Cirque du Soleil

[ You are here: Grand Chapiteau | Musique | Ovo ]

Grand
Chapiteau

Musique

OVO
CDSMC-10033

Composer /// Berna Ceppas

Run Time (73:49)

 01: "Brisa do Mar".......... (4:48)
 02: "Foreigner"............. (2:57)
 03: "Ants".................. (6:47)
 04: "Cocoon"................ (2:17)
 05: "Frevo Zumbido"......... (3:32)
 06: "Orvalho"............... (5:49)
 07: "Carimbó de Creatura"... (4:52)
 08: "Love Duet"............. (6:43)
 09: "Scarabées"............. (4:52)
 10: "Sexy Web".............. (5:37)
 11: "Legs".................. (2:52)
 12: "Flea Girls"............ (3:53)
 13: "Super Hero"............ (6:12)
 14: "Secret Samba Luv"...... (3:10)
 15: "Parede"................ (6:30)
 16: "Banquete".............. (2:52)

[ Liner Notes • CD Review • Release History ]

{ Return to Top }

Forward

From the Composer - Berna Ceppas { Read }

From the Musical Director - Alain Vinet { Read }

Album Production Notes { Read }

Song Credits

BRISA DO MAR - { Credit }

FOREIGNER - { Credit }

ANTS - { Credit }

COCOON - { Credit }

FREVO ZUMBIDO - { Credit }

ORVALHO - { Credit }

CARIMBÓ DA CREATURA - { Credit }

LOVE DUET - { Credit }

SCARABÉES - { Credit }

SEXY WEB - { Credit }

LEGS - { Credit }

FLEA GIRLS - { Credit }

SUPER HERO - { Credit }

SECRET LUV SAMBA - { Credit }

PAREDE - { Credit }

BANQUETE - { Credit }

{ Return to Top }

Text by: Keith Johnson | May 2010
Fascination! Newsletter, Issue #76

"Sounds Different, yet the Same: An OVO CD Review"

The 2009 Cirque du Soleil tent production Ovo has been a flashpoint for many fans. They debate the concept, plot and costuming, but particularly the music. Composed by Berna Ceppas, the score has taken Cirque away from its world-music oriented, more traditional European form of composition and rooted it securely (some have suggested monotonously) in the music of Brazil.

With the CD now available, co-produced by Ceppas and Cirque's Musical Director Alain Vinet, the debate has arisen again. While pulling Cirque music away from its traditional anchor is one way to look at the album, perhaps the more important consideration might be: regardless of the quality of the music or the way it is used in the show (or even the quality of the show) does the CD serve as a good souvenir of the show itself? And does its production address concerns that fans have voiced in the past?

After seeing the show in New York during CirqueCon 2010 and listening to the CD, on both counts I would say the answer is YES. Though I would agree that when listened to on its own the CD sounds like any one of numerous Putamayo Brazilian-music collections available in record stores and gift shops everywhere, the CD is an accurate representation of the music as heard in the show, mostly in show order. It includes most all of the shows major musical themes, arranged and sounding as they are played in the show.

[ Read More ]

And though it adds Brazilian musicians to add weight to the arrangements it includes most of the show's creation musicians:

Marie-Claude Marchand - Singer (Canada)
Jean-François Bédard - Bandleader, Bass, Guitar, Cello (Canada)
Caroline Lemay - Oboe, English Horn, Flutes, Keyboards (Canada)
Sébastien Savard - Violin, Guitar, Erhu, Vocals (Canada)
Iñaki Dieguez - Accordion (Spain)
Daniel Baeder - Drums (Brazil)
Renato Martins - Percussion (Brazil)

The CD is chock full of music clocking in at almost 74 minutes, getting an "A" in musical value for the cost from me. In another nice enhancement, the booklet in many cases notes what acts go with what songs and in other instances places pictures near song credits to give a visual connection, something we'd love to see continued. Those listings and some research bring us this listing of the CD's songs in the order they appear in the show. Note how, in a form followed by the ZED CD, the music pretty much follows show order.

Several musical moments stand out for me. The guitar in several places has a pleasing low-slung twang. Each time I hear the deep bass notes of "Cocoon" they tickle my ear and have me waiting for their next appearance. The Oboe & Violin duet in "Love Duet" is also lovely.

Some of the criticism of "sameness" to the CD is justified. In many instances the songs set up a groove, go along for awhile with a bit of variation and then end. There is less variety of arrangement in the tracks than found on other Cirque CD's (though that could just be a byproduct of the Brazilian musical styles used).

And as with any CD there are moments that are less than stellar. Accordionist Iñaki Dieguez has a tendency to fill his solos with a flurry of notes that can be hard to follow. A series of cascading notes in "Sexy Web" sound poorly mixed (or include a slightly off-key vocal where it shouldn't). As we have noted in other Cirque CD reviews, there are some themes you wish were expanded upon here that weren't, such as "Cocoon." And two themes reappear: the body of "Carimbó da Creatura" is a reprise of the "Ants" theme, and the intro to "Flea Girls" is a slight variation on "Foreigner." But overall we find most all the main musical themes represented in the CD. (Though we happily note it doesn't include a rendition of "La Cucaracha" that is briefly played near the end of Act One.)

One other moment caught our ears. "Banquete," the show finale, is sung mostly in Portuguese and partly in French. It is thus startling to hear the singer sing one line in English. It comes across as a "Did I hear that right?" moment until it happens again later in the song, sending one scurrying for the lyric sheet.

While the style of the CD is certainly not "traditional" Cirque du Soleil, and wouldn't be a good choice as an introduction to Cirque music, overall this is a good souvenir of the show. Several fan requests for soundtracks have been addressed here:

Using creation musicians and vocalists - check
Sounds like the music as heard in the show - check
Includes most of the music present in the show - check
Over 70 minutes long - check

We CAN say the "Ovo" CD carries on the positive trend that has been seen recently in the ZAIA and ZED soundtracks as well as the "25" compilation. Whether the music itself is too far from what you expect Cirque music to be is up to you. But they did a great job putting it on disk.

And for a soundtrack CD you can't ask for much more than that.

{ Return to Top }

Alternate Visuals

{ Original Cover }

Edition Info

Cirque du Soleil Musique {2004+}
Released: April 13, 2010 (iTunes)
Released: April 27, 2010 (Stores)

• Catalog #: CDSMCD-10033-2
• UPC: 8-43277-02867-0