Olivia Belli - Intermundia '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Anima I
02. Bet Ha-Chaim
03. Respiro 1
04. Valadier
05. Diomedea
06. Respiro 2
07. Mirando
08. Anima II
09. Pian Perduto
10. Respiro 3
11. Amber Maze
12. Frater
13. Respiro 4
14. Sibyl



On her album "Intermundia", pianist and composer Olivia Belli, who lives in the
countryside of the eastern Italian region of Marche, deals with spiritual places
that are said to have a special connection between heaven and earth. "In these
sacred places, heaven and earth meet. They soothe and calm or beguile and
enchant, opening up a glimpse of the transcendent," Olivia Belli explains. "Here
you are freed from all the non-essentials of the modern world and there is only
you and your soul". To compose her album, Olivia Belli visited eight special
spiritual places throughout central Italy. Each track on "Intermundia"
represents the special, deep feeling she felt there. For example, first single
"Valadier" is inspired by the unique atmosphere of the temple "Tempio di
Valadier" built in a rocky grotto - a centuries-old sanctuary in the Frasassi
Caves in the province of Ancona. Olivia Belli's serene, wistful miniature
conveys the hope and sense of absolution she experienced in this place. "'Tempio
di Valadier' is my refuge where I try to perceive what is real but invisible, to
shape the mind beyond physical things," Olivia Belli discusses. "The temple
conveys a unique beauty and a special atmosphere that comes from its perfection,
contrasting with the bare rock." The title "Bet Ha Chaim" is inspired by the
ancient Jewish cemetery of the same name in Pesaro. This cemetery, according to
its Hebrew name, is considered the "House of Life." In "Pian Perduto" Olivia
Belli sets to music the landscape located on a plateau enclosed by three
valleys, where the village of Castelluccio was once found before it was
irretrievably destroyed by an earthquake. "Sybil" is dedicated to the peak of
Mount Sibyl in the Italian Apennines, where, according to legend, the
clairvoyant Sibyl lived in a cave. "Sibyl" closes the album as the climax of
Olivia Belli's musical pilgrimage. Compositionally, Olivia Belli drew
inspiration for her album from the medieval modal system of church keys. She
assigns the eight known modes to the respective moods of the places she visits.
She interrupts the resulting eight compositions in the album's sequence with
four quiet piano interludes named "Respiro" after the Italian term for breath.
Six of the tracks are accompanied by a string trio. "The places I set to music
on Intermundia are places where people seek spiritual growth and where we can
become more aware of ourselves. Such places can be anywhere - we just have to
find them" says Olivia Belli.



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