Hyacintus - Elydian (2002)

El gran Sandy recupera estos links y pasa a reparar un error histórico, y hablo del reconocimiento del gran músico argentino Jacinto Miguel Corral (alias Hyacintus, gran persona, además) y su obra- He podido comprobar personalmente que, por ejemplo, al público de Rusia y sus arlededores le gusta mucho sus trabajos, primero dado el estilo de música, ese rock sinfónico tradicional pero muy personal y con un gran trabajo de composición. Y considero al señor "Hyacintus" como un gran músico, que incluso ha diseñado un sistema teórico en el que la composición y la instrumentación forma parte del mismo esquema en el que juega el intelecto y la emotividad. Pero ese es otro tema... Disfrútenlo.

Artista: Hyacintus
Álbum: Elydian
Año: 2002
Género: Rock Sinfónico
Nacionalidad: Argentina
Duración: 54:24

Lista de Temas:
1. Acto I - Elydian (4:17)
2. Acto II - El Costo Del Tributo (5:06)
3. Acto III - Creciendo Con Su Secreto (3:32)
4. Acto IV - Overlay (5:51)
5. Acto V - Destruccion Y Desolacion (3:18)
6. Acto VI - Dolor En El Alma (5:37)
7. Acto VII - Marcha Hacia Elydian (3:56)
8. Acto VIII - Recorriendo Las Calles (4:13)
9. Acto IX - Dubiel (3:33)
10. Acto X - Adiestrmiento Y Preparativos (4:12)
11. Acto XI - Preludio (2:41)
12. Acto XII - La Batalla (4:48)
13. Acto XIII - Final (3:20)

Alineación:
- Jacinto M. Corral / guitarras, piano, teclados, bajo, cello, viola, percusión
Músicos invitados:
- Ed Martinez / batería y programación en 3, 7, 9, 12 y 13
- Victor Sanchez / percusión y coros en 2, 4, 7 y 13
- Ariel Sanchez / clarinete en 2

“Hyacintus” es el proyecto de Jacinto Miguel Corral, talentoso multiinstrumentista argentino con una formación clásica. Su estilo es un progresivo melódico sinfónico con la influencia tradicional de los años 70 y fuertes raíces clásicas (Wagner y Mahler). Sus trabajos son todos álbumes conceptuales caracterizados por solos de guitarra, sintetizadores melódicos y teclados exuberantes, construyendo diálogos entre los instrumentos para lograr atmósferas sinfónicas de ensueño que terminan recordando a Wakeman, Vangelis, The Alan Parsons Project. La banda presenta un material accesible con muy buenas estructuras que ofrecen matices suficientes para mantener la atención del oyente, especialmente para fans del progresivo melódico como The Enid, CAMEL, Mike Oldfield y similares.
'Elydian' es la primera obra de Hyacintus, un álbum conceptual basado en una historia medieval escrita por Theo Sperzeld y transcrita en el folleto del CD. Musicalmente el álbum fluye suavemente y se despliega como una obra de teatro que narra la historia de una antigua tierra conocida como Elydian. Está lleno de magnificencia especialmente en las vías más suaves. Influencias: Andrew Latimer (de Camel) Mike Oldfield, Rick Wakeman.

Vamos a los reviews:

