Singer and musician Maria Matveeva has joined forces with French Grammy Award Winning composer and producer Eric Mouquet, better known as Deep Forest. The pair have put together a three track EP, titled ‘Siberian Trilogy Project’, inspired by the harmony and magic of Siberia, Maria’s homeland.
Outside of her career as a lyric soprano opera singer, Maria has experimented with various musical genres, and has in the past collaborated with musicians such as Alessandro Alessandroni Jr, Alex Elena and David Bowie’s pianist, Mike Garson, the latter notable for his work with the likes of Nine Inch Nails, and The Smashing Pumpkins, among many more. ‘Siberian Trilogy Project’ is an experiment which fuses different styles: lyric voice, electronic sounds and the ethnic elements.
Deep Forest was been dubbed the pioneer of “ethnic electronica”, and has been mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats since way back in 1992. Deep Forest was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994 for Best World Music Album, and in 1995 they won the Award for the album ‘Boheme’. To date, the only other French artist to win a Grammy Award is Daft Punk.
Deep Forest also became a World Music Awards Winner in the French group category, with the highest 1995 world sales. Their albums have so far sold over 10 million copies, and have since toured the world extensively. Deep Forest has also contributed music to the 1995 film ‘Strange Days’, featuring Peter Gabriel. Since then, Deep Forest has still been going strong, collaborating with dozens of similarly like minded artists and working closely with label giants Sony and Epic, respectively.
Matveeva has also taken on many theatre productions in Italy, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, performing roles such as Tamara, in ‘The Demon’ by A. Rubinstein, Tatjana, in ‘Eugene Onegin’ by Tchaikovsky , Madame Silberclang in ‘Der Schauspieldirektor’ and Fiordiligi in ‘Cosi’ fan tutte’ by Mozart, and many others.. Moreover, Maria Matveeva performs both opera repertoire and chamber, sacred and liederistic music. During her career, Maria Matveeva has received awards in national and international contests such as 1st Prize Winner in ‘Bella Voce’, Moscow, Russia ; 1st Prize Winner in ‘Music of the Spaces’, Khanty-Mansiysk, 3nd place ‘Hopes of Siberia’, Omsk, Russia; 2nd place in the international singing contest ‘CA Seghizzi’, Gorizia ( Italy); finalist at the international singing contest ‘Ismaele Voltini’ in Mantua (Italy), and continues to grow her well deserved accolades. During her career as a lyrical soprano Maria was collaborated with such great international names as William Matteuzzi, Italo Nunziata, Dmitry Vdovin, Igor Butman, Ottavia Piccolo, Chiara Isotton, Francesco Bellotto and many others.
Maria’s influences include artists such as current collaborators Deep Forest, Michael Cretu (Enigma), Mike Oldfield and Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), although her experimental twists and turns, and sonic vocal delivery could compare her best to artists such as Enya, Sarah Brightman or Sinead O’Connor for her theatrics in vocal technique and dramatic stage presence.
Maria Matveeva & Deep Forest’s first single ‘Two’ is an experience like no other; the song’s protagonist, Maria Voldina is a living shaman, well-known poet and guardian of the Khanty people’s wonderful culture. Matveeva’s perfectly synced and layered vocals bring in minimalist electronics, reminding us that Western scales do not always define songwriting. Matveeva’s haunting vocals flow like silk against Deep Forest’s concise production, holding a perfect balance of ebb and flow of light electronics, comfortable basslines and of course, Maria’s perplexing vocal delivery.
On her latest venture with Deep Forest, Maria comments:
“‘Two’ is about a unique and pure love interrupted by life’s adversities but kept alive in the souls and in the spirit of the forest, a magical place where the protagonist meets the spirit of her beloved.”
Follow Maria Matveeva online on her official website, Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, Instagram, and Spotify. Similarly you can also find Deep Forest on his official website, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. Siberian Trilogy Project is out on 17 July.
