Born in East Berlin to actor Klaus-Peter Thiele and painter Rosemarie Rautenberg, Valeska Rautenberg grew up living and breathing creativity and has followed that path throughout her life. She started working as an actress at the age of eleven and continued starring in movies and television shows on & off while at school and later during university. During her teen years, however, she discovered music was her true love and since then she has engaged in all aspects of it as an instrumentalist, singer, composer, producer, and teacher.
Rautenberg has also performed in a wide array of settings from pubs & underground clubs to gala events and major venues, but her latest release is an especially personal and intimate one. Part of a series of releases that began in 2017 after taking some time off to tend to her personal life, Veins (Songs for Piano, Wind, & Water) is a collection of four beautiful piano-based vignettes inspired by early morning walks on the streets of Berlin and being attuned to sounds that can easily be drowned out when the city is bustling.
“Sometimes there’s no need for words. You can let the wind whisper, the water roar, the birds talk, and the streets of Berlin tell their stories … while you play along on the piano, capturing all of those little moments. “ – Valeska Rautenberg
Rautenberg’s delicate minimalist approach and keen ear for tone & melody enables to her to recreate the enchantment of those morning walks and the full sense of peace & wonder they engendered. To enhance the experience, she has made videos to accompany each of the songs and I am very pleased to present this one she made for “Wandering” which matches the lush serenity of the piece while giving it an almost otherworldly perspective. It is a lovely reminder of the value of taking time to pause the frenetic pace of daily life to pay attention to what we might be missing while the world madly spins.
Links: Bandcamp | Streaming/Download | Valeska Rautenberg
Veins is now available via Bandcamp and most major streaming and digital download outlets (see links above). Be sure to check out her YouTube channel for the remaining videos as well as to get to know some of her other project. The album was mixed by Marian Kuch.
Stationary Travels 