Hyacintus es el pseudonimo de Jacinto M. Corral, un multi-instrumentista formado en los ambientes de los conservatorios. Hyacintus es un experto interprete de piano, guitarra y cuerdas, y ciertamente aprovecha toda su versatilidad para copar casi todos los roles musicales de este su primer CD, ‘Elydian’. Se trata de un trabajo de corte conceptual, basado en un relato de Theo Sperzeld. El se hace cargo de todos los teclados, todas las guitarras electricas y acusticas, el bajo, el cello, el violin, y tambien las secuencias programadas de ritmo. Con la ayuda ocasional de un puñado de colaboradores en percusiones y clarinete, Hyacintus logro completar esta secuencia de 13 temas, las mismas que fueron mezcladas y masterizadas por el mismo en su propio centro de grabacion bonaerense, Temporal Studios, entre Septiembre del 2001 y Marzo del 2002 (!vaya labor que se ha puesto este tipo sobre sus espaldas!)
El estilo progresivo de Hyacintus es tipicamente sinfonico, tal como corresponde a su formacion academica y finas habilidades interpretativas. Densas capas y texturas de teclado, solos marcadamente melodicos de guitarra y sintetizador, y pasajes musicales de corte barroco, estos son los rasgos mas prominentes y recurrentes en el material de ‘Elydian’. Como guitarrista, las mayores influencias de Hyacintus parecen ser Mike Oldfield y Andy Latimer, mientras que como tecladista, Rick Wakeman resulta la referencia mas notoria (de hecho, el nombre de este ultimo aparece en la lista de agradecimientos por concepto de inspiracion). Hasta cierto punto, este disco puede describirse como un cruce entre ‘Return to the Centre of the Earth’ y ‘Nude’, pero quiero aclarar que esta referencia debe ser de utilidad solamente para quien lee esta revision sin haber escuchado el disco todavia: ciertamente, tambien hay una sensibilidad melodica personal que se trasluce a lo largo de los 54 minutos que dura ‘Elydian’.
Tal como indique mas arriba, las partes percusivas son en buena parte programadas, pero el resultado sonoro no es frio, pues nunca se da un abuso en el empleo de la tecnologia en detrimento del factor melodico: muy por el contrario, la melodia es la gran protagonista aqui. Esto se nota evidentemente en los numeros mas suaves, que en mi opinion son los mas logrados del disco: el tema homonimo de apertura, ‘Marcha hacia Elydian’, ‘Dubiel’, y el tema de cierre exhiben una gran belleza formal, destilando a su vez una genuina emotividad. Por su parte, ‘Preludio’, basado en una secuencia de arpegios de guitarra clasica, es un claro ejemplo de suprema fineza. Es en los numeros mas agresivos donde encuentro los puntos mas debiles del repertorio. ‘Owerlag’ y ‘La Batalla’, a pesar de exhibir un buen trabajo composicional (especialmente en el primer caso), no logran, en mi modesta opinion, sacarle todo el potencial epico que la ocasion ameritaba. El acento epico lo encuentro mas logrado en ‘Adiestramiento y Preparativos’, por ejemplo, un tema menos frenetico que los dos anteriormente mencionados.
Mi diagnostico general es bastante positivo. Las altas dosis de belleza y elegancia de ‘Elydian’ lo convierten en un buen ejemplo de creatividad musical en la escena prog sudamericana contemporanea.

César Inca

Although Jacinto Corral's "Elydian" is the all-instrumental album, it is, nevertheless, an epic work of a unified thematic concept. The accompanying text represents a story of a man named Dullbeck, whose heroic life was devoted to fight for freedom of his homeland Elydian (VIII century, A. D.). On the whole, the stylistics of music that is featured on "Elydian" is nothing else but a blend of Classic Symphonic Art-Rock and Classical Academic Music. However, only the first five Acts of the album completely conform to this definition. The alternation of bombastic arrangements, performed with the use of Rock instruments, and purely symphonic structures is typical for all of them. Though Act I isn't that rich in sounds of string and chamber instruments, unlike all of the other Acts. It must be said that all the solos and passages of string, chamber, and brass instruments, that Corral masterfully elicits from his synthesizers (including a string ensemble), sound very realistic. Acts VI, VIII, & X are the works of a real Classical Academic Music. Performed without percussion instruments (except for orchestral dulcimers & kettle-drums), they're just filled with a wide variety of diverse and, often, contrasting interplay between solos of viola, oboe, harp, clavier, various cellos and brass, and passages of piano and acoustic or classical guitar. The solos of electric and bass guitars were very skillfully interwoven with the symphonic structures that predominate throughout each of the said three compositions. In a full concordance with the laws of Academic Music, all the arrangements that are present on them develop constantly. Despite the fact that Act XI features only diverse interplay between passages of acoustic guitar, viola, and string ensemble, it is a brilliant piece of a true Classical Academic Music, as well as all three of the aforementioned compositions. The music that is featured on both of the last tracks on the album (Acts XII & XIII) represents a real Classic Symphonic Art-Rock that, however, was composed and performed by the laws of Classical Academic Music. Of course, there aren't repeats on these pieces as well, while the parts of Rock, chamber, and string instruments are intermixed among themselves very effectively. In my view, all those Acts that, one way or another, present Classical Academic Music are the best compositions on the album. These are Acts VI, VIII, X, XI, XII, & XIII. Of course, Acts I to V are also in many ways remarkable works. Both of the remaining tracks, Acts VII & IX are slightly more accessible than all the other pieces that are present on the album. Art-Rock with the elements of light Classical Music would probably be the best definition of the contents of these two pieces. By the way, the short and different versions of the main theme of Act I appear on Acts 7 & 13.
"Elydian" by Hyacintus is not only a masterpiece, but also one of the most original albums that I've heard since the beginning of the new millennium. I am familiar with the creation of several Brazilian, Peruvian, Chilean, and Venezuelan bands and performers. However, it turned out to be that the first album of Argentinean Progressive, that I've just became acquainted with, surpasses any of the other albums by the South American performers that I've heard until now (honest). Although many of the tracks that are present on "Elydian" contain a highly complex music, I am sure that most of the true connoisseurs of Classic Symphonic Progressive should fall in love with this album.

