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  • Larsson: Symphonies Nos. 1 And 2

    Larsson: Symphonies Nos. 1 And 2

    BIS Jan 1989
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99
  • Larsson: Förklädd Gud - Missa Brevis - De nakna trädens sång

    Larsson: Förklädd Gud - Missa Brevis - De nakna trädens sång

    Swedish Society Nov 1998
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • LARSSON: Forkladd gud / ROSENBERG: Den heliga natten

    LARSSON: Forkladd gud / ROSENBERG: Den heliga natten

    Marco Polo Jan 2002
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99
  • LARSSON: Saxophone Concerto / Divertimento No. 2 / Horn Conc

    LARSSON: Saxophone Concerto / Divertimento No. 2 / Horn Conc

    Caprice Nov 1995
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Pollux Wind Quintet

    Pollux Wind Quintet

    Nosag Records Feb 2010
    1 disc
    CD
    $18.99
    1. Nobuya Sugawa Plays Yoshimatsu, Honda, Ibert, Larsson / Sado, Bbc Po, Et Al
    2. Nobuya Sugawa Plays Yoshimatsu, Honda, Ibert, Larsson / Sado, Bbc Po, Et Al
    Chandos

    Nobuya Sugawa Plays Yoshimatsu, Honda, Ibert, Larsson / Sado, Bbc Po, Et Al

    CD · 1 disc

    $21.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Sugawa, Bbc Phil, Sado
    Released
    May 27, 2008
    I’ve noticed quite a few new saxophone discs filtering into the classical market place recently which, given the previous dearth of decent repertoire for this instrument in the past, has got to be a cause for celebration. The Japanese virtuoso Nobuya Sugawa has been responsible for a lot of it, and his seemingly unquenchable thirst for exploration of his chosen instrumental family continues unabated.

    The present release is very nicely programmed, starting with two premiere recordings of works written for him by fellow countrymen, and concluding with two repertoire pieces with strong links.

    The two familiar works were written within a year of each other and both come from that heady 1930s period of Stravinskian neo-classicism. Both were commissioned by Sigurd Rascher and both featured in the repertory of the influential French teacher and pioneer Marcel Mule. There are textural and rhythmic similarities but both have their own stamp of individuality. The Ibert is actually for soprano sax and 11 instruments, giving it a transparent, occasionally jazz-like feel. It’s a short, engagingly colourful work typical of its composer, and it’s no surprise that it crops up many times in competitions and student practical exams. The dreamy central larghetto is memorable, especially given Sugawa’s honeyed tone and supple phrasing.

    The Larsson Concerto has a bit more backbone and sinew, though still only accompanied by string orchestra. The spirit of France hovers again here, with a Poulenc-like first subject and a motoric allegro scherzando finale that is thrillingly played by all here. It’s a slightly more serious work, but still full of life, vigour and contrast.

    The two other concertos maybe of more interest to the curious and both explore the familiar traits of the instrument as well as taking it to further boundaries. In the booklet note written by the respective composers, fellow-saxophonist Honda writes that he was ‘entrusted with the task of writing a concerto that would represent a tribute to jazz…’vent’ is the French word for wind, so please think of the Concerto du vent as a Concerto of the wind’. It does have a pleasingly ‘open air’ quality to the melodic line, with Sugawa given plenty of opportunity to play ‘around’ the phrase – not strictly improvising but using portamento and blue note phrases to embellish the chords in a jazzy fashion. It works quite well, linking nicely with the older pieces, and is again given stunning advocacy, but I’m not quite sure Honda knows what sort of piece this is, so maybe we don’t. It’s certainly undemanding listening and doesn’t particularly outstay its welcome.

    Sugawa has collaborated with Yoshimatsu before on the 1994 Cyber Bird Concerto, and Chandos continue their championing of this composer with this latest premiere. Using once again soprano sax, this strikes me as an eclectic work, having a moody, post-Takemitsu Impressionistic first movement - which clearly suits this instrument’s timbral character - some wilder, Berio-like improvisatory shrieks around 3:45 and 7:50 into track 2 before going off into some fairly predictable blues/ jazz doodlings around 6:05 –a homage to Brubeck’s ‘Take Five’? – before dissolving into Garbarek territory towards the end. Again, it cleverly explores the instrument’s unique and versatile sonorities without being especially memorable or groundbreaking; in fact, at times we seem to be in a world of background mood music, but it is superbly performed and recorded.

    Altogether, an interesting survey that will be welcomed by those with a liking for this sort of repertoire.

