From record label: Márta Sebestyén is one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful artists in world music. Best
known for her Oscar®-winning contribution to the soundtrack of “The English Patient,”
Sebestyén has also won a GRAMMY® for her album with Deep Forest and recorded several albums with
Muszikás (winners of the WOMEX Special Award in 2008) for the Hannibal label. Most recently she appeared on Peter Gabriel’s Big Blue Ball album.
I Can See the Gates of Heaven... represents a major new shift in Sebestyén’s career. It is her first album
recorded for her own label, released so far only in Hungary and now licensed for the world by World Village. She
sings songs personally chosen from the extensive Hungarian folk and religious repertoire - songs that have close
personal resonance for her and that reflect the proud cultural heritage of the Carpathians. The
musicians accompanying her are two of Hungary’s finest - Balazs Dongo Sokolay on
bagpipes, flutes, saxophone and tarogato and Matyas Bolya on lute and zither. In the informative sleeve notes,
Sebestyén introduces the album and the background to each song, and leading Hungarian folklorist
Ferenc Szabó provides further detail."
'One of Europe’s finest singers has gone back to her roots.' Robin Denselow The Guardian
'…the thrill and rush I once felt with the arrival of a new album happens relatively seldom. It came flooding back
with Nyitva Latam Mennyeknek Kapujat [I can see the gates of heaven…]' Ken Hunt fRoots