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Lucia Micarelli — Music from a Farther Room
(Reprise 48795, 2004, CD)

by David Bischoff, Published 2008-01-01

Music from a Farther Room Cover art So, I've got this record to review. Drop-dead gorgeous raven-haired violin goddess, an obviously classically trained violinist with that Trans-Siberian Orchestra rock twist on your grandparents' Montovani records. Then, synchonicity strikes. Free ticket for a show. Josh Groban? There at his show though, is this beautiful violinist, wearing an evening dress with more slits than Ceasar on the Ides of March. She's playing like Paganini meets Van Halen and... yes! It's Lucia Micarelli! And in the middle of the treacle she has a solo number — a show-stopping Led Zeppelin number! "Kashmir." As hot as violins can be, for rock they tend to get thin and Papa John Screechy. Still, as bands like String Driven Thing and It's a Beautiful Day show, there's a place. Farther Room cannily puts the violin pretty much in service of the tunes, and the melodies here are nice, and nicely played. Cuts like "Meditation from Thaïs" really show Micarelli's expertise. The standout, in my opinion, is the lovely Irish tune "She Is Like the Swallow" with a goosebumpy vocal by Leigh Nash, who sounds for all the world like a Celtic Dolly Parton. The version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" doesn't quite fit in with the rest. I liked Zep better. Word is that many have seen her with Jethro Tull. And while this is pretty much music for BMW's and wine-and-cheese parties amongst the hoi polloi, this is a lovely souvenir of that Josh Groban experience. Unlike the blue-haired ladies swooning over Josh, I swooned over Lucia.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 35, 2004 releases

Related artist(s): Lucia Micarelli

 

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