Progressor

Hyacintus is the name chosen by Argentinian multi-instrumentalist and singer Jacinto Miguel Corral to fullfill his music dreams and ideas in a personal project.For his first ever release Corral composed all tracks on his own forces and these would be recorded between September 2001 and March 2002 at the Temporal Studios in Buenos Aires with the help by three session musicians on drums, percussion and choirs.This would be called ''Elydian'', a product of Viajero Inmovil Records.
Having a Classical education, Corral proposed an often grandiose, very atmospheric but not always flawless Symphonic Rock album in the vein of THE ENID, FOCUS, JAIME ROSAS or ANDREW ROUSSAK, sometimes with more emphasis on the symphonic than on the rocking side, which is split in 15 short acts.His ideas are quite interesting, some of them are even great, with the tracks having a solid rock instrumentation being undoubtfully the best ones.Corral provides some tasteful guitar chops, lovely acoustic textures, fast piano paces, grandiose synth-driven symphonicism and some trully great atmospheres in these acts, just prooving his talent.His switch from pounding rhythms to delicate melodies to well-crafted solos is very pleasant to say the least.The real flaws of this album though come from the pure symphonically arranged pieces, where the digital technology nothing but helps.While Corral's Classical approach in these specific acts is decent, the plastic sound of keys and the false sound of the string/wind arrangements seem very amateur to an experienced ear.Pitty these ideas are not transformed into a really bombastic musicisnship.
Hyacintus is a project to watch despite some black holes in this release, as most of the pieces sound really great.A nice discovery for all fans of Progressive Rock and especially those deep into Symphonic Rock. Recommended.

Psarros

Hyacintus was an Argentine project run by the multi-instrumentalist Jacinto Corral. He released three albums under this name and Elydian is the first album in this trilogy.
Elydian is a rather heavy orchestrated album which is leaning far more towards classical music than progressive rock. But there is also some acoustic guitar driven melodies inbetween. But most of the music is very complex with a lot of bombastic melody lines and themes.
This album most of all sounds like a movie soundtrack. For all I know, this is where Jacinto Corral moved to after the three Hyacintus albums. Elydian most certainly showcases his abilities to write film scores.
In it's own right, this is a good classical music/symphonic prog crossover album. There is not really any great music here though. But it is a good piece of music and that is all.

Toroddfuglesteg

Hyacintus is not a band, but Argentinian talented multi-instrumentalist Jacinto Corral's nickname in the prog business. Hyacintus' style is typically symphonic, very much in tune with his academic musical leanings and performance skills. Lush orchestra-like keyboard layers, melodically oriented solos on guitar (mostly) and synth, and baroque passages are the most prominent features in 'Elydian', which is a concept album based on a story written by Theo Sperzeld (transcribed in the CD's booklet). The structure and mood of all tracks - or "Actos", as they are labeled on the CD's back cover - are entwined in order to convey the continuity of the events in Sperzeld's story. As a guitarist, Hyacintus' most notable influences seem to be Andrew Latimer (from Camel) as well as Mike Oldfield; as a keyboardist, Rick Wakeman is the most obvious reference. To a certain degree, Elydian could be described as Nude-meets-Return to the Center of the Earth. Most of the percussive sounds are programmed, but it should not lead the reader to thinking that the overall sound is 'cold' or 'techno-oriented': in fact, much of the prototypical melodic sensibility in South American prog is present here. This can be specially noticed on the softer numbers, such as the opening title track, "Marcha hacia Elydian", and "Dubiel", the latter being perhaps the most captivating. Another excellent track is "Prelude", where the classical guitar is featured in a most impressive way, a-la Anthony Phillips. The strongest tracks (4 and 12) are, in my opinion, the less successful, since they fail to properly convey their epic potential with the magnificiency required: maybe it's just a certain flaw in the production, since the compositions turn out to be well accomplished - in fact, the Beethovenish orchestral colours of 'Owerlag' are quite impressive. In general, this is a very good work of symph prog, and Hyacintus is certainly a writer/peerfomer to pay close attention to. His following effort 'Fantasia in Concerto' is another gem... but that's another story.

