2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright has announced “Argentina” a song and accompanying video from his soon-to-be-released all-new concert recording. Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live. The new album arrives Friday, November 26 via BMG’s Modern Recordings on vinyl, CD, and digital download, with two additional bonus tracks on digital format and CD formats; pre-orders are available now HERE
PRE-ORDER RUFUS WAINWRIGHT AND AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA LIVE
Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live was recorded in January 2017 as Wainwright toured with the prestigious all-string ensemble Amsterdam Sinfonietta through the Netherlands. Curated by Wainwright, the ten concerts reflected the immense bandwidth of his musical influences and interests, spanning Verdi arias, pieces by Rameau and his beloved Berlioz, American standards, classics by Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, French chanson, songs by his family, and songs of his own, some written expressly for this program. At the album’s emotional center is an epic version of late Canadian singer-songwriter Lhasa de Sela’s harrowing “I’m Going In,” a song written about her own death from cancer at the age of 37. With Wainwright’s voice truly at the peak of its substantial power, Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live 2017 showcases the astounding artistic kinship between the celebrated singer-songwriter and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta – led by Candida Thompson – making these previously unreleased live recordings something utterly unique and entirely breathtaking.
Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live are heralded by a stunning version of “Argentina”, available as an instant grat download with all pre-orders and premiering today on all digital platforms.
“Argentina started as a simple love song to my husband with a simple melody over sparse piano accompaniment. It seems very French in its simplicity to me. It was written in South America. The melody stays in circles in the beginning of the verses only to break out and ascend to a climax as I talk about missing him way up north in Canada. With the Amsterdam Sinfonietta it turns into something a bit more grand, more romantic with sweeping and yearning violin lines.”
-Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright and Amsterdam Sinfonietta Live follow this month’s release of Rufus Wainwright: Unfollow The Rules – The Paramour Sessions, a new concert recording available now on vinyl and digital download HERE. The concert – which first premiered last summer in partnership with ALL ARTS and the WNET Group and later received a New York EMMY® Award nomination for its WNET broadcast – sees Wainwright performing songs from last year’s GRAMMY® Award-nominated Unfollow The Rules, recorded live in a beautiful ballroom at the famed Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles. Wainwright recently celebrated the album’s arrival with a striking rendition of “Peaceful Afternoon,” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (streaming HERE).
ABOUT AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA
Founded in 1988, Amsterdam Sinfonietta comprises 22 string players who perform under the leadership of violinist Candida Thompson, the orchestra’s concertmaster since 1995 as well as its artistic director since 2003. Their unique approach to music-making, without a conductor, distinguishes the group from traditional chamber orchestras, calling for an extremely intense degree of involvement from all the musicians. The repertoire covers a variety of styles, from baroque repertoire to contemporary new works.
Amsterdam Sinfonietta has made international tours of Europe, China, South America, and Australia, and performed at such iconic venues as the Barbican Hall in London, Cité de la Musique in Paris, the National Centre of Performing Arts in Beijing, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Widely acclaimed for its highly innovative programs and trademark versatility, the orchestra has collaborated with such diverse musical artists as Rufus Wainwright, Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, Jonathan Jeremiah, and the Dutch band De Dijk. For more information, please visit www.sinfonietta.nl.
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RUFUS WAINWRIGHT AND AMSTERDAM SINFONIETTA LIVE
