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Belladonna Image
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 6 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Artist(s): Mivos Quartet
  • Summary: One of two albums released by guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson features the Mivos Quartet on five compositions.
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  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Genre(s): Classical, Jazz, Avant-Garde, Chamber Music, Modern Composition, Structured Improvisation
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Jun 14, 2022
    100
    These are new landmarks in Halvorson’s already inimitable discography.
  2. Jun 14, 2022
    80
    Belladonna is as lighthearted as it is provocative. Halvorson's love of wide tonalities and intricate harmonic interplay are anchored by sophistication and a healthy dose of wry humor. She weaves them together in five pieces that nearly sing.
  3. The Wire
    Jun 14, 2022
    80
    It’s very easy to get lost in this music, in the sense of immersively absorbed rather than uncomprehending. [Jun 2022, p.47]
  4. Jun 14, 2022
    80
    The resulting music is stunning, perhaps a little more difficult to get a handle on than Amaryllis, but offering an invigorating glimpse into new territory for Halvorson. Though more abstract than its companion volume, Belladonna’s instrumentation tugs at the heartstrings aplenty.
  5. Uncut
    Jun 20, 2022
    80
    Halvorson's string arrangements admit complexity without overwhelming, and the Mivos String Quartet play gracefully and authoritatively. [Aug 2022, p.26]
  6. Jun 14, 2022
    77
    Belladonna removes the buttress of Amaryllis’s horns and rhythm section. At times, the guitar and string quartet move like a single amorphous organism, untethered from any particular pulse. At others, one voice will offer a steady ostinato as a home base for the others to wander away from and return to at will.