César Inca

Very few reviews for this album.
The band (or artist) doesn't belong to the heavy weight of the South American scene of course, but this album holds sufficient good moments to pay attention to it.
The multi instrumentalist Jacinto Corral demonstrates great maestria (with a serious inclination to some Oldfield-esque tendencies like during "Recorriendo Las Calles"). Somewhat pompous at times like during the splendid title track (or "Acto I").
I just feel a bit ashamed that there aren't long numbers with bombastic passages. This work is all instrumental and lacks at times in passion. Still, it is certainly a good album which should be enjoyed by lots of symph prog as I am. As Cesar mentioned in his review, the tact of Anthony Phillips is very present during some tracks.
There are plenty of emotional passages while you are listening to this work ("Dubiel"): guitar or course, but not only. Keyboards are distinctive and very much enjoyable. The minus point maybe is that there not enough moments that lead the listener to a true ecstasy. Maybe somewhat short in terms of song writing as a whole.
As usual, IMHHO, it is very difficult to imagine a storyboard while listening to a pure instrumental album. I made this comment already a long time ago while I was writing my review of the "Snow Goose". I haven't changed my mind.
This "Elydian" album is nice to listen to and should please your ears. But don't expect a masterpiece. A good album, this is how I consider this work. Nothing to blow your ears but a good time to spend.

Daniel

Hyacintus is the personal project of Argentinean Jacinto M. Corral. Corral plays a variety of instruments including electric and classical guitar, piano, Keyboards, bass, cello, viola and midi programming. Ed Martinez and Victor Sanchez add some percussion and Ariel Sanchez plays clarinet on track 2. The music is a hybrid of instrumental styles following a progressive classical mode with no particular ethnic influences.
After a nicely orchestrated beginning, the music relapses dangerous close to a “new age” feel. But my fears about this continuing are soon squelched by the rollicking “Owerlag” track 4, which rips along with a scorching midi guitar.
There’s a bit of an avant-garde element to the tracks that follow, but also the confrontation between syrupy string synths and assertive electric guitar. This ends in one never really knowing where the music is going to end up, particularly on the first few listens.
Overall, the 13 tracks (marked as Acts), comprise of 54 minutes of well recorded music. The use of a drummer is a nice addition because all too often multi-instrumentalists resort to cold-sounding drum machines to carry the rhythm of their music.
If I can find a criticism, the melodies are too eclectic. It’s hard to pinpoint passages that act as themes, which tie the music together. Some might see the style as complex and multi-layered, others as rambling and deconstructive.
As far as songs go, nothing particular stands out. There’s a nice medieval melody found in track 8, “Walking down the Streets” but it’s surrounded by other tracks that attract you one moment, then repel you the next. Again, it seems to be the struggle between sweet new age sentiments and edgier, more progressive instrumental. The closing track, “Final” is gorgeous and powerful and ends the album on a very positive note.
As far as influences or sound-a-likes, the music resembles little bit of XII Alfonso without the vocals, mid eighties Mike Oldfield, Fonya, and the latter works of Bjorn Lynne.
All too often, pastoral instrumental albums have that problem of relapsing into a “New Age” feel. While “Elydian” certainly does that from time to time, there’s enough complexity and a variety of feels to make it enjoyable to those who like the soothing aspects of instrumental albums without becoming bored by repetition.

Richard Zywotkiewicz

Para escuchar temas de Hyacintus antes de bajarse el disco:
www.myspace.com/hyacintusmusic