An Enchanting, Genre-Defying & Immersive Musical Collaboration Exploring the Many Faces of Love
Difficult Loves is a song cycle by string duo Balladeste and singer-songwriter Ana Silvera that explores the many faces of love —from the revelation of romantic connection to the bonds of familial devotion; and from the ecstatic contemplation of the natural world to the dark echoes of love’s more troubled shadows and loss. Loosely inspired by writer Italo Calvino’s book of the same name, Difficult Loves blends Ana Silvera’s moving and mercurial vocals with Balladeste’s fluid, mesmeric strings, inviting listeners into an immersive odyssey of the heart.
Balladeste, praised by Songlines as “music that can radiate suspense but at the same time is warm and intimate” are known for their experimental yet melodic approach. Drawing from Indian classical music, contemporary minimalism, and folk, the duo crafts original compositions that are both cinematic and emotionally rich —“songs without words” that speak volumes.
Ana Silvera, a singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer, is known for her vividly imaginative song-writing and innovative practice across genre and discipline. With work described by The Guardian as “stunning...magical story-telling”, Ana has performed at major venues and festivals including SXSW, Royal Opera House, and Iceland Airwaves, and has collaborated with artists such as Imogen Heap, Jasper Høiby, Saied Silbak and Aidan O’Rourke.
From the dreamlike glimmer of Glimpse to the haunting lines of Phantom Limb - “This love is a loaded gun, I know, raise it fast, aim it slow” - Difficult Loves takes listeners on a deeply affecting emotional journey. Like a Salmon captures the wonder of romantic love in its earliest, most instinctive form: “Who made this world, miracle of time? Who cast your soul in the very shape of mine?”, whilst Hand in Hand (Rocking) envisions a brother’s rescue from a psychiatric ward - a story drawn from Ana’s own life. One for Sorrow, Two for Joy (Drift) and Mother, If You Go extend this theme, offering poignant reflections on familial bonds - the birth of a child, the loss of a parent - each moment shaped by the seamless interplay between voice and strings.
Created through a deeply collaborative process - sometimes building a song from a single melody or lyric line, other times arising from an improvised play or a string motif reimagined and unravelled - the music reflects a sense of creative exploration with careful craft. Balladeste’s strings, at times lyrical and at other times raw or sparse, intertwine with Ana’s luminous voice and bringing to life a palimpsest of feelings that are as panoramic as they are tender.
At just under an hour, Difficult Loves is a powerful live experience that invites the audience to reflect on the fullness of the human experience and the multifarious forms that love can take.