by Melanie Wong
Czech singer/songwriter/violinist
Iva Bittová expertly charmed the audience Sunday night at (le) Poisson Rouge, her flowing pale-blue-and-white attire matching the ambient atmosphere she created. Beginning the set with a
mystical melody on the kalimba, an
African thumb piano, the audience was quickly placed in a semi-trancelike state.
Bittová stated that while each of the evening's “Fragments” were taken from her recent self-titled album, she could not guarantee any
specific order, and rather invited us to “fly somewhere” with her. The ensuing
journey was a beautiful and meditative cycle that ended just as it had begun, with
the mystical kalimba lullaby.
Bittová’s music is quite a mix of experimental, classical-crossover,
and world music; she plays violin while juxtaposing beautiful and often
virtuosic singing (in both English and Czech) with guttural grunts, growls, wailing sobs and cries,
tribal-like chanting, and even a little beat-boxing rhythm, together with
effectual dramatics in the form of foot-stamping, clapping, and dancing.
When
asked about the significance of switching languages within songs, Bittová
explained that she tries "use language as its own melodic instrument.” For
her, she says, “Quality and meaning of lyrics are most important.” From the
listener’s perspective, it was mostly impossible to understand the words she
was singing, but the poetry and emotion were clear, even without knowing
exactly what the language meant.
Bittová is a seasoned performer and glided seamlessly through each
piece, her vocal control, dynamic range, and pitch phenomenal throughout. The
audience was receptive, engaged, and silenced by the musical offering, seemingly afraid to even pick up a fork and knife for fear of clanking
silverware too loudly.
At the close, however, Bittová received an emphatic applause and
graciously performed a fun, upbeat encore that was met with laughter and an even
greater sense of appreciation.
You can catch Iva Bittová back in New York on August 29 at East
Village favorite, The Stone.