Italian pianist and composer, Olivia Belli is known internationally for her delicate, melodic compositions that draw inspiration from the natural world. Whether reflecting on the sun or the night sky or on her beloved local Italian landscape, this sensitive artist draws her creative impulses from nature which she shares with her audiences through her captivating, filigree-like compositions.
This first single from the Spring 2024 album already gives listeners a hint that Belli is taking things one step further here, representing in music not only the natural world around her but also the deep and meaningful spiritual world within. The word anima refers to an original animating principle or essence, translated from the Greek ‘psyche’. For Belli, ‘Anima I’(pronounced “Anima Uno”) represents that auspicious moment just before a journey of transformation begins.
Says Belli of this first taster from the new album: “’Anima I’ has a calm, elegiac quality. I composed it during a deeply meditative moment, where I was contemplating deeper meanings in life than superficial material gains and was searching for a way to share a more profound and spiritual connection with listeners.”
The result is a restorative, intimate and tranquil track that offers respite from turmoil and stress and welcome balm for the soul.
Born in Mantova and raised in Trieste, Belli studied piano and soon developed an affinity for composers of the 20th and 21st century, such as Glass, Ligeti, Reich and Stockhausen. Always surrounded by art and music, she founded her own arts festival and worked collaboratively across a range of genres with other artists including dancers, actors, photographers, writers and painters. Despite having always performed and composed, Belli had never thought to put her own compositional work into the public arena, having always kept it private. Once she did start sharing her own music on social media and streaming sites, however, she was hugely encouraged to continue by the overwhelmingly positive responses that she received, as ever more listeners connected to her deeply personal musical messages. This process lead to her signing with XXIM Records and an outpouring of her intricate and beguiling music.
