They Have Waited Long Enough [CD]

The music on this album grew from the idea for a new song cycle in which women-so often silent in history and mythology-were to speak for themselves and in which all material would be created and performed by women. The Ragazze Quartet found a true kindred spirit in soprano Katharine Dain. A remarkable group of female composers and librettists also joined the project entitled They Have Waited Long Enough, each contributing in their own unique and personal way. The result is a rich and diverse collage of songs by Aftab Darvishi, Annelies van Parys, Calliope Tsoupaki, Aida Shirazi, and Saskia Venegas Aernouts. What unites them is the urgency that resonates throughout: it is important-if not essential-that these stories are recorded and heard. The fact that these stories are historical or mythological does not make them any less relevant today. The female perspective carries just as much weight as the male one-and deserves to be remembered. In addition to soprano Katharine Dain, the Ragazze Quartet is joined by Raphaela Danksagmüller (duduk), Anna voor de Wind (clarinet), Osama Abdulrasol (qanun), Elif Canfezâ Gündüz (kemenche), Marianna Soroka (percussion), and Agata Kruszewska (percussion).