Electric Fields Barbara Hannigan, Katia Labèque, Marielle Labèque, David Chalmin

• Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179):
• 1 Bingen: O virga mediatrix (Arr. for Soprano, Pianos and Electronic by David Chalmin) 07:45
• David Chalmin (b. 1980):
• 2 Chalmin: Research #1 03:40
• Barbara Hannigan (b. 1971):
• 3 Hannigan: Che t’ho fatt’io? 04:45
• Bryce Dessner (b. 1976):
• 4 Dessner: O orzchis Ecclesia 06:31
• David Chalmin:
• 5 Chalmin: Lingua ignota 05:48
• Barbara Hannigan:
• 6 Hannigan: Che si può fare?, Pt. 1 08:50
• Barbara Strozzi (1619 - 1677):
• 7 Strozzi: Che si può fare?, Pt. 2 (Arr. for Soprano, Pianos and Electronic by David Chalmin) 05:05
• Bryce Dessner:
• 8 Dessner: O nobilissima viriditas 07:39
• Hildegard von Bingen:
• 9 Bingen: O vis aeternitatis (Arr. for Soprano, Pianos and Electronic by David Chalmin) 13:35
• Total Runtime 01:03:38

Info for Electric Fields

Electric Fields offers modern arrangements of centuries-old vocal music, as well as new compositions, all involving soprano, pianos, and live electronics. The meditative compositions of medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen are the point of departure for this album. Hildegard's texts soar to the spiritual realm both in Latin and in her invented lingua ignota. Additionally, the vernacular love songs of two composers from the Italian Baroque, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini, gave inspiration for this album. Several works from American composer Bryce Dessner complete the eclectic programme. Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque are joined by composer/performer David Chalmin in this captivating journey through meditative and ambient musical atmospheres. Together they create an intense and unique cosmos of sound.

Barbara Hannigan, vocals
Katia Labeque, piano
Marielle Labeque, piano
David Chalmin,synths & electronics

Barbara Hannigan
Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Her artistic colleagues include John Zorn, Krszysztof Warlikowski, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Andreas Kriegenburg, Andris Nelsons, Esa Pekka Salonen, Christoph Marthaler, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, and Kirill Petrenko. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician.

The Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of over 90 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, Stockhausen, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin and Abrahamsen.

The past few seasons have brought the premiere of a new production of Poulenc's opera La Voix Humaine, in which she both sings and conducts, interacting with live video. This new production and concept was created by Hannigan in collaboration with video artist Denis Guéguin and premiered with l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. The acclaimed performance has toured to various orchestras and halls including Copenhagen, Gothenburg, London, Rotterdam, Spoleto, Ludwigsburg, Winterthur, Wroclaw and Munich. Recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam's I am not a tale to be told with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, John Zorn's Split the Lark for soprano and piano with Stephen Gosling and Star Catcher for soprano, piano, upright bass and drums with Gosling, Jorge Roeder and Ches Smith, Zosha di Castri's In the Half Light with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and a new project with Katia et Marielle Labeque inspired by the life and music of Hildegard von Bingen. 2023/24 includes further world premieres by John Zorn, Salvatore Sciarrino, and Jan Sandström,

Last season, Barbara made her conducting debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with further debuts with Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, as well as ongoing musical collaborations with Gothenburg Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, LSO, Santa Cecilia, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and appearances at festivals in Spoleto, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hanover, Ludwigsburg and Aix en Provence.

On record, Barbara Hannigan’s fruitful relationship with Alpha Classics began in 2017 with the release of Crazy Girl Crazy, which won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal album, among other awards including an Edison (Holland) and a Juno (Canada). Five critically-acclaimed recordings followed, including Vienna: fin de siècle with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, La Passione featuring works by Nono, Haydn and Grisey, and most recently Infinite Voyage, joining her colleagues of the Emerson String Quartet for their final album, in works of Schoenberg, Hindemith, Berg and Chausson. Spring 2024 brings the release of the ecstatic vocal works of Messiaen with pianist Bertrand Chamayou.

Barbara’s commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to create the mentoring initiatives Equilibrium Young Artists (2017), and Momentum: our Future Now (2020), both initiatives offering both guidance and performing opportunities to young professional artists. She was recently named the Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at the RAM. Her awards and honours include the Dresdener Musikfestspiele Glashütte Award (2020), Denmark’s Léonie Sonning Music Prize (2021), Canada's De Hueck and Walford Career Achievement Award (2023), the Order of Canada (2016), Germany's Faust Award (2015), Sweden's Rolf Schock Prize for Musical Arts (2018) and the 2021 Stena Foundation's Cultural Scholarship, Officier des Arts et des Lettres in France (2022), and Gramophone Magazine’s 2022 Artist of the Year.

Barbara resides in Finistère, on the northwest coast of France, directly across the Atlantic from where she grew up in Waverley, Nova Scotia.

Booklet for Electric Fields