SUSANI A Screenshot of Now

A Screenshot of Now
Music by Giacomo Susani (b. 1995)
Texts by Chinwe D. John (b. 1975)
ALEXANDER CHANCE, TIM MEAD countertenor
DANIEL NORMAN tenor
GIACOMO SUSANI guitar
CHINWE D. JOHN narrator
Linn CKD 782


"A Screenshot of Now" is a new song cycle for 3 solo voices and guitar composed by Giacomo Susani, set to poetry by Chinwe D. John who also appears as a narrator on this album, a crucial fourth voice. It's a dramatic, compelling exploration of modern life, covering capitalism, technology, love, nature, and mortality. It's title, which to my mind invokes Zeno's arrow, is typical of direct-but-poignant nature of the whole cycle having also just a little touch of millennial sass which I adore. Susani (who is also the guitarist) writes music which vividly depicts both landscapes and emotions, featuring a generous palette of timbres such that this 14-poem cycle can described as containing ever shifting moods, ranging from cheerful joy to mournful sorrow, and from lively dance to intense lyricism.

This recording, a premiere performance, also features a superb trio of voices: countertenors Alexander Chance and Tim Mead, alongside tenor Daniel Norman. It begins with the startling clarity of Numbers Game which Chinwe tells us 'sets up modern life as a rigged casino'. It's a bold start: the first two words being 'Modern life...' but sounding like Tippett, specifically his 'Songs for Achilles' is cleverly disorientating. Norman sets the tone for this cycle with his expressive resonance and clear diction and it rapidly becomes apparent what Susani means when he says his music 'aims to act as a conduit of the lyrics' as his textures are indeed multifarious from busy to pointillistic and still, but nevertheless constantly reactive. [...]

To read the full text of this review please visit Gramophone.co.uk (May 2026)