When Shostakovich first performed his Preludes and Fugues for piano, his younger colleague Rodion Shchedrin got the idea to compose his own set. Whereas Shostakovich's have gained in esteem and popularity over the past three decades, Shchedrin's are far less known in the West, and undeservedly so. Both composers write for the keyboard with idiomatic ease and textural economy, share a common humorous streak, and never repeat themselves over the course of these works. Shchedrin is extroverted and optimistic when Shostakovich is inward and sardonic, but the opposite sometimes holds true. In any case, pianist Joachim Kwetzinsky has interweaved excerpts from both cycles into a brilliantly curated program. More importantly, he plays like a young god.

Notice the rock-steady yet flexible control with which he articulates the Shchedrin E-flat minor fugue's complex rhythmic strands, or the bouquet of tone colors arising from the Shostakovich A major fugue's arpeggiated textures. The ricocheting octaves and rapid chords in Shchedrin's Basso Ostinato positively sting, while, by contrast, the Shostakovich D major prelude's right-hand rolled chords and left-hand countermelody effortlessly converse in perfect rhythm, totally oblivious to the music's bar lines. The exceptionally clean and clear multi-channel engineering is all one could wish for. One of 2010's most stimulating piano releases--don't miss it!

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

In 2013, The Church of Norway adopted their new Hymnal. The goal of this new hymnal was to hold firmly to the traditions of earlier hymn books, and two bring a modern spin to them with new harmonic ideas. This Nordic hymns are an irreplaceable part of Scandinavian heritage. The texts deal with joy and sorrow, faith and doubt, and put into words some of life’s most joyful and painful vents. The hymn tradition is a constantly moving, living, breathing part of this culture. Formed in 2002, Uranienborg Vocal Ensemble consists of 20-24 singers and is conducted by its founder, Elisabeth Holte. The choir frequently performs in church services at Uranienborg church in Oslo. The group has also toured across Europe and the United States.

This album was nominated for the 2007 Grammy Awards for "Best Choral Performance" and "Best Surround Sound Album."
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

For centuries, hymns have transported people through grief, joy, faith and doubt, in everyday life and in times of celebration. The rich treasury of words and music in our hymnbook seeks to preserve and renew tradition. It is a tradition that is far from static, evolving through new interpretations by composers, poets and performers of today. On this recording the three composers Marcus Paus, Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen and Morten Christophersen contribute new works based on old hymns. It is here that the hymn tradition reveals it's strength, and old words are discovered anew through new arrangements and compositions. These tracks have been recorded in Immersive Audio. Immersive Audio is a sonic sculpture that you can literally move around and relate to spatially; surrounded by music you can move about in the aural space and choose angles, vantage points and positions.

On this album Kjell Tore Innervik performs Morton Feldman's The King of Denmark and Iannis Xenakis's Psappha, exploring the intimate performing space with large format recording techniques, engaging the listener in immersive audio. The Xenakis was recorded twice: once from the perspective of an intimate listener, and a second time literally "over-head", giving a first-persona perspective. The difference not only in microphone technique but also in the performer's state of mind and how he projects his playing has a profound impact on the listening experience. Radical Interpretations of Iconic Musical Works for Percussion (2013-2017) was an interdisciplinary artistic research project hosted at the Norwegian Academy of Music in collaboration with the Oslo Academy of the Arts, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Westerdals Oslo ACT and 2L through the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme. A utopia, a non-existent place, is a projection where there are no constraints of practicality, nothing to hold you back. Such is the approach to the music on this album- in each piece of music, using all the resources at their disposal, the recording engineers unite the composer, performer, recording artist and listener, and take them at least some of the way to a utopia.

Classical Music

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Includes march(es) by various composers. Ensemble: Kristiansand Wind Ensemble. Conductor: Bjorn Sagstad.

Following on from the award winning recording of MOZART's violin concertos with Marianne Thorsen, TrondheimSolistene team up once again with the recording company 2L for their new production. This album features a selection of some of the finest and most technically challenging repertoire for string orchestra, and includes repertoire by Benjamin Britten, the Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz, the Norwegian composer Terje Bjørklund as well as Bela Bartok's seminal work for string orchestra the Divertimento. DIVERTIMENTI is the first music-only recording to be made available commercially in the ground breaking format of Blu-ray. A true world premiere!

The divertimento as a musical genre dates back to the nineteenth century. Divertimenti were composed for various social occasions and were intended to be light, uncomplicated and cheerful. Such pieces were often scored for small string ensemble. Over the years this effortless, elegant form has appeared in many different musical styles and, to a large extent, set the standard for the virtuosic chamber music we know today. A number of the most prominent composers of our age have engaged with this most fascinating musical style and have contributed to its further refinement as a chamber-symphonic showpiece.

Hybrid SACD + music Blu-ray
5.1 SURROUND + STEREO produced in DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition)
The hybrid SACD looks like a normal CD and plays on all standard players and computers.

