
Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia / Lingas, Cappella Romana [CD + Blu-ray Audio]
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REVIEW:
In the winter of 2010, Ms. Bissera Pentcheva obtained permission to enter what was then the Hagia Sophia museum at dawn, capturing four balloon pops and a wealth of acoustic detail.
The balloon noises, along with maps of the interior, enabled identification of the acoustic fingerprint of the building, including the multidirectional refraction of sound as it bounces off the dome and marble colonnades. Computer simulations were then integrated into a set of microphones and speakers.
Thus the members of Cappella Romana, a vocal ensemble based in Portland, Ore., specializing in Byzantine chant, recorded “The Lost Voices” in an offsite space that persuasively mimicked the acoustics of Hagia Sophia — with its luscious reverberation, cross echoes, and amplification of particular frequencies.
In Byzantine cathedral chant, reverberation was key to invoking the divine presence. She pointed to the exuberant amount of melisma in the repertory, where a single syllable is stretched over multiple notes. In the liquid acoustics of Hagia Sophia, words sung in this way blur.
The recording provides a glimpse of that experience. Phrases chanted in unison leave a ghostly imprint. Rhythmic shudders and grace notes set off blurry squiggles of overlapping echoes. Chords unfurl in reverberant bloom.
– New York Times (Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim)
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REVIEW:
In the winter of 2010, Ms. Bissera Pentcheva obtained permission to enter what was then the Hagia Sophia museum at dawn, capturing four balloon pops and a wealth of acoustic detail.
The balloon noises, along with maps of the interior, enabled identification of the acoustic fingerprint of the building, including the multidirectional refraction of sound as it bounces off the dome and marble colonnades. Computer simulations were then integrated into a set of microphones and speakers.
Thus the members of Cappella Romana, a vocal ensemble based in Portland, Ore., specializing in Byzantine chant, recorded “The Lost Voices” in an offsite space that persuasively mimicked the acoustics of Hagia Sophia — with its luscious reverberation, cross echoes, and amplification of particular frequencies.
In Byzantine cathedral chant, reverberation was key to invoking the divine presence. She pointed to the exuberant amount of melisma in the repertory, where a single syllable is stretched over multiple notes. In the liquid acoustics of Hagia Sophia, words sung in this way blur.
The recording provides a glimpse of that experience. Phrases chanted in unison leave a ghostly imprint. Rhythmic shudders and grace notes set off blurry squiggles of overlapping echoes. Chords unfurl in reverberant bloom.
– New York Times (Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim)
Original: $24.99
-65%$24.99
$8.75Description
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REVIEW:
In the winter of 2010, Ms. Bissera Pentcheva obtained permission to enter what was then the Hagia Sophia museum at dawn, capturing four balloon pops and a wealth of acoustic detail.
The balloon noises, along with maps of the interior, enabled identification of the acoustic fingerprint of the building, including the multidirectional refraction of sound as it bounces off the dome and marble colonnades. Computer simulations were then integrated into a set of microphones and speakers.
Thus the members of Cappella Romana, a vocal ensemble based in Portland, Ore., specializing in Byzantine chant, recorded “The Lost Voices” in an offsite space that persuasively mimicked the acoustics of Hagia Sophia — with its luscious reverberation, cross echoes, and amplification of particular frequencies.
In Byzantine cathedral chant, reverberation was key to invoking the divine presence. She pointed to the exuberant amount of melisma in the repertory, where a single syllable is stretched over multiple notes. In the liquid acoustics of Hagia Sophia, words sung in this way blur.
The recording provides a glimpse of that experience. Phrases chanted in unison leave a ghostly imprint. Rhythmic shudders and grace notes set off blurry squiggles of overlapping echoes. Chords unfurl in reverberant bloom.
– New York Times (Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim)