    -- Tony Haywood, MusicWeb International
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  • Nobuya Sugawa Plays Yoshimatsu, Honda, Ibert, Larsson / Sado, Bbc Po, Et Al

    Nobuya Sugawa Plays Yoshimatsu, Honda, Ibert, Larsson / Sado, Bbc Po, Et Al

    Chandos May 2008
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99
  • Swedish Orchestral Favourites / Kamu, Helsingborg Symphony

    Swedish Orchestral Favourites / Kamu, Helsingborg Symphony

    Naxos Jun 1995
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99
  • Nordic Atmospheres

    Nordic Atmospheres

    Challenge Classics Mar 2014
    1 disc
    CD
    $18.99
    1. Ja, vi elsker
    2. Ja, vi elsker
    2L

    Ja, vi elsker

    Blu-Ray with SACD · 2 discs

    $44.99
    Composer
    FOGTMANN AARESKJOLD HALVORSE
    Artist
    Staff Band Of Norwegian Armed Forces, Schola Cantorum, Bergby
    Released
    Jun 24, 2014
    This music celebrates the 2014 bicentenary of the Norwegian Constitution. The works serve as a compelling musical history book, offering insight into parts of the Norwegian saga. Several songs are clear examples of how a "national song" can be a way of marking and remembering history. We’ve given the national anthem in its complete form, something seldom done, and, through many fresh arrangements of familiar melodies and a splendid "outdoor" sound, offer a new and invigorating listening experience.
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  • Ja, vi elsker

    Ja, vi elsker

    2L Jun 2014
    2 discs
    Blu-Ray with SACD
    $44.99
  • Swedish String Music
    Sale

    Swedish String Music

    BIS Dec 2000
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99 $10.99Save 50%
    • Europolis
    Oehms Classics

    Europolis

    CD · 1 disc

    $14.99 $19.99 Save 25%
    Composer
    Isaac Albeniz, Ludwig van Beethoven, Charles Camilleri, Frederic Chopin, Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciur
    Artist
    Maria Lettberg
    Released
    Mar 14, 2025
    In her new album, Maria Lettberg takes a musical journey through the countries of the European Union. She has curated a selected work for piano from each of the respective countries, regardless of the period or style. All the major styles of classical music are represented in this collection: from the Renaissance, Baroque and Viennese classical periods to Romanticism, Late Romanticism, Impressionism, 20th-century music, minimalism and neoclassicism. Each piece from the 27 countries has it's own fascinating characteristics, and together they paint a multi-layered picture of the European Union.
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  • Europolis
    Sale

    Europolis

    Oehms Classics Mar 2025
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99 $14.99Save 25%
    1. Hallen: Waldemarsskatten - Opera in Four Acts
    2. Hallen: Waldemarsskatten - Opera in Four Acts
    Sterling Records

    Hallen: Waldemarsskatten - Opera in Four Acts

    CD · 2 discs

    $32.99
    Composer
    Andreas Hallen
    Artist
    Various
    Released
    May 05, 2023

    The opera Waldermarsskatten is a fantasy around a real historical event on the island of Gotland on the east coast of Sweden, “The Valdemar Atterdag holding Visby to ransom, 1361”. The trade in the Baltic Sea was dominated by the German trading monopoly The Hanseatic League, which existed around 1150–1650. The city of Visby was included in this association. After a plague pandemic in the Nordic countries in the 1350s, the so-called ‘black death’, in which a third of the population died, the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag wanted the rich merchants of the Hanseatic League to pay for a renewal of their trade privileges. Valdemar set off to Visby with about thirty ships to Gotland at the end of July 1361. Battles were fought, first on the coast-line then at Visby’s city wall, and in total around 1 800 Swedes are said to have lost their lives, while the Danes’ loss was around 300 souls. An unfair fight, one might think, as the Danish army consisted of German mercenaries, while Gotland was defended by civilian farmers.

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  • Hallen: Waldemarsskatten - Opera in Four Acts

    Hallen: Waldemarsskatten - Opera in Four Acts

    Sterling Records May 2023
    2 discs
    CD
    $32.99
  • Larsson: Pastoralsvit - En vintersaga - m.fl.
    Sold Out

    Larsson: Pastoralsvit - En vintersaga - m.fl.

    Swedish Society Jan 1997
    1 disc
    CD
    $20.99
  • Larsson: Forkladd Gud (God In Disguise) / Symphony No. 3
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    Larsson: Forkladd Gud (God In Disguise) / Symphony No. 3

    BIS Mar 1989
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99
    1. Hindemith, Barber, Larsson, Janacek / Thompson Wind Quintet
    2. Hindemith, Barber, Larsson, Janacek / Thompson Wind Quintet
    Naxos

    Hindemith, Barber, Larsson, Janacek / Thompson Wind Quintet

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Michael, Harris
    Released
    Jan 27, 2000

    For a wind quintet to be successful, each player must be a virtuoso soloist who also is capable of being an ensemble player. The musicians in this quintet fill that bill admirably. On this CD they play a program of 20th century favorites for five wind players--six in the case of the Janácek. The compositions are largely happy works. The opening "March" of the Hindemith is boisterous and upbeat, followed by four movements largely in the same vein. The Barber is more ruminative and romantic, along the lines of the composer's better known works, and the Larsson, except for a somewhat chilly third movement, paints a picture of the sunnier side of Scandinavia. The Janácek, written near the end of his life, is autobiographical, a portrait of the composer's own youth which he had recaptured in an infatuation with a younger woman. The Michael Thompson Woodwind Quintet captures every nuance in these compositions in performances that are virtually free of fault. The sound is more distant than usual for a recording of a small group, but it's exceptionally crisp and clear without any irritating clacking of keys, an effect that often mars more close-up recordings of winds. --Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com
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  • Hindemith, Barber, Larsson, Janacek / Thompson Wind Quintet
    Sold Out

