Ariaphonics

Review Musical Discoveries, NY, USA
Ariaphonics is part of the classical crossover genre and soaring, beautiful vocals abound throughout this album. Interspersed with an inspiring electronic sound, the exquisite melodies by Dmitri Silnitsky and fantastic vocals by the engaging soprano, Gloria D'Amos, make this album a stand-out.

"Divine Light" and "Summer Moon" combine distinctive orchestral and electronic sounds to create a uniqueness of sound. Operatic renditions by Gloria rival those of Emma Shaplin, Sarah Brightman, and Italian contemporary crossover artist, Filippa Giordano. But, it is the overall sound that make Ariaphonics magnetic and enthralling. Composer Dmitri Slinitsky said "Crossover performers sound more or less the same. Easy pop rhythms, some strings and a couple of well-known arias. An awful lot of people like crossover, but the format has become boring. So I wanted to experiment and try to get a completely different sound. At the same time, I wanted to present totally new material, rather than falling back on the old standards, and take advantage of the resurgent popularity of music from the 1970s."

"Sposa son disprezzata" has almost a jazzy beat due to the incredible musical artistry of the instrumentalists. Outstanding credits go to Dmitri Silnitsky on synthesizers and vocoder; Sash Protchenko on drums, bass and slide guitar, and midi programming; Slav Protchenko on keyboards, violin, piano, rhodes, hammond, clavinet, and mellotron; and Pavel Pavlov on guitar. Narrations by Natasha Shanetskaya also contribute to the overall sensation in this album.

"Intermezzo" arrives with almost an eerieness in some of the musical riffs, and the exquisite piano solos and background of blowing winds create a unique sound. Music for this track was by Dmitri Silnitsky, Slav Protchenko and Sash Protchenko. The listener is engaged in Gloria"s striking sopranic solos throughout and each track seems to capture your attention without letting go.

"Lullaby 2030" has a funky sound of its own, bringing back memories of the '70's while "A Dulcet Spell" and "Nausica" seem to fuse different sounds, narration and genres. The composer also said, "First of all, we've used only electronic instruments rather than a full-blown orchestra with string and wind sections. We've got melletron sounds instead of strings, for instance. Secondly, we make sure slow arias are interspersed with intermezzo, instrumental compositions where we up the tempo." The album consists of two CDs, the main one with nine complete tracks, and the second, an EP with four tracks that are remixes of "Dulcet Spell," "The Knight Erreants Song," "Summer Moon" and "Sposa son disprezzata."

There is no doubt that the composer achieved his highest expectations with this superior album. Once you start to listen, you can't stop. The album remains engaging throughout and the stunning vocals and captivating music unifies the richness of Ariaphonics.--Audrey Elliot 5 Stars

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The Dutch Progressive Rock
Review by Bob Mulvey
Ariaphonics serves as yet another example of the diversity of material that impinges on the boundaries of Progressive Rock, further pushing out the envelope. Written and conceived by Dmitri Silnitsky the album is termed as "A Classical Crossover Breakthrough" (or so it says so on the cover), therefore I entered the album with more than a little apprehension, fearing something akin to some of the dreadful material to be found on Sky's Classic FM channel. The concept of having great pieces of classical music bastardised into some sort of accessible music form for the masses.

Fortunately this is not the case here as in the main the music is written by Dmitri himself and the lyrical content by Elena Corsino. Perhaps this is as good a point as any, to look at the basic musical structure of the tracks, which derive much of their sound from the lush bed of traditional analogue synth sounds, mellotron-esque textures, pianos and organs used. Added to this are gently blended guitar tracks and the resulting canvas of sounds is at times reminiscent of Jean Michel Jarre or Vangelis, whilst at others a lightweight Pink Floyd. The pulse is provided by bass synths, distinctly programmed sounding drums / percussion, with the analogue synths and slide guitar supplying the lead sections. Timely point also to mention the other musicians contributing to the Ariaphonics album. Sash Protchenko (drums, bass and slide guitar), Slav Protchenko (keyboards - pianos, Hammond organ, mellotron & violin) and Pavel Pavlov (guitars). The final ingredient is the dulcet, operatic voice of Gloria D'Amos whose vocalisation are always delightfully controlled and never excessive.

All the tracks have a similar overall sound and production, although the music is more diverse covering subtle mood changes with liberal helpings of classical, opera, jazz and prog blended together. Gloria D'Amos' vocal sections are disected by gentle instrumentals which,