The present recording features both one of the longest and one of the shortest quartets in the string quartet repertoire. There is no denying that Schubert´s last string quartet is great in every sense of the word, but Beethoven´s “Quartetto Serioso”, although minor in size, is by no means dwarfed by it when it comes to sheer artistic quality; both quartets are indeed major works and a staple on the diet of any string quartet of merit. Even so, the concept of minor and major immediately springs to mind when contemplating putting these two completely different masterpieces on the same album. Duration apart, there is the obvious question of tonality: one work in F minor, the other in G major, which is simple enough and by itself justifies the album title. But things get more complicated the moment we subject the two works to a closer scrutiny. Oslo String Quartet is widely recognized as one of the most versatile string quartets of our day. Since it was founded in 1991 it has established a reputation as an ensemble that unites high artistic standards with a degree of playfulness and an absolute integrity. The quartet’s concerts and recordings have consistently received acclaim, both by the public and by critics. A strong attachment to the music of Beethoven has resulted in several performances of his complete string quartets, for example in the quartet’s festival “The Beethoven Code” in 2006. Their programmes range from the classic string quartet repertoire to the works of contemporary composers, but also include music in other genres, and their unique versions of, for example, Peer Gynt and Tosca break with what is normally expected of a string quartet.

MOZART (Arr. Grieg) Piano Sonatas: in C, K 545; in F, K 533; in G, K 283; in c, K 457 • Dena Pn Duo • 2-L 40 (Hybrid multichannel SACD: 73:10)


Why would anyone, even Edvard Grieg—not the greatest composer by a long shot, but a great musical figure and one who revered Mozart—arrange any Mozart piano sonatas—even the powerful K 457 and the forward-looking K 533—for two pianos? My wariness of arrangements other than those by the composer leads me to ask again, why? Well, if you’ve never tried it (or never heard it), don’t knock it. Keep an open mind! But before I listened, I read. The notes in the accompanying booklet describe what Grieg did. (In English, the small, red font against a purple background is an abominable choice for reading; in German, the white font against the same background is eminently readable, but my German is now a distant memory.) Grieg’s “arrangements” are actually adaptations, or more precisely, augmentations. In each sonata, Grieg retained Mozart’s score as the primo and composed a secundo to add a more contemporary style to the music. Now this is certainly a novel approach to “arranging,” and it may be the first example of crossover. It is akin to the current theatrical practice of presenting Shakespeare in contemporary guise, such as Julius Caesar in Fascist uniforms or The Taming of the Shrew on motorcycles (both courtesy of noted stage director Michael Kahn or those directors he fosters), a practice that I deplore. Then I listened. What I heard were four Mozart sonatas that were as fully recognizable as their originals, but with fuller bass lines, with extra and more complex harmonization, and with significantly non-Mozartian embellishments.


In the early K 283, much more Grieg is discernable in the latter two movements than in the first movement. K 545, Mozart’s easy-to-play and most popular sonata, can be described as complexified simplicity. The power of the first movement of K 457 is greatly weakened by Grieg’s defocusing secundo augmentation. The second movement of K 457 fares even worse, sounding like a mixture of ballroom dance-music with piano noodling by a “stylist.” Grieg’s defocusing secundo augmentation relaxes the tension in the final movement, eventually enervating the normally powerful coda. Most interesting is the first movement of K 533, which is stylistically very open to Grieg’s secundo augmentation. In the K 533 second movement, in a-b-a form, Mozart already achieves Grieg’s contemporary style in part b without Grieg’s intervention. By contemporizing part a, Grieg distracts from the listener’s amazement at the shocking progressions and harmonies that Mozart introduces in part b. But this provides the opportunity in part b for Grieg to really let loose, building interestingly on Mozart’s already impressionistic base. The final movement of K 533 shows the strongest Grieg influence on this disc, masking the movement’s Mozartian delicacy—one could call it, with successive puns, the “MoztGrieg” and the least “Griegzart.”


The Dena Piano Duo (Tina Margareta Nilssen, piano 1, and Heide Görtz, piano 2) are excellent pianists, and the sound quality is also excellent. Nilssen plays the primo (Mozart) part, and Görtz plays the secundo (Grieg) part. I recommend this CD to Grieg scholars and, strictly as a curiosity, to anyone else, but not as an addition to anyone’s Mozart collection.


FANFARE: Burton Rothleder


This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

"Some of the most beautifully played and appealing contemporary chamber and piano pieces you're likely to hear", said American Record Guide about the album Mezzotints – Chamber Music by Ståle Kleiberg. And now there is a follow-up: a new string quartet, two trio constellations and the song cycle ‘Do You Believe in Heather?’, which has given the album its title. Ståle Kleiberg is often called a "modern romantic", and for good reason. We encounter a distinctive and highly individual alloy of modern and romantic elements in his music, whether it is characterized by a still, meditative lyricism or an energizing vitality. His String Quartet no. 3 encompasses this entire range of expression. The music speaks of summer. It is imbued with joie de vivre, and was composed with a full command of the genre and with considerable virtuosity. The flute-viola-harp ensemble is less common, but by no means unknown. Following Debussy's Sonata, several trios have been composed for this ensemble, and Kleiberg's ‘Trio Luna’ is a fine and most welcome addition. The work's three movements capture the mood of three dissimilar outer and inner landscapes, all of them bathed in moonlight, albeit at different times of day and night. ‘The Light Smith’ is also a trio; it is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano, and is chamber music on a very high level of inspiration. Both ‘The Light Smith’ and ‘Do You Believe in Heather?’ are settings of poetry by the distinguished Norwegian poet Helge Torvund. These poems engage with such archetypal themes as light, quietude, love, death and nature, but they treat these themes as real, everyday experiences, rather than abstract concepts. While the theme of ‘The Light Smith’ centers on the beginnings, growth and culmination of life, it is autumn and winter we meet in ‘Do You Believe in Heather?’