    Hindemith, Barber, Larsson, Janacek / Thompson Wind Quintet

    Naxos Jan 2000
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99
    • Swedish Orchestral Favourites Vol 2 / Sundkvist, Swedish Co
    Naxos

    Swedish Orchestral Favourites Vol 2 / Sundkvist, Swedish Co

    CD · 1 disc

    $19.99
    Composer
    VARIOUS
    Artist
    Petter, Swedish Chamber Orche, Johanna, Sundkvist, Sarah, Persson, Sara Trobäck, Lindloff, Hesselink
    Released
    Mar 10, 2000

    This is an incredibly beautiful CD, one that will surely be played repeatedly around here. The repertoire is mostly for string orchestra and every piece is a romantic gem. Lars-Erik Larsson's music occupies half the CD, and ranges from the tuneful Little Serenade to the eloquent, soul searching Adagio. Gunnar de Frumerie wrote romantic music within a neo-classic framework, and his Pastoral Suite, exquisitely played here, is a prime example. Kurt Atterberg's Suite, which began life as music for a play called Sister Beatrice, is perhaps on a more spiritual level than the pastoral works of the other composers. Atterberg's use of modality at times makes it reminiscent of Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantastia, and it is just about as lovely and nearly as significant. The lovely little Blomdahl romance might come as a surprise to listeners who only know this composer from his stringent, modern-to-the-max compositions. The playing throughout is incredibly beautiful. This orchestra plays with a rich, ripe tone that is completely disarming, and conductor Petter Sundkvist gets the utmost in nuance from every player. The Naxos sound is full and warm with lots of well-defined bass. This CD is a real find.--Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com
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  • Swedish Orchestral Favourites Vol 2 / Sundkvist, Swedish Co
    Sold Out

    Swedish Orchestral Favourites Vol 2 / Sundkvist, Swedish Co

    Naxos Mar 2000
    1 disc
    CD
    $19.99
  • Carlstedt, J.: Metamorphosi / Larsson, L.-E.: Little Serenad
    Sold Out

    Carlstedt, J.: Metamorphosi / Larsson, L.-E.: Little Serenad

    BIS Mar 1990
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99
    • A Swedish Pastorale / Wedin, Stockholm Sinfonietta
    BIS

    A Swedish Pastorale / Wedin, Stockholm Sinfonietta

    CD · 1 disc

    $21.99
    Composer
    ALFVEN, HUGO ATTERBERG, KURT
    Artist
    Jan-Olav, Wedin
    Released
    Jan 01, 1988
    Gold buried deep in the BIS back-catalog since 1980 (but readily available), this CD adds a couple of apt fillers from 1981 to the program of the original analog LP. Larsson’s Pastoral Suite is the best-known music here, and makes a fine overture in its most sprightly recorded chamber performance. The Romance has live intensity, helped by the sound, a classic piece of minimalist work by Bis proprietor, Robert von Bar: just a small Revox half-track reel-to-reel machine, and a couple of mikes above and in front of the conductor. The timbre of the winds is distinctive, thanks to the sound coming off the hard back wall, too, but the small string band has presence-and-a-half. Wedin’s direction is inspired here, and in the four gentle Winter’s Tale fragments. The tearful, moving Andante used to close out the LP, but on CD the spell is broken by the boisterous Alfvén Dance, then cast again for Blomdahl’s heartfelt Adagio.

    The real highlights are the modest Atterberg Suite, and the Rosenberg cello miniature. The latter is sadness, packed ready to go, but the violin and viola in the Atterberg spin threads of Romantic ardor that float into the air, and resound in your consciousness forever, like it or not. As do the wonderful tunes. The slow middle movement, Pantomim, really lets Sparf’s artistry and phrasing shine, closely shadowed by Mansnerus. They should have done the Mozart Sinfonia concertante at the same sessions, but this is inspired playing, and arguably Atterberg’s finest 12 minutes. You’re the poorer, if you don’t know it yet. Roman’s 15-minute oboe d’amore concerto represents the Swedish 18th century at its considerable best: a warm contrast with the rest of the program, the soloist sounding rather close, but with memorable invention and interplay in the fast movements.

    Fine notes, by the eminent Per Skans. There have been a few digital anthologies rather like this one in the intervening 20 years, but Wedin said it all in 1980. A CD of relaxing Swedish lighter classics might not be anywhere near the top of your Want List, just now. Hidebound Romantics should head straight for the Blomdahl Adagio, but I urge you all to sample the whole recital. BIS CD165 is certainly not one of the structural pillars of the Hall of Fame, but it makes a very attractive Swedish display case, for some little-known, meltingly beautiful music.

    Paul Ingram, FANFARE
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  • A Swedish Pastorale / Wedin, Stockholm Sinfonietta
    Sold Out

    A Swedish Pastorale / Wedin, Stockholm Sinfonietta

    BIS Jan 1988
    1 disc
    CD
    $21.99