INCANTI by ELENA LEDDA (Sardegna)

In summer of 1993 Elena Ledda released one of her most accomplished albums, Incanti, on the French label Silex. Reissued ten years on, now a cornerstone of European folk music recording, it still sounds as fresh and inventive as ever.
Incanti , a record whose polished playing sent it into the higher reaches of the European World Music charts, was fruit of Elena Ledda’s fascination for her native Sardina and its traditions, a territory across which she charted new pathways accompanied both by regular cohorts such as Enrico Frongia, Eugenio Lugliè, Alberto Pisu, Silvano Lobina and especially Mauro Palmas, and prestigious guests the likes of Riccardo Tesi on melodeon and classical trumpeter Giorgio Baggiani.As well as showcasing the expressive qualities of her voice and the intensity of its timbral shadings, the record demonstrates Ledda’s ability to mix old and new, using contemporary sonorities to great effect while never losing sight of Sardinian tradition.
The result is a record of consistently high emotional tension that has stood the test of time, as will be evident even after just a casual listen. Not that Elena Ledda’s gripping voice, at once expressive and highly versatile, permits such distraction on these tracks which envelop the listener in their deeply felt emotion. Elena Ledda is without doubt a unique singer, a voice that Italy can be proud of for the acute sensibility she shows in forging a sound of incomparable beauty. Body and soul, the sensual and the spiritual merge in her excellent interpretations leading the listener through enchanting and surprising soundscapes.

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