When Giuseppe Verdi and Johnny Cash hang out together…
There
are people you wouldn’t get into an opera house, even with
the most refined skills of persuasion. But listen to a concert of
the Luna Llena Duo once, and the fascination of the great arias
will get hold of you and keep you spellbound. What Simona Mango
and Bruce Reynolds – her a mighty classical mezzo-soprano
and him a through and through rock guitarist – get across
to their audience is far away from any stiffness and pomp. While
she delivers Bizet’s Carmen, Saint-Saëns’ Dalilah
or Tchaikovsky’s Olga, he coaxes chords from his guitar of
great elegance and beauty, and of no lesser goose-bump-potential
than those of an orchestra. And so, the audience sits there amazed
and ecstatic, harbouring the thought that well, maybe it wouldn’t
be too bad to go to the opera some time or other – and that’s
what makes Simona smile – removing all fear of classical singing
being close to her heart. © 2009 Karin Hänzi, stöbern |
Luna Llena Duo are Italian/ Swiss mezzo-soprano Simona Mango and British rock guitarist Bruce Reynolds. Though coming from diverse musical backgrounds they joined to create a unique approach to classical music and Neapolitan and Cuban songs. Why Nerapolitan and Cuban? Simona grew up in Naples and has the tradition of music from that city in her blood. Bruce grew up in Arabia and Central America and the Carribean and has been hugely influenced in his musical life by these formative years. Before they met in Bern, where they now live, they had many years of success in their own diverse musical field as solo artists. Simona studied classical singing in Rome. She perfected her art with world star soprano Luciana Serra. She sings in operas such as Madame Butterfly (Puccini), Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck), Nabucco (Verdi), Mefistofele (Boito), Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni), Così Fan Tutte (Mozart), West Side Story (Bernstein) and in works such as Händel’s Messiah, Mozart’s C minor Mass and Requiem and gives recitals with various accompanists. At the age of thirteen Bruce commenced classical guitar studies with Georges Sergides in London. He switched to the electric guitar at seventeen and worked in Europe and London as a studio guitarist and later, as a composer/ producer. His band credits include Mammoth, Gilbert O'Sullivan and Fullmoon with Bill Hurley. He is currently leading and producing the Bruce Reynolds Rock Trio. As a writer he composed the suite for the Battersea Power Station Development Project in London and as a producer started Mich Gerber's career in Switzerland with his critically acclaimed first CD "Mystery Bay". He recently released the solo CD "Dedication" and the Bruce Reynolds Rock Trio's Live CD "Cry Wolf".
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