11-02-03: Review of Lingalad, 'Lingalad in Concerto' CD

TolkienMovies.com
November 2, 2003

Review of Lingalad, 'Lingalad in Concerto' CD
Chris Seeman

In 2001, Giuseppe Festa (a.k.a. Lingalad) released "Voci della Terra di Mezzo", a remarkable CD of musical renditions (in Italian) of some of Tolkien’s most famous songs. When I created an entry for it on the Tolkien Music List, it took me a while to come up with an appropriate genre description. In the end, I could think of no better label than “sylvan folk.” The qualifier was essential, for these were no ordinary acoustic/vocal arrangements. They were the very embodiment of a journey through the quiet forests of Middle-earth by a wayfarer who knew them as home. (A comparison with Heart’s “Song of the Archer” springs to mind – imagine a whole album imbued with that spirit.)

To an English-speaker, a non-English rendition of Tolkien’s verse might come across as of only secondary value – a mere “translation” from the original. Not so with Lingalad! Even if one does not know Italian, one can nevertheless hear and feel the truth of Tolkien’s world conveyed through the passion and authenticity of Festa’s music. Just as Kevin Henry’s _Bilbo’s Great Adventure_ naturalizes Tolkien’s mythology for England into an American musical tradition, so too Lingalad has successfully rooted the voices of Middle-earth in Italian soil.

Happily, a wider public is beginning to take notice of Festa’s achievement, and several concerts have been performed, both in Italy and abroad. One of these concerts has been recorded and is now available on CD. For those familiar with the studio release, "Lingalad in Concerto" offers an added dimension through the contribution of supporting musicians, a quartet all told. The sound quality is quite good for a live performance, and it is a pleasure to listen to Festa’s introductions to each song. They perform the majority of the original album, substituting a few instrumental numbers with more recent material from Festa’s new CD, "Il Canto degli Alberi".

Lingalad’s is a worthy endeavor. His music deserves appreciation by the Tolkien community. His CDs can be ordered from www.lingalad.com.

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