Jaime Mansilla is a renowned violinist and recording artist who has performed concerts in 30 different countries, in some of the best concert halls of the world. His experience in and passion for music is unquestionable as you listen to his recent releases, beginning with the iconic Figaro.
Jaime Mansilla’s performance and presentation of Figaro is easily as skillful and fluidly entrancing as you’d hope. The track has every bit of lightness combined with the necessary high energy and seemingly free-flowing vibrancy required to really carry the inner sentiments and emotions of the piece. Throughout the recording, Mansilla exercises his connection to the music, offering up these endlessly impressive segments that unite to create before you a complex yet ultimately very smooth and mesmerizing journey. The evolution within the track is flawlessly captured, the changes from the utterly joyful to the somewhat thoughtful or mildly concerned are detectable but only briefly affect you – the experience is everything it should be; a uniquely detailed story that carries you off somewhere far away from your current moment.
Nessum Dorma is a considerably gentler and perhaps more reflective piece of music. It showcases Mansilla’s ability to shift the pattern of his playing entirely, to represent whatever the mood or the emotion of the situation effectively needs. There’s something hypnotically delicate about his performance here and the way the music lightly gathers momentum and passion. It’s recognisable of course, but it feels something like taking a new or different route though familiar territory. Those unmistakable, key moments are stunning and capture the essence of the piece beautifully. The build-up behind the leading instrument adds just enough surrounding colour and detail to help it shine with subtle brightness.
Un bel di Vedremo gorgeously intertwines multiple instruments to carry the calmness and purity of this piece in an immediately comforting way. There are distinct dashes of melancholy and weight that appear intermittently with the lightness elsewhere, and this is again represented in a way that feels like a short film appearing before you. The music has the cinematic strength of any well presented story, and in this case, it is as much the additional details as the leading performance itself that creates such a compelling soundscape. As the piece progresses, the music seems to pour through so naturally that it guides your feelings and your thoughts in a manner that needs no analysis – it just does what music intends to do, and does it well. The rising intensity again succeeds in captivating and surrounding you in an all-immersive style.
La Donna E Mobile is the final of Jaime Mansilla’s recent releases, a fourth and equally familiar, comforting piece of music that has been quite flawlessly performed for your listening pleasure. There’s a consistent lightness throughout these recordings that I mention again because it really gives the music that widely accessible feel. The stops and starts grab your attention, but not in an overly heavy or jarring manner. There’s always a smoothness, there’s always a potential for this to be listened to in any number of settings. It’s easy to get lost within the collection, and indeed within each individual piece. It’s easy to press play at any time and let the performance and the emotion of it uplift and entertain you – just as you’d hope from your choice of escapism or a soundtrack to enhance your day.
Jaime Mansilla is raising the bar higher and higher with his performances and his musical journey to date. These latest recordings capture the brightness of his playing, his skill, and his connection to the music in an impressive way.
These tracks were recorded with Jaime’s Violin A. Stradivarius of 1701, and accompanied by the NY Philarmonia Orchestra. They are part of a series of new recordings that will continue to emerge throughout the rest of the year. Visit Jaime Mansilla’s Website for more information. Find & follow him on Soundcloud.
https://soundcloud.com/jaimemansilla/nessum-dorma
