Simone Kermes – Inferno e Paradiso

Contents Vinci, Leonardo: In braccio a mille furie (from Semiramide Riconosciuta) Bononcini, G B: M’incateni e se mi sciogli (from San Nicola di Bari) Hasse, J A: Non ha più pace (from Cajo Fabricio) Sting: Fields of gold Albinoni: Dopo I nembi e le procelle (from Eraclea) Jürgens: Aber bitte mit Sahne Vivaldi: Gelido in ogni vena (from Il Farnace, RV711) Jimmy Page: Stairway to Heaven Stefani Germanotta, Nadir Khayat: Poker Face Bach, J S: Erbarme dich (from St Matthew Pasion, BWV244) Caldara: Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo: Pompe inutili Broschi, R: Qual guerriero in campo armato (from Idaspe) Hasse, J A: Se tu non senti, oh Dio (from Cajo Fabricio) Handel: Tu del ciel ministro eletto (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno

“Lava”, “La Diva”, “Bel Canto” – these are the names of some of Simone Kermes’ highly praised and successful albums. Her new album “Inferno e Paradiso” is thematically about “Heaven and Hell” about “Virtues and Deadly Sins” – musically illustrated with 14 titles from four centuries from baroque to rock, from Bach to Sting, from Vivaldi to Led Zeppelin

Each of the chosen arias or songs sings about a virtue or a sin. The main focus of the recording with the baroque ensemble Amici Veneziani is of course the baroque: Leonardo Vinci sings the ‘angry’ aria ‘In braccio a mille furie’ (In the arms of 1000 furies), while Tomasi Albinoni sings ‘Dopo i nembi e le procelle’ (Are thunderstorms and storms over). Giovanni Bonincini’s aria ‘M’incateni e se mi scoglo’ (Whenever you undo my chains) is taken from an oratorio dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the symbolic hero of charity, while Antonio Caldara’s ‘Pompe inutili’ denounces ‘useless pomp’, greed. With the world premiere recording of Johann Adolf Hasse’s aria ‘Non ha piú pace’ Simone Kermes sings of envy, Antonio Vivaldi’s ‘Gelido in ogni vena’ deals with the ‘ice-cold blood in every vein’, for Kermes the virtue of ‘moderation’. Bach’s famous ‘Mercy’ is for Kermes the epitome of humility. For Kermes, Riccardo Broschi’s ‘Qual guerrio in campo armato’ is about the virtue of diligence. Of course, the music of George Frideric Handel, a composer beloved of Kermes, should not be missed: ‘Tu del ciel ministro eletto’ (‘Chosen Messenger of Heaven’) deals with chastity

With her new album Simone Kermes builds a direct bridge to our time by having current pop and rock titles turned into baroque hits by the Finnish composer and arranger Jarkko Riihimäki: Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” is for lust, with Udo Jürgen’s famous “Aber bitte mit Sahne” Kermes deals with gluttony, Sting’s “Fields of Gold” is for Simone Kermes the song of love, of maximum goodwill. Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” deals with pride before the fall (from the ladder to heaven)

“Some ‘arias’ by Sting and Led Zeppelin seem so baroque, as if they had lain dusty on London shelves since the 17th century,” says Kermes. And so “Inferno e Paradiso” also sounds as if it is all of a piece, a varied, exciting album with both virtuoso and contemplative music.