri-Shop during the regular opening hours of the church.

German poetry read by Daniel Kaiser is interspersed with songs sung by Pia Salome Bohnert together with piano and organ improvisations. Evening songs, such as “Der Mond ist aufgegangen”, “Kein schöner Land in dieser Zeit” and “Nun ruhen alle Wälder” as well as motets by Reger, Rheinberger and Stanford, can be heard on this recording.