Genre: minimalist and classical music
Album: Misinterpretations
Artist: KAADA
 | |
|
The intimate isolation of KAADA is also our own. The musician announces his first album played uniquely on piano. An emotional reciprocity engulfs us as we listen to Misinterpretations: the new record by KAADA presents, in a creative way, reeinterpretations and adaptations of compositions by Edvard Grieg, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Gounod, Chopin, Satie, Debussy and Beethoven.
We feel KAADA'S breathing while Misinterpretations is recorded. The norwegian musician's breathing is as alive as the transitional silences between notes that flow like a river through de 13 themes of the virtuosos of classical music. KAADA not only reinterprets the themes as well as deconstructs them, altering the sound aesthetics of the grand pano, whose strings where embedded with putty kit, a kind of pasting mould like chewing gum with glue. The immersion that we dwell on with cinematic intent, makes us imagine different scenarios, we can picture a ghost shaped man stuck within an abandoned house with old furniture covered in white sheets, like the resurrection of the effigies of classical music.
In these reinterpretations one can feel the dust, sadness, isolation and sensibility. KAADA is the ghost that inhabits the house, in the place of the exploratory legacy of grief and the love that remained, in which we can place the grandeur of existence of the great musicians and composers, played here in a sound aesthetic quite different, consisting on a sound that is not fully supported or filled, but more peculiar and refined with a distinct character. Like a sonic involucre strangely silenced, in comparison, like a beautiful cello pizzicato.
If these compositions of bygone centuries were somewhat forgotten by the passage of time, humans, those who live today, wouldn't have had the chance to find the beauty that these sensitive musicians left as their legacy and stamped as great musical pieces and intemporal in the history of art. In that sense, KAADA, by reinterpreting Prelude - Raindrop Op.28 n 15 by Chopin does so in a sacred way, while being in his time and in the condition of an interpreter and creative being.
"There is a long history of playing solo piano, and these pieces were recorded perfectly before me", KAADA says, "The solo records are hard because they are transparent. But making it through a confident and concise lens, I believe it can be done.".
KAADA also states, "I believe that this glued piano sound is adapted to my way of playing. When I found it, it was like I had found a direct connection between my fingers and the sound. With Putty-Kit (Heftemasse, Skoletyggis, Sticky tack) in all the strings, I wasn't just playing the piano but the piano was also playing me. I was very much inspired, I started looking into my library of classical sheet music. Slowly, I built a repertoire of songs that adapted themselves to my style of playing and the Putty sound.".
It's a known fact that contemporary adaptions of classical compositions are not new, and that is reflected in the huge amount of recordings with arrangements in classical and famous compositions. However, it's exactly in that arena, that Misinterpretations is different, dedicating itself to a new harmony, preparation of instruments and unique interpretations of famous classic piano melodies. What sets this record apart is the distinct way KAADA plays the piano, his re-arrangements and a peculiar piano sounds, similar to a pizzicato cello.
 | |
|
"Most music I made was accompanied by bands and produced in computers - which is something I like. But I've reached the point in which I wanted to explore new things, maybe to keep me inspired as a composer.", highlights KAADA .
Misinterpretations was recorded during the four months of the autumn of 2020 in Wrongroom Studio. For the recording, KAADA prepared himself with sheet music and piano essays that lasted through seven intense months. The arrangements were not written and followed with heavy rigor, and instead, KAADA allowed himself the freedom without pre-determined rules, transposing the motifs of those classical compositions to a more personal language of texture and tone.
The musician explains that "most of the album was recorded during the night, playing in a slower tempo than the one he had planned. Focusing on the passages he liked the most of the original compositions and reconstructing them. Sometimes, it was 4 minutes and other times just a few bars. So I tried to make the best moments last. Extracting the passages that ressonated with me on an emotional level. Building new form and compositions.
KAADA'S performance is neatly balanced between the personal and the traditional with an impressive ease. KAADA adds that "each theme was recorded probably a 100 times. I was looking for that place where the composition core perfectly resonated with the glue sound and my performance.".
KAADA plays delicately in his Bechstein, adding an intimate and contemporary texture to classical european compositions, transposing motifs and translating them into a personal language with improvisational games. And with a special piano sound like a persuasive concept, breathes new life to the old masterpieces. KAADA is the ghost that brings life to the great masters of classical music. And none of that charm goes amiss. Living of silence, slowness and breathing.
Texto: Priscilla Fontoura
Translation: Cláudia Zafre