SAVE THE DATE!
Internationally acclaimed vocalist DIAMANDA GALAS will perform
Amanedhes and Greek Rembetika songs at New York's hottest new venue, The Highline Ballroom, on August 19, 2007. I have pasted the press release below for your perusal. Thank you for spreading the word – and please let me know if you would like to come review the concert!
SINGER/PIANIST DIAMANDA GALAS MAKES HER HIGHLINE BALLROOM DEBUT WITH IMITATION OF LIFE ON AUGUST 6 AND 12, AND CHANSONS MALHEUREUSES, AMANEDHES AND GREEK AND ARMENIAN REMBETIKA SONGS ON AUGUST 19
“She plays the piano like driving rain slapping on concrete, and she sings like a demon going to war, a Valkyrie scatting, a lizard queen seeking revenge for the dead….Galás is profound, rigorous, vocally unlimited, terrifying and utterly compelling. To hear her is to have your soul scoured clean.†â€"The Age Australia
“She's been compared to a vampire, a Valkyrie and a lizard queen–all appropriate, since she looks undead, and ready to suck the life from your still-beating heart."–Time Out NY
NEW YORK, JULY 15, 2007 — Avant-garde singer and virtuoso pianist Diamanda Galás will appear at New Yorkâ€TMs hottest, new venue, the Highline Ballroom, with two programs of songs displaying her signature blend of sophisticated vocal weaponry and raw emotions: Imitation of Life on August 6 (Monday) and 12 (Sunday), and Chansons Malheureuses and Amanedhes (Melancholic songs and Amanedhes) on August 19 (Sunday).
In Imitation of Life, Galás will transform classic jazz standards and
French ballads about the thrill and pain of romantic love into haunting elegies to Eros. The set of chosen songs draws its inspiration from the ancient Greek meaning of desire â€" an ambivalent state of being combining both the sweet and the bitter. Accompanied by her own ominous piano, the dark queen of extended technique will deliver an unforgettable set of songs, ranging from loversâ€TM blind fascination to carnivorous desire. “Love is akin to the courtship of the female praying mantis who, right after mating, devours the maleâ€TMs brain matter,†says Galás. “It is an obsession that prevails in the face of despair. Ending it is too painful to contemplate, though not to digest.†Both concerts will include different selections of songs made famous by Earl Grant (Imitation of Life), Chet Baker (The Thrill Is Gone and You Donâ€TMt Know What Love is), Ronnie Earl (A Soul Thatâ€TMs Been Abused), Judy Garland (Never Will I Marry), Nancy Wilson (The Masquerade Is Over), Jacques Brel (La chanson des vieux amants), Juliette Greco (Amours perdues and Bonjour tristesse), Edith Piaf (Padam, Padam), and Marlene Dietrich (Je mâ€TMennuie), among others. It will also include selections from Galasâ€TM upcoming compilation of tragic, homicidal love songs, Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, to be released by Mute UK in the U.S. and UK on the Day of the Dead (November 1, 2007), such as Ralph Stanley's haunting O Death (The Reaper's love song), O. V. Wrightâ€TMs Eight Men and Four Women, and the classic Autumn Leaves.
With Chansons Malheureuses and Amanedhes, scheduled for August 19 (Sunday), Galás will combine original compositions set upon the poetry of symbolist and surrealist French poets with the dazzling vocal tradition of the Amanedhes (improvised lamentations from Asia Minor and the Middle East), and Greek and Armenian Rembetika songs. The evening will feature, among others, “Keigome Keigome,†“Hastayim Yasiyorum†by
Udi Hrant, songs by the great Stelios Kazantzithis and texts by Gerard de Nerval, Aimé Cesaire, Jules Supervielle, and Ferdinand Freiliger.
Diamanda Galasâ€TM Imitation of Life (Monday, August 6 and Sunday, August 12) and Chansons Malheureuses and Amanedhes (Sunday, August 19) will take place at the Highline Ballroom at 8pm. The Highline Ballroom is located at 431 W 16th St. (between 9th and 10th avenues).
Tickets are $30. To order tickets, please call (212) 414-5994 or visit
http://www.highlineballroom.com/
About Diamanda Galás: Hailed as one of the most important singers of our times, Diamanda Galás has earned international acclaim for her highly original, operatic and politically charged performance pieces, as well as her memorable rendition of jazz and blues. A resident of New York City since 1989, she was born to Anatolian and Greek parents, who always encouraged her gift for piano. She studied a wide range of musical forms, as well as visual-art performance, before moving to Europe. There she made her performance debut at the Festival d'Avignon in France in 1979, performing the lead in the opera, "Un Jour comme un autre," by composer Vinko Globokar, based upon the Amnesty International documentation of the arrest and torture of a Turkish woman for alleged treason. She also performed Iannis Xenakisâ€TMs work in Paris with lâ€TMEnsemble Intercontemporain and Musique Vivante. Galás released her first recorded work in 1982, and her numerous musical and theatrical works have since included the pivotal Plague Mass (1990), the haunting mass for People with AIDS; Vena Cava (1992), the solo voice and electronic work concerning AIDS dementia and clinical depression; Schrei 27 (1996), which deals with torture in isolation; the concerts/recordings of Malediction and Prayer (1998), Judgment Day, Concert for the Damned, The Masque of the Red Death (1984 –
1988), and most recently, La Serpenta Canta (2004), a greatest-hits
collection from Hank Williams to Ornette Coleman, and Defixiones, Will and Testament (2004). Galás is currently working on the composition and commissioning of the opera, Nekropolis. In 2005 she was awarded Italyâ€TMs prestigious Demetrio Stratos International Career Award. Her new CD, Guilty Guilty Guilty, featuring tragic and homicidal love songs, will be released by Mute UK on the Day of the Dead (November 1, 2007).
For more information on Diamanda Gálas, visit:
http://www.diamandagalas.com/
For press information: For exclusive management:
Isabelle Deconinck William Tad Clay
La PR, Promotion & Marketing for the Arts Red-Clay Consulting
212-727-7662
isadeco@earthlink.net tadclay@att.net / 212-568-1112
media@diamandagalas.com bookings@diamandagalas.com
Isabelle Deconinck
La PR
212-727-7662 / 646-623-1709
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Isabelle Deconinck/La PR
212-727-7662 / 646-623-1709
isadeco@earthlink.net
Amanda Tropila/The Highline Ballroom
212-997-4555
amanda.tropila@bbkingblues.com