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Charlotte Hug: In Resonance With Elsewhere
by John Eyles
Born in Zurich, Switzerland, in May 1965. Charlotte Hug gained degrees in classical music, pedagogy and fine arts, and won such awards as “Artist in Residence" in London. By the time she was thirty, Hug had begun recording at various locations in Switzerland, the resulting music being part of her first album, Mauerraum Wandraum (ASM/STV, 1999) on which she played viola and electronics, as well as conceiving, composing and producing it. That album was followed by further solo ...
Continue ReadingMaggie Nicols, Caroline Kraabel, Charlotte Hug.: On Dizziness
by John Eyles
Maggie Nicols, Caroline Kraabei and Charlotte Hug first came together as a trio in the autumn of 2000 when they played together in Nicols' front room. In May 2001 they came together again, playing a concert at the (now defunct) Freedom of the City festival in London's Conway Hall. At the same venue, on June 4th, 2001, they were recorded, without an audience, by Martin Davidson for his Emanem label. The resulting album, Transitions was released on the label in ...
Continue ReadingTwo contrasting releases from Charlotte Hug on the Fundacja Słuchaj! label
by John Eyles
For many followers of improvised music, their first experience of Switzerland's Charlotte Hug was around the turn of the millennium, as a viola player, an instrument on which she was classically trained. In collaborations such as the all-female trio with Maggie Nicols and Caroline Kraabel, or the London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO), she soon gained a reputation as a striking performer who was not shy of deploying innovative or experimental playing techniques. Gradually, the picture of Hug was filled ...
Continue ReadingCharlotte Hug - Frederic Blondy: Bouquet
by AAJ Italy Staff
Bisognerebbe vederli dal vivo Charlotte Hug e Frederic Blondy, ma ci si può accontentare di qualche loro spezzone di concerto passato in rete. Bisognerebbe vederli, perché altrimenti si fatica a credere a ciò che si legge sulla copertina del loro ultimo album intitolato Bouquet, ossia che Charlotte Hug e Frederic Blondy suonano rispettivamente una viola e un pianoforte. Bisognerebbe vederli perché quello che imperversa nei dodici brani del disco sembra un ensemble da camera eccentrico, spericolato, schizofrenico più che un ...
Continue ReadingCharlotte Hug & Frederic Blondy: Bouquet
by John Eyles
This meeting of French pianist Frédric Blondy and Switzerland's Charlotte Hug on viola and voice was studio-recorded in March 2008 in Paris. Performing as a duo since 2005, Hug and Blondy continue to do so. The album sleeve bears a phrase that is increasingly seen in recent years: “No overdubbing or electronic modification was used." In other words, everything on the album was played by the two musicians in real time. However, the aural evidence may lead some to doubt ...
Continue ReadingCharlotte Hug: Slipway to Galaxies
by Raul d'Gama Rose
There has always been something special about a performance by Charlotte Hug. Her revolutionary playing celebrated in the unique “soft-bowing" technique has turned the shrill glissandi of the viola into hues of deep, indulgent warmth. As her passion for the human interaction with her instrument developed, she began to meld her unique vocalistics, as well as her “Son-Icons" into her artful reinvention of the viola and her music. Although nothing about her work may ever be described as typical, Slipway ...
Continue ReadingCharlotte Hug: Slipway to Galaxies
by John Eyles
On parts of her last Emanem release, Fine Extensions (2010)--a duo with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm--in addition to playing her customary viola Charlotte Hug also used her voice. She sang in a quasi-operatic style as well as vocalizing, to produce eerie, other-worldly sounds, her voice combining with and complementing the strings to good effect. Now, on Slipway to Galaxies, Hug uses her voice for the first time on a solo recording. Recorded at the studio of Swiss radio DRS, ...
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