Dazzlingly beautiful to the point where you don’t wish to listen to anything other than this album on repeat play.
This album is amazing and totally unique. But also, in some respects, it’s really quite bonkers. It shouldn’t actually exist… in this compartmentalised, musical pigeon holing world we’ve always known.
I think I’ve just discovered a new genre that might make me dispense with my entire musical collection and start from scratch again… just because of Patrizia. Actually, someone stop me before I do. No, really!
Italian born, Canadian raised and Toronto based Patrizia is, in a nutshell, a “Rock Opera Goddess!” She’s been variously described as the ‘female Freddie Mercury’ and “Canada’s next sensation” but what she really is, is utterly fascinating! She’s a musical visionary by melding Opera, Rock, Metal and Classical into one heck of a creative hot pot – a quite stunning vocalist, and theatrically entertaining.
Patrizia is described as “a four octave dramatic coloratura Soprano” and her voice is equally on a par with the legendary Maria Callas or the more recent Operatic sopranos like Sarah Brightman, Katherine Jenkins, Natalie Dessay, Cheryl Studer and Anna Netrebko amongst many others.
‘Rock The Throne’, her third album, continues the theme of Rock covers and her own interpretations of famous classical pieces and Operas. The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ is one of her favourite songs as she identifies with its anti-war sentiment. As the original key was too low Patrizia re-arranged it to suit a Rocked up, gritty version sung with verve and bile as she eschews the over-the-top Operatic approach. ‘Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ is a song that most represents her – recognizing what and who she is, featuring an orchestral intro before the heavy guitar and dramatic drums cut in. Again, she reigns in the Operatic to sing in a softer Soprano voice. Queen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’ is made for Patrizia but it’s a restrained approach amongst the piano-led beginning and flamenco guitar, however, her voice is pitch perfect and she shows amazing sustain on several notes.
Several originals are aired with a quirky Pop Rock ‘I Won’t Stop Believin’’ which won a Toronto award and the Metalised ‘On The Brink’ with Patrizia’s voice dominating.
However, her true Soprano range is mesmerizing as she tackles Bizet’s ‘Habanera (aria)’ from the Opera ‘Carmen’. Originally scored for a Mezzo-Soprano, Patrizia over dramatizes with sped up musical dramatics and echo effects whilst simultaneously alternating in Italian and French, sounding like a mash-up between Queen and ‘Rocky Horror’. Elsewhere she tackles Puccini’s ‘Vissi D’Arte’ from the Opera ‘Tosca’ (sung in Italian) and adds her own interpretation with English lyrics to Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ and Carl Orff’s internationally famous ‘O Fortuna’ from his cantata ‘Carmina Burana’.
Dazzlingly beautiful to the point where you don’t wish to listen to anything other than this album on repeat play.
Carl Buxton