VIOLETA RICCI E BRUNO BAVOTA - Be Human

A meeting in a recording studio conceived as the first act of a collaboration, a way to test a possible synergy. This is the premise behind “Be Human”, which turned a one-off occasion into something far bigger and more unexpected than planned. The idea came from Violeta Vicci, singer and violinist with an impressive list of prestigious collaborations to her name (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Fontaines DC), and our own Bruno Bavota: simply to sketch out a few ideas, flesh out a handful of tracks - certainly not to make a whole album.

The result is ten compositions conceived as a hymn to life, many recorded in a single session, relying on a chemistry that was largely unexpected. The natural meeting ground is melody, with writing that adheres to the tenets of the modern classical scene to which both artists belong, largely if not exclusively. To preserve the magic of the moment, the tracks were for the most part left imperfect, free of any excessive production polish. Listening to them, what stands out is their immediacy, the natural fit between two kindred spirits.

A virtuous intersection, played out on a shifting balance between the parts, with the strings often in the foreground and the piano punctuating the flow ("Missing Rain", "Ever Changing World"). But Bavota's contribution is anything but marginal: his phrasing, steeped in a lulling minimalism, proves decisive in shaping the whole ("In Motion", "Movement"), and the textures know how to take centre stage, triggering a deeply emotional dialogue, as in the magnificent onomatopoeic dance of "Golden Raintrops". In "Moonrise" it's Vicci's voice that comes into play, its fluttering introducing that ethereal dimension so dear to Julianna Barwick.

Different shapes of a kindred sensibility, which — in light of a first, thoroughly convincing result — we hope will find new ways to renew itself.

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12/06/2026