She was chosen by Sardinia's top movie director, Gianfranco Cabiddu, to be the leading voice for his renowned live music/cinematic mix project, Sonos de Memoria, featuring old film footage of Sardinia from the 1930s and today's leading musicians from the island playing over the film. Sonos has toured the world, with other well known Sardinian musicians, such as Paolo Fresu.
A more recent development in 2006 was a new project called "Visioni di Sardegna", written and produced by Elena Ledda's long time collaborator Mauro Palmas, who had old films of Sardinia from the Luce Institute restored and assembled 18 musicians under the direction of RAI TV director, Rodolfo Roberti. Special guest, renowned Greek singer Savina Yannatou, was invited to feature in the project to give it its unique pan-Mediterranean flavour. The project is ongoing in 2007.
The collaboration with Savina Yannatou, resulted in a series of ten concerts being given at the Half Note club in Athens at the end of March 2006. It met with fabulous critical acclaim and TV interest in Greece. This resulted in a CD being recorded ("Tutti Baci", Lyra 1095) by both of them and featuring Mauro Palmas and Primavera en Salonico.
Among her collaborations, feature the likes of Lester Bowie, Israeli singer Noa, Maria Del Mar Bonet (mallorca), Paolo Fresu, her long time personal friend as well as Andreas Vollenweider, Don Cherry, and Nana Vasconcelos. In 2005 Elena collaborated with Neapolitan violinist, Lino Cannavacciuolo (Peppe Barra's violinist and original founder of the Solis String Quartet who are now Noa's band of choice) to produce her latest CD "Amargura". A perfect marriage of Sardinian and Neapolitan sounds and rhythms.
The BBC's Andy Kershaw said of Elena "I planned a trip south to make a programme about Sardinian music, almost solely on the evidence of a CD I was given of Elena's voice. We went to Sardinia and I was blown away. Elena and her band make traditional music from Sardinia using all the mainstream instruments, with hardly any 'traditional sardinian' instruments in sight, yet it sounds so traditional and so not-mainstream. They have achieved a truly unique and refreshing sound. Clearly rooted to sardinian tradition, yet so modern." The programme, featuring many sardinian artists can be heard on (fast foward to the 20th minute of part 2 to hear Elena's interview). http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/onlocation/ram/corsica2.ram
Her latest recordings due out in 2007 were done with other sardinian legend, Andrea Parodi who died from cancer in October 2006, before completing the recordings. Elena was asked to sing at Parodi's funeral as they were friends, and both regularly featured in each other's recordings. Effectively, Elena Ledda's 2007 release will be a collaboration which was almost completed in the studio, though sadly Parodi never made it to the end.
Some more fragments of Elena's brilliant band can be heard here[1]
Recordings include:
Ammentos (1979)
Is Arrosas (1984)
Sonos (1989)
Incanti (1993)
Maremannu (2000)
Amargura (2005)
Versus
Elena Ledda Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
pappanta gran'ì oru
terra cambiaminci
aundi adessi coru.
Sa mat'e s'arenada
frorid'in bingia'e susu
gioia sa tua mirada
The lyrics of the song Versus by Elena Ledda are beautiful and poetic on their own, but they become even more meaningful when you understand their context. The song, which is in the Sardinian language, is a tribute to the island of Sardinia and its people. The first verse talks about the land and how it has changed, as if asking it to return to its natural state. The second verse describes the joy of seeing the beauty of the island and how it has enchanted the singer.
The song is full of cultural references and symbolism. "Pilloneddus de sicci" refers to the ancient stone structures that can be found throughout Sardinia, while "bingia" is a type of bush that grows on the island. The use of the Sardinian language is also significant, as it is a symbol of the island's unique cultural heritage.
Overall, Versus is a beautiful and moving tribute to the island of Sardinia and its people. It is a reminder of the importance of preserving our cultural heritage and the natural beauty of the world around us.
Line by Line Meaning
Pilloneddus de sicci
The dry bushes of the landscape
Pappanta gran'ì oru
Golden dust everywhere
Terra cambiaminci
Let's change the earth
Aundi adessi coru
Wherever we go, we'll go together
Sa mat'e s'arenada
The ground is sandy
Frorid'in bingia'e susu
Freshness in the air and stream
Gioia sa tua mirada
The joy in your eyes
M'incantada prus e prusu
Completely enchanted me
Contributed by Mila C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.