Alessio Pianelli has been called one of the best cellists of his generation. Born in 1989 into a musical family, Alessio studied music in Palermo as well as Switzerland. Krunk is his first music video, and it is a remarkable debut. This music video, directed by Francesco Siro Brigiano, is drawn from Pianelli’s latest album, A Sicilian Traveler (released on Rubicon Classics). The video is visually striking. It appears to have been shot on an island in the Mediterranean, perhaps the isle of Capri. There are towering cliffs, semi-submerged caves, and clear blue water. There is hardly a trace of man’s presence beyond a farm or other inscrutable set of buildings in the background near the end. Alessio is set up with his cello on a very shallow bit of water that makes it look like he’s floating. At first, this seems to be some sort of computer visual effect, but it becomes clear that this was indeed filmed in the water and that he is on a shallow reef.
The crystal clear waters are a perfect match for the refreshing and precise music we hear. The arrangement is simple. Cello with a chamber orchestra mixed quite far in the background. The music here sounds very modern, almost like something we might hear from Arvo Pärt. But it is in fact an interpretation of an Armenian folk song. The album from which this track was taken is in fact, as the title suggests, a bit of a journey around the world for the Sicilian cellist. In addition to Armenian folk songs, there are African American influenced pieces, as well as Romanian and Greek songs. The combination of traditional folk with classical sounds quite modern, but does retain a lot of what we can only imagine must have been the original’s folk charm.
The promotional material for Krunk in fact elaborates on this, noting that the album was born from, “the conviction that if we can trace a land’s lineage through its history or its language, we can also track it through its folk music.” Music is, of course, a universal language and so most able to cross the boundaries of nation, state and culture. And, being Sicilian, Alessio is in a perfect vantage point from which to observe and appreciate the various cultures who have by turns inhabited and dominated the island; the Greeks, Romans, Normans, Arabs and Spaniards, among others. From this crossroads of civilization, Alessio has drawn from innumerable sources to bring us this delightful album.
There does seem to be something primordial to this music. That is perhaps why Francesco Siro Brigiano chose to shoot the video on an island with caves. At one point it appears as though Alessio is making a cave painting. This reminds us of just how ancient our connection with music is. The campfire Alessio sits beside, even the sea, all seem to signal the elemental level of the piece. There are underwater shots that hint at the hidden depths behind the music.
Even the scenes of a tin soldier and a boy playing with a toy sword remind of the fundamental role played by strife. And what more beautiful image of the connection between music, nature and strife, but that of a single musician in both harmony and conflict with his instrument. This struggle is particularly evident in works for solo string instruments, and in particular Bach’s works for solo violin and cello. Alessio has himself grappled with these works in addition to composing many works of his own.
Alessio Pianelli, for his part is quite an accomplished musician. He is the recipient of the Borletti Buitoni Trust fellowship. He has won numerous prizes, including, Antonio Janigro International Cello competition. His instrument, which gets a lot of camera time in the film, is a 1921 Evasio Emilio Guerra cello.
Krunk itself has also been highly successful on Krunk circuit. It has won awards at the Vancouver Independent Film Festival, the Gold Star Movie Awards and the London International Monthly Film Festival. These laurels are well-deserved and we hope that it helps to promote this heavenly and dreamlike music to new audiences around the world.
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.