Corde Oblique are one of the main ethereal progressive neofolk bands from
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. They are the
solo project
A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...
of Riccardo Prencipe (composer, art historian) with vocal contributions from numerous female singers and actresses. After seven albums the project began to change its skin and proposed "FolkGaze" sounds, a cross between folk and shoegazer.
Graduated in classical guitar from the Conservatory of Naples San Pietro a Majella, since 2000 Prencipe has released eight albums, distributed in Europe and worldwide by record companies in different countries (Russia, China, Germany, France and Portugal), all excellently reviewed by critics. The original pieces proposed by the ensemble speak of the history of Italian art and of a "wild and talented" South.
History
Prencipe started in 1999 with his first neomedieval gothic band, LUPERCALIA. They released the first album ''Soehrimnir'' with the English label World Serpent distribution (Death in June, Current 93, Antony and the Johnsons, Nurse with Wound) and the second album ''Florilegium'' with the Portuguese label Equilibrium Music. In 2005 Riccardo started his idea of the "Workshop of sound", an open team with many artists to collaborate with.
Concerts
Corde Oblique performed in festivals in Italy, China, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Albania, sharing the stage with bands like
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
,
Anathema
The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...
,
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...
, Coph Nia,
Moonspell
Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, '' Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, '' Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable meta ...
,
Ataraxia
In Ancient Greek philosophy, ( Greek: , from indicating negation or absence and with the abstract noun suffix ), generally translated as , , , or , is a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and wo ...
QNTAL
Qntal is a Music of Germany, German "electro-medieval" band (music), band founded in 1991 by Michael Popp and Ernst Horn. They later added singing, vocalist Syrah (Sigrid Hausen) to complete the band.
The band has roots in Estampie (band), Esta ...
, Kirlian Camera, and Of the Wand and the moon.
Places and festivals where they performed since 2005 include
Auditorium Parco della Musica
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
(Rome), La Loco (Paris), Gotischer Saal (Berlin), Casa del Jazz (Rome), Archeological Museum (Naples), Wave Gotik Treffen (edition 2009, 2011, 2017, 2024), Amphi Festival (edition 2014, 2018), NCN Festival (edition 2022), Schauspielhaus (Leipzig), Culture Centre (Shanghai), La Locomotive (Bologna), Museo Madre (Napol), Tanzbrunnen Theatre (Koeln), Auditorium del
Museo di Capodimonte
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with se ...
(Naples), Museum Centrale Montemartini (Rome), Theatre Mediterraneo per il Comicon festival (Naples), Stazione Birra (Rome), Giffoni Film Festival (Giffoni), Qube (Rome), Cultural Centre of Huy (Belgio), Casina Vanvitelliana (Bacoli), Teatro centrale di Valona (Albania), Villa Pignatelli (Naples), Oratorio di San Quirino (Parma), Villa Fondi (Piano di Sorrento), Arco di Traiano (Ancona), Università degli Studi (Florence), Casa della Musica (Naples), Giardini Estensi (Modena), and Nanshan recreation and sports theater (Shenzhen, China).
Collaborations with artists and photographers
The band performed at the Comicon Festival with the painter
Milo Manara
Maurilio Manara (; born 12 September 1945), known professionally as Milo Manara, is an Italian comic book writer and artist.
Career
After architecture and painting studies, he made his comics debut in 1969 drawing for ''Genius'', a fumetti neri ...
, for the presentation of his book on Caravaggio.
The cover picture and all pictures of the album ''florilegium'' are photos by the German photographer Achim Bednorz.
The cover of the album ''Respiri'' is a photo by the Japanese photographer
Kenro Izu
is a Japanese-born photographer based in the United States. Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, editor. . Kyoto: Tankōsha, 2000. He is the founder of children's charity Friends Without a Border, for which he has received two awards. He h ...
.
The cover of the album ''I Maestri del Colore'' is a photo from one of the main Italian photographers,
Franco Fontana
Franco Fontana (born 9 December 1933) is an Italian photographer. He is best known for his abstract color landscapes.
Biography
Franco Fontana was born in 1933 in Modena. He started taking photographs in the 1950s when he was working as a deco ...
.
China tour
In December 2015, Corde Oblique were the first independent band to be invited for a tour of nine concerts in China.
in April 2018 the band performed in China again. They were part of the Nanshan Pop Festival 2018. Their show was at the big stage of the Nanshan recreation and sports theater, in the city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.
History of art
The group's music has a deep connection with the history of art. As an art historian, Riccardo Prencipe (Ph.D) worked for the critic texts for the exhibition in the National Museum of Capodimonte about the painting of a lute player by Jan Vermeer, and held a few lectures about ancient musical instruments through paintings, frescoes and statues (middle age and ancient Rome). He is also an art history teacher at a high school.
List of guests and contributions
In many years Prencipe wrote music and lyrics for many voices and musicians. Here a list of some musicians featured on Corde Oblique's albums:
* Caterina Pontrandolfo - vocals on all albums
* Maddalena Crippa - spoken vocals on "La Casa del Ponte"
* Miro Sassolini ex Diaframma - vocals on "Il Terzo Suono"
* Andrea Chimenti - vocals on ''Per la Strade Ripetute''
*
Duncan Patterson
Duncan Patterson (born 5 June 1975) is an English musician, best known for his work as a member of Anathema (1991–1998) and Antimatter (1998–2005).
Career
Patterson was a driving force behind Anathema's success during their earlier year ...
(
Anathema
The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe that something or someone is being hated or avoided. The other refers to a formal excommunication by a Christian denomination, church. These meanings come from the New Testament, where a ...
) - mandolin on ''A Hail of Bitter Almonds''
*Walter Maioli ( Synaulia) - flutes on ''A Hail of Bitter Almonds'' and ''I Maestri del Colore''
*Donatello Pisanello (Officina Zoé) - accordion on ''A Hail of Bitter Almonds''
* Floriana Cangiano - vocals on all except ''Respiri'' and ''I Maestri del Colore''
* Simone Salvatori ( Spiritual Front) - vocals on ''Volontà d'arte''
* Sergio Panarella (
Ashram
An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Daemonia Nymphe
Daemonia Nymphe (''Δαιμόνια Νύμφη'') is a Greek music band established in 1994 by Spyros Giasafakis and Evi Stergiou. The band's music is modeled after Ancient Greek music and is often categorized as neoclassical or neofolk.
Daemo ...
) - vocals on ''A Hail of Bitter Almonds'' and ''Per la Strade Ripetute''
*Luigi Rubino (
Ashram
An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Claudia Florio - vocals on ''Volontà d'arte''
* Catarina Raposo - vocals on ''Respiri'' and ''Volontà d'Arte
* Denitza Seraphim (Irfan) - vocals on ''I Maestri del Colore''
* Quartetto Savinio - appearance on ''I Maestri del Colore''
* Giuseppe Frana (Micrologus) - vocals on ''I Maestri del Colore''
*Rita Saviano - live vocals
*Edo Notarloberti (Argine,
Ashram
An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism.
Etymology
The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (<