Tamara Lukasheva & Matthias Schriefl - Matria Vol. 2 (2025) [Hi-Res]

Alpine folklore, Alpine jazz, yodeling funk, or Ukrainian folklore? What exactly are Tamara Lukasheva and Matthias Schriefl serving up on this album? And are they completely serious about it all? Some of it sounds like it’s being played and sung with a wink. Anyone who knows Matthias Schriefl, who was born in Allgäu and has been living in the Rhineland for quite some time now, is also familiar with his sometimes offbeat humor. But he can get away with it. Because he is a jack of all trades, plays the trumpet and flugelhorn divinely, and also cuts a fine figure on the alpenhorn, euphonium, tuba, and accordion. Oh yes, he also sings. And his congenial partner Tamara Lukasheva? The singer and musician from Odessa has also been living on the Rhine for a long time and, thanks to her work as a soprano in the opera houses of her homeland, is so accomplished and vocally confident that she can easily keep up with all of Schriefl’s escapades and spontaneous ideas. So on “Matria” you hear clever music that falls between all chairs. Virtuosic, playful, amusing. Like in “Halb 4 Mambo,” a Cuban mambo garnished with all kinds of rhythmic ideas. You have to think of something like that first. But time and again, Matria also becomes profound, as in the touching piece “Home,” composed by the singer herself, a setting of a poem by her compatriot Vasyl Stus, a poet, publicist, dissident, and human rights activist. The “Kyiv Song,” a musical declaration of love to the Ukrainian capital, also touches the listener with its deep emotionality. Blurred boundaries, big emotions, exuberant fun, combative songs—all of this can be heard here. And you can sense that Tamara Lukasheva and Matthias Schriefl feel at home in each other’s cultural diversity, that they understand each other almost telepathically between these different worlds. And then suddenly the Ukrainian song culture is present again, and an alpine horn penetrates this sound cosmos. And traditional Ukrainian folklore mixes with the Bavarian way of life. “Matria” is a constantly surprising cultural clash in notes that takes the listener on adventurous, colorful, and soulful musical journeys.