Olivia Belli To Release New Album DAIMON

Olivia Belli has announced the upcoming release of her new Sony Classical album Daimon, featuring a piano concerto inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. The album explores the idea of life as a journey toward purpose, drawing parallels between the mythic return of Odysseus to Ithaca and Belli’s own artistic development.

The concerto Daimon is recorded with string orchestra and shaped by influences from Italian Baroque music. Structured in three movements—The Departure, The Journey, and The Return—the work traces emotional and psychological transformation. The second movement reflects hardship and catharsis, unfolding through restrained orchestration and expansive neoclassical textures. A single from the album, The Departure, has been released alongside an accompanying music video.

Belli’s personal history is closely embedded in the composition. Raised in Italy’s Marche region and frequently relocating during childhood, she has described a sense of searching that only clarified during a prolonged period of physical recovery as a teenager, when she turned inward toward music and nature. The album’s title references the Greek concept of daimon, understood as an individual’s guiding purpose or calling.

Alongside the concerto, Daimon includes the Ithaca Suite, a series of character-driven musical portraits inspired by figures encountered by Odysseus upon his return, including Laertes, Telemachus, Penelope, and Nausicaa. Guest artists on the suite include cellist Raphaela Gromes, violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, and saxophonist Jess Gillam, each contributing to Belli’s collaborative approach to composition and performance.

The album concludes with Sonatina for Nausicaa, a piano work reflecting themes of compassion and moral clarity. Across the recording, Belli emphasizes restraint, tonal subtlety, and emotional transparency rather than orchestral grandeur, continuing a body of work informed by Greek mythology, nature, and introspective narrative.

Belli has studied piano and composition with Alexander Lonquich, Jörg Demus, Franco Scala, and Piero Rattalino, and has performed internationally at venues and festivals including Piano Nights Amsterdam, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Steinway & Sons Piano Series at the Royal Albert Hall. She has composed for artists including Mari Samuelsen, Gautier Capuçon, and Anna Lapwood, while maintaining a parallel focus on her own recording projects rooted in personal and mythic exploration.

Daimon will be released by Sony Classical.

Daimon: Piano Concerto, Ithaca Suite & Sonatina for Nausicaa 

Release Date: February 20, 2025

Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra Daimon     

1            I. The Departure            
2            II. The Journey               
3            III. The Return                

              Ithaca Suite      
4            I. Proci               
5            II. Telemachus                
6            III. Eumaeus    
7            IV. Penelopeia                
8            V. Eurycleia       
9            VI. Laertes         
10          VII. Pax Athenae            

              Sonatina for Nausicaa                
11          I. Semplice        
12          II. Andantino    
13          III. Allegretto