SHAKESPEARE, LA DONNA, IL SOGNO

Rêverie began life in Milan in 1996 on the initiative of composer and guitarist Valerio Vado with the aim of performing an original "ethnic-progressive" music inspired by European and Mediterranean culture, a mix of traditional Italian Renaissance and Baroque music with up to date sounds. After three interesting demos and a good live activity, in 2008 Rêverie finally released a self-produced debut album titled "Shakespeare, la donna, il sogno" with a line up featuring Valerio Vado (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Fanny Fortunati (vocals, percussion), Fulvia Borini (flute, mandolin), Alberto Sozzi (clarinet, keyboards, banjo, flute), Daniele Defranchis (guitars) and Mariella Mancuso (cello).

Most of the pieces on "Shakespeare, la donna, il sogno" (Shakespeare, the woman, the dream) come from the soundtrack for a theatre play of the same name written by Stefania Amato, Fanny Fortunati, Valerio Vado and Mariangela Zabatino. The play is set in Elsinore, in Denmark, where a company of musicians perform music from the Renaissance. At a given moment one of the musicians, by accident, evokes the spirit of Yorick, a joker at the ancient court of Elsinore, who comes to life again and tries to bring back to life also a "dark lady" lost in his memory. To do so he tries to remember his beloved woman through the verses of Shakespeare... Well, the soundtrack for this play features some English traditional tunes from the XVI-XVII centuries revised and arranged by the band and some original tracks in the same style. The overall sound is prevalently acoustic and if you like bands and artists such as Amazing Blondel or the Italian minstrel Angelo Branduardi I'm sure you'll like this album as well!

The short instrumental opener "Willson's Wilde" sets the atmosphere followed by "Sonetto 18" and "Sonetto 8". The English lyrics, as you can guess, are taken from Shakespeare's sonnets and are interpreted by Fanny Fortunati's delicate vocals... "Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? Sweets with sweets war not, joy delights in joy...". Another nice short instrumental, "A Toy", leads to two more sonnets, "Sonetto 47" and "Sonetto 147", then the instrumental "Passamezzo antico" introduces the last two tracks taken from the soundtrack of the play, "O Mistress Mine" and "Sonetto 130". The album features two more tracks not related with the play, "Plurestantay memoroj" and "Kiam alvenos la fino", sung in Esperanto and credited as bonus tracks. The atmosphere of the last two tracks is different from that of the previous ones and they sound a bit like fillers here, even if they do not waste the final result. All in all, I really think that this is a good album, especially for prog-folk lovers!

Reverie were born in 1996, direct out of the ashes of the Italian Symph Rock outfit Lethe, led by the guitarist of the later Valerio Vado and female singer/percussionist Fanny Fortunati.Their history is taped on three demo tapes from 1998, 2002 and 2004 respectively, they basically started playing in a Symphonic Prog style similar to Lethe and developed finally into an Ethnic Prog Rock ensemble, continuously expanding their line-up.By 2008 Vado and Fortunati were surrounded by their long-time flutist Fulvia Borini, Alberto Sozzi on keyboards/wind instruments, Daniele Defranchis on guitar and Andrea Amir Baroni on keyboards/harp/cello.It was time for the band's first full-length album ''Shakespeare, la donna, il sogno'', released as an independent production.

At the time Reverie ended up to be a small Chamber Folk orchestra, always adapting progressive flourishes in their style, and presenting an album full of ethereal soundscapes, angelic vocals by Fortunati (in three languages!) and smooth Prog-inclined textures, closing to the styles of GRYPHON and MANEIGE, without being excessive and focusing on atmospheric themes.Two particular styles are easily detected in the album: a mostly acoustic one with an intense lyricism, influences from Medieval Music and impressive executions on flutes, acoustic guitars, mandolin and clarinet, delivered by the band as a sweet orhestral combo and aiming towards nostalgic ages from the past.The second one is a more balanced effort with keyboards in evidence, but always strong acoustic overtones, having an obvious tendency towards the Baroque period and evident Classical overtones.Every style though is performed with detailed, almost flawless performances, even a bit of an upgraded electric background seems needed, and the music passes nicely through mystical periods, melancholic undertones and joyful moments.

A different face of Acoustic Progressive Rock.Intricate and atmospheric music with sensitive lines and beautiful vocals, a must-have for any fan of Prog Folk.Warmly recommended.