Biography
Along with the
likes of Franco Battiato, Opus Avantra and Piccho dal
Pozzo, Pierrot Lunaire were one of the artists that contributed
to the small, but artistically significant, avant progressive
scene of Italy in the mid-70s. Taking their name
from an Arnold Schoenberg opera, the band certainly shared
the composer's affinity for new and innovative approaches
to music. Still, over the course of their two albums,
Pierrot Lunaire draw from a broad set of influences as
diverse as Faust, PFM and Debussy for their eclectic,
unpredictable sound.
The band is centered
around the compositional talents of classically trained
pianist Arturo Stalteri. Pierrot Lunaire seems to
be his first major project upon his graduation from the
Conservatory of L'Aquila, and in retrospect his mid-70s
venture into progressive rock seems to be only the first
step in a career fascination with post-modernism and 20th
century musical ideas. After 1976's experimental
progressive rock masterpiece, Gudrun, he embarked
on a solo career which extends to the present day.
Of interest to the progressive rock listener is his first solo
work, the excellent Andre Sulla Luna, which is somewhat
a continuation of the Pierrot Lunaire sound, as well as
perhaps the reworkings he has done over the years of work
by artists such as Phillip Glass and Brian Eno.
In any case, Pierrot Lunaire's two albums still stand
as ingenious testaments to what the spirit of progressive
rock could really have been about, and are a must for
adventurous listeners. - Greg Northrup [January 2002]
Pierrot Lunaire (1974)
Though perhaps
not a masterpiece of the same magnitude as its followup,
Gudrun, Pierrot Lunaire's self-titled
debut album is a gem in its own right. The band
displays an unexpected penchant for melodic expressiveness
imbibed with embryonic hints of the experimental tilt
that Gudrun would take. One is reminded of
Franco Battiato's first Fetus album, with a similar nod
towards innovative pop and folk music, while at the same time
stretching compositional boundaries into unforeseen domains.
Indeed, Pierrot Lunaire has a tangible folk-rock
vitality and exsquisite tunefulness about it. At
the same time, Arturo Stalteri's inventive, stunningly
beautiful pianos and synthesizers texture the entire album
with pinpoint, effective orchestrations, coating the work
with an appealing "progressive" sheen. Stunning
classical motifs along with double and triple tracked
piano parts overlay the bare bones structure of layered
acoustic guitars and typically pleasant Italian vocals.
First time listeners
tracing their steps back from Gudrun will probably be
initially disappointed by the apparent "poppieness" of this
album, and understandably so. To me it seemed like a wholly
different beast at first, but over time the common threads began
to surface, and I now see both albums as perfect complements
to one another. Tracks vary from the emotional splendour
and soulful folkiness of "Raipure" and "Invasore" to solo guitar
pieces like "Ganzheit" and "Verso il Lago", to the stranger,
more esoterically beautiful territories of "Arlecchinata".
Rarely have I heard an album so accessible, tuneful and exsquisitely
melodic, yet at the same time so experimental, interesting and
downright innovative as Pierrot Lunaire's debut. Next
to Gudrun, Pierrot Lunaire is the other essential
chapter towards fully grasping one of Italy's finest progressive
rock bands. - Greg Northrup [January 2002]
Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup
Info
Gudrun (1976)
Damn. Well, where
the hell do I begin? It's hard enough to even describe
the album, much less illustrate what I find so intriguing
and downright resonant about it. Sure, those of
you familiar with other so-called "avant-Italian" artists
like Franco Battiato and Picchio dal Pozzo will have a
good head start, but comparisons ultimately fall way short.
To put it simply, this is one of coolest, most original,
exciting and eclectic albums I've ever heard. Mixing
everything from symphonic progressive, avant-garde, jazz,
minimalism, baroque classical, embryonic electronica and
even opera into a fully cohesive, impeccably structured
work might seem like a daunting task, but Arturo Stalteri
and Pierrot Lunaire have done it with apparent ease.
They've made something work which is nearly impossible to describe
in words, and that means something.
The band jumps
from style to style with an impossible grace, segueing,
contrasting and even colliding segments, themes and genres.
The effect is like that of a dream, a journey through
some vast sound collage with endless depth and ingenuity
around every corner. The only way to take this is
step by step. Indulge me. The album opens
with alien flute and harpsichord melodies of the title
track. Already there is a surreality about the goings-on.
A child's voice talks in Italian over campy synthesizer
melodies. Boisterous female operatic vocals suddenly
emerge along with melodic piano runs and distorted guitar
stabs. Further and further the listener is dragged,
strange sounds burst out from nothingness, the vocals continue
meaninglessly, "...waves crashing on the seashore...", "...a
stranger cries...", "...wandering, rushing into the earth...".
In fact, the entire album is almost like some free association
exercise put to music. At some point, who knows
where, the delicate solo piano, almost jazzy, but not
quite, of "Dietro dil Silenzio" becomes comes to the fore.
Then it's cars, buses, and street sounds leading up to
what is among the album's most purely beautiful moments
in "Plaisir d'amour", a flailing, distorted, flanged-out
electronic motif provides a melodic basis for a crystalline
female vocal line that sounds almost familiar, but impossible
to place. Eerily beautiful. Before long, one
is subsumed by the active, offbeat synthesizer melodies
of "Sonde di Profondità", a tape clicks, then a radio
playing some kind of Italian pop music is interrupted by an
emergency broadcast. "Attenzione! Attenzione!"... one
is at once alarmed, then the next moment soothed, as the
official's voice fades beyond a soundscape of surreal
synthesizers and guitars. "Morella" may be the most
cathartic and haunting moment on the album; a sublime,
descending piano melody backs a heart wrenching operatic
vocal. "Mein in Armen Italiener" closes things out,
another varied piece that moves from progressive rock
bombast to folk music in a series of false endings before
finally concluding.
Anyway, pardon the
rave, but Gudrun has become one of my all time favorite
albums in recent months, and easily within my top five or so
Italian albums. However, typical Italian prog this is
not, but maybe that's what's so damn invigorating about this
album. It is totally unique, unequivocally inventive and
endlessly startling in its sheer capacity for pleasant surprises.
A work that effortlessly blows the doors off boundaries and
genre, Gudrun is one of those masterpieces where only
one classification seems appropriate: extraordinary music.
- Greg Northrup
[January 2002]
Click Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info
