Pelagos (album)

The theme of the album is "the suffering countries of the Mediterranean and Balkan areas."^[2] For the two days before the recording, Battaglia was in a monastery, "meditating upon the meaning of migration."^[2]

The album of solo piano performances by Battaglia was recorded at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy^[2] in May 2016.^[1] Two sessions were recorded at the same venue—one with an audience and one without.^[2] Some of the pieces include playing on a prepared piano.^[3]

Approximately four hours of music were recorded.^[4] Producer Manfred Eicher selected around two hours of playing for release.^[4] Of the tracks, five ("Pelagos", "Halap", "Exilium", "Migration Mantra" and "Ufratu") are Battaglia compositions,^[1] eleven are improvisations^[2] and one is a traditional Arabic song, "Lama Bada Yatathanna", that is performed twice.^[3] Applause was cut from the recording, so does not appear on the album.^[2]

Some of the track titles are in keeping with the album's theme: "Lampedusa" is an Italian island where migrant boats from Libya landed.^[2] "Horgos e Roszke" are towns on the Hungary–Serbia border.^[2] "Exilium" means "exile" in Latin; while "Destino" is Italian for "destiny".^[2] The first of these four is an improvisation; "Crushed notes, in pairs, become slowly louder, in protest or simply in pain."^[2] The second is also an improvisation, played quietly.^[2] The final two "are founded on a few dark repeating left-hand chords like knells of finality, from which Battaglia's right hand seeks release in markings upon silence, in isolated notes that gather to bare melodies."^[2] Additionally, "Ufratu" is named after the Euphrates.^[4]

The JazzTimes reviewer believed that this was the best of Battaglia's ECM recordings: "Pelagos is an achievement of extraordinary depth, realized through an extraordinary range of artistic means."^[2]