MUSIC INFINITY MEETS VIRTUES (LIVE IN PRAGUE 23TH MAY 2009)

I would go one better than a mid-table 3 for good, but not essential. I award this album 4/5, a live recording of a concert in Prague covering 7 tracks from 7 different Alio Die albums. This artist has been very busy and is still going, with his latest release this year of 2023 being his 67th studio album!

Track 1 is from Tripudium Naturae, studio album number 33, released the year after this concert

Track 2 is from Il Tempo Magico Di Saturnia, album 17

Track 3 is from Sine Tempore, album 29

Track 4 is from Honeysuckle, album 38, released in 2011, 2 years after this concert

Track 5 is from Password for Entheogenic Experience, album 4

Track 6 is from Corteggiando Le Messi, album 20

Track 7 is from Raag Drone Theory, album 26

With those formalities out of the way, I admit that from Alio Die's vast collection, I have not heard many of them. This is my favourite I have listened to, pipping The Hidden Spring for sheer enjoyment. The general feel of the music is long, drawn out, droning melodies that repeat for a while yet change in a subtle manner, so the nuances of the changes keep my attention and do plenty to delight me. The music drew me into a natural world that track by track told a story, possibly of a trip I might make into the wilderness:

Track 1 begins with a whistling I might make as I leave the hostel at twilight. Traffic noise fades away slowly, replaced by wildlife at play all around me. Bird calls delight as I head for the riverside. Track 2 bring a deepening of dusk through red and purple to grey. I walk by the river with branches and logs floating by, bumping into and scraping by the bridge. The river rolls on by en route to the sea. Track 3 moves me away from the river and I am aware of the canopy of stars above, like a huge cathedral ceiling, ethereal and holy. Crazy owls are calling and a 15mph breeze is rippling through leaves around me. Track 4 slows the breeze, gradually right down to stillness; the night becomes hauntingly melodic in its callings, beckoning me to the woods. Track 5 and I enter the woods, where darkness prevails, a twinkling of a star every now and then through the leaves above. Wildlife is rustling around, but is it friendly or predatory? Fear ebbs and flows. I follow the path through the wood, a jittery yet beautiful journey. Track 6 brings a thinning of the trees, larger gaps above, more stars, then constellations. I have made it out to the other side. Open space greets me and a magical lake reflects the rising moon, waxing gibbous. Talls hills to the west cut out the wind. I walk around the lake, listening to the pond life, splashings of ducks and then croakings of frogs. The frogs get noisy. An alarm call?

Track 7 and I run for the hills. Campfires are visible higher up. People are singing. I find a rocky pathway heading up. The melody in the wind has gone. Is that a deer or a wolf I hear calling out? Then there are voices, human; civilization is near. I make it up to an encampment and am warmly greeted. A cuppa soon in hand, I sit with others around a campfire and swap stories. Warmth. Camaraderie. Under stars and moon, it is a simple marvel as hospitality delights. I am given a tent and sleeping bag for the night and I sleep well as the music on the album departs... Then the music resumes and I am waking to glorious sunshine. A new day is dawning, hope eternal shining through canvas. I hatch out into an area of outstanding natural beauty, now visible in all its colours. Wonder fills my heart as buzzards soar overhead. Effortless movement with grace and serenity.

Yes, it is a tall tale and you may well think I have it all completely wrong; you probably get something completely different. Such is the beauty of evocative music and it does not come much more evocative than this! You would not know this is a live performance. There is no audience participation and the quality is top notch.

If you like the more ethereal Vangelis albums like El Greco, you might like this.

Artwork: Nice digipak with the CD, no lyrics of course, but a few photographs of the concert

Length: 74 mins of value for money

Rating: 4/5

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