Andrea Orlando - La Scienza delle Stagioni - 2023
“... the successor to the debut album “Dalla Vita Autentica" ...”
intro
A few years ago, in 2017 to be precise, I described Andrea Orlando's debut solo album as "a small diamond full of skillfully played music and passionately sung vocals". Last year the successor to the debut album “Dalla Vita Autentica" was released under the name “La Scienza delle Stagioni”. For those readers who are not yet familiar with the name Andrea Orlando, the man provided the drums and percussion on albums by Italian bands such as Finisterre, La Coscienza di Zeno and La Maschera di Cera to just to name a few. On this new album Andrea is responsible for all the music and lyrics, and in addition to the drums and percussion he also plays most of the keyboard parts. If you like the full string sounds of the Mellotron you should definitely read on.
line-up
Meghi Moschino - vocals; Luca Scherani - piano; Stefano Marelli - Electric and Acoustic guitars; Pietro Martinelli - bass, contra bass; Agostino Macor - Moog; Andrea Orlando - drums, organ, synth, Mellotron, Electric piano, glockenspiel, harpsichord; Laura Marsano - Electric guitar; Valeria Trofa - English horn; Marco Mascia - violin; Matteo Nahum - Electric guitar; Boris Valle - piano; Fabio Zuffanti - bass; Pierenzo Alessandria - Electric guitar; Kim Schiffo - cello; Christian Budeanu - viola; Carlo Oneto - French horn
review
The album opens with the almost eleven-minute long "Ancora Luce" (10:55). After the piano and the rhythm section's outbursts, a part follows with atmospheric keyboard parts that slowly develop into beautiful melodies that accompany the beautiful vocals of singer Meghi Moschino. The music is very atmospheric and I hear many influences of classical music in the beautiful orchestrations. Melody is the key word here. In the last part of this beautiful opener the music develops into real RPI (Rock Progressivo Italiano) with wonderful organ, synth and Mellotron parts. It's a convincing opener.
The second song "Tracce" (10:34) also almost reaches the eleven-minute mark. It opens with guitar and electric piano, which are soon supported by beautiful keyboard strings. The music remains atmospheric and melodic and a bit on the mellow side of the progressive rock spectrum. There are more and more classical influences in the music. For example, you hear the English horn in this song. You can enjoy wonderful melodic orchestrations again. The electric piano gives a jazzy vibe to the whole, while the melodic electric guitar from the opening returns. Very slowly the music gains some intensity, but it remains very melodic.
"Il Sogno di Anastasia (Parte Prima)" is a shorter song and it has a more uptempo opening. But this abruptly changes into a beautiful vocal part with an acoustic guitar accompaniment. This is then expanded with an atmospheric synth and Mellotron parts that atmospherically support the vocals. The instrumental and uptempo "City 40" has more prog influences, but the classical influences are never far away. In this song the musical palette is even expanded to include the violin. This is the song with the most rock influences so far. However, there are again wonderful layers of keys and strings.
"Stagione Lontana" opens with a wonderful Mellotron part. After this the piano is added. However, the delicate and passionate vocals are introduced by beautiful Mellotron melodies. After the convincing vocals, the electric guitar takes over the melody line, still accompanied by full keyboard strings. This song developed into one of my personal favorite songs. The Mellotron parts give me goosebumps. And that doesn't happen often to me anymore, so this is a big compliment.
Then it's time for the second part of "Il sogno di Anastasia (Parte seconda)". This part is also instrumental and after an initial uptempo part, this part grows into the next highlight of this fantastic album. The full keyboard strings and beautiful melodies achieve this for me. The album closes with the epic "La strada del Ritorno" (15:02). The piano and horn provide a classical opening. When the first Mellotron notes join in, you as a listener are transported to prog heaven. The beautiful melodies have an overwhelming effect on me, how beautiful music can be. After six and a half minutes the music picks up pace and becomes more powerful. But the keyboard strings and Mellotron remain and slowly the music takes on a more symphonic character. In the last part the classical piano (Luca Scherani) and vocals return for a while and we slowly work towards a climax in terms of intensity. The English and French Horn add an extra classic touch to this absolute highlight of this beautiful album.
conclusion
Andrea Orlando convinces with this beautiful second solo album. Don't expect dazzling and freaky percussion parts from this multi-instrumentalist and composer who became known for his drumming. Andrea has developed into a talented composer who merges the worlds of progressive rock and classical music. The melodies and orchestrations are of an exceptional level. And I'm impressed by his beautiful Mellotron parts on this album. The atmosphere is a bit more towards the mellow side of the musical spectrum. In addition to the wonderful parts of all his Italian friends (see credits) from the prog scene, I would like to mention vocalist Meghi Moschino. She convinces with her beautiful contribution to this album. Personally, I think "La Scienza delle Stagioni" is the most beautiful album that has been released in the past year. In any case, it deserves a larger audience. It is an album that grows with every listen. This is a mandatory purchase for fans of RPI (Rock Progressive Italiano) and for open-minded prog fans who are also open to the world of classical music (and actually also for fans of the Mellotron). And to all other music lovers, open your mind and be surprised by this wonderful album.