Classical Music

Classical Music

Polarity is an acoustic jazz project from Jan Gunnar Hoff and the Hoff Ensemble. Of the new release, Hoff writes: "My main goal is to create a specific identity for each album I make. This time I chose to involve Anders Jormin and Audun Kleive, two of Scandinavia's finest jazz artists. The result is Polarity, an album based on both new and older compositions of mine, recorded in a unique acoustic setting." Polarity has been conceived as a cohesive experience where the compositions themselves, the moments of spontaneous inspiration during performance and the natural sound world of the church acoustics all affect the final result. The compositions are inspired by actual experiences and particular states of mind. The album was recorded using state of the art technology called Immersive Audio. The listener is surrounded by music and can move about in the aural space and choose angles, vantage points and positions. Prepare to be fully enveloped in a cocoon of life-like audio.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Acquiring life skills during a challenging, fragile phase of life — learning to belong, to feel seen and included, learning to build friendships — all of this lies at the core of the Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir's mission. The Requiem in Andrew Smith's version, commissioned by the choir, is loosely based on the Roman Catholic mass for the dead. Several of the texts of the traditional Requiem Mass have been replaced, however, with biblical references to the tragic fate of children, reflecting the all-too-frequent conflicts of today in which the young are innocent victims. The musical material in the Requiem takes its inspiration from Gregorian chant. Melodic fragments of the ancient requiem mass can be heard in the background. Trygve Seim's improvising saxophone makes up an integral part of the whole, yet lives a life of its own in close companionship with the singers and Ståle Storløkken on organ. The palette is expanded with the glorious strings of TrondheimSolistene in Ståle Kleiberg's Hymn to Love and The Light (with Petra Bjørkhaug, organ). These works add dimensions of faith, hope and love. And light too, when all seems dark. In life there are moments to treasure, and challenges to overcome. In the words of Helge Torvund: The light you need exists.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


More often than not, classical music recordings with cute titles and seemingly gimmicky programming amount to little more than, well, cute and gimmicky productions and unhappy listening experiences. But in this case, the title is apt and the programming choice absolutely right on, making for a pleasant, surprising discovery. I say "discovery" because, in spite of his reputation in his native Norway and his music's appearances on various orchestra and opera programs, many listeners will not be familiar with this 51-year-old teacher/composer, who has only a handful of recordings in the catalog. (His Requiem was performed in Washington, DC on September 11, 2004 and recorded by the Washington National Cathedral choir and chamber orchestra for Simax.)

In these two eminently engaging works, each lasting about 25 minutes, you don't have to try hard to recall Sibelius (the organically evolving thematic ideas), or Shostakovich and Bartók (the sometimes sharply angular melodic lines and overtly irregular rhythms)--but as usual with the best composers, these apparent similarities are only that: Kleiberg's fertile material and his skillful manner of developing it are entirely his own. He not only blazes a challenging but always accessible trail for his soloists, but he perfectly integrates the solo and orchestral voices into a seamless and very dynamic dialogue. And for those who love the big, romantic concertos of yesteryear, you'll find no difficulty in moving from Brahms or Tchaikovsky to these robust and essentially romantic modern works that revel in the timbres and textures and dynamic power of a symphony orchestra at the service of a single, albeit virtuosic instrumental protagonist.

We've heard Marianne Thorsen before as a soloist in such successful recordings as her Mozart concertos for this same label and as a chamber player with the Leopold String Trio (which she founded in 1991) and the Nash Ensemble. Here she delivers a completely convincing, technically impeccable (and we assume, authoritative) performance that also leaves us impressed with Kleiberg's artful, intelligent exploitation of the violin.

And speaking of artful, intelligent exploitation--the Double Bass concerto (composed in 1999, six years before the Violin Concerto) offers a masterful juxtaposition of the instrument's more often used (and abused) lower register with its almost cello-like upper range, and so for most of this dramatic and unusually lyrical work we forget the strangeness of the concept and just hear it as a viable, legitimate marriage of solo instrument and orchestra--absolutely no gimmick here. This is great stuff! And, like violinist Thorsen, bassist Göran Sjölin is an ideal interpreter who really seems to enjoy the chance to dig into a well-conceived, serious starring role. We're familiar with conductor Daniel Reuss from his many very fine recordings of choral and orchestral music, and he certainly doesn't disappoint here, expertly managing his soloists and the first-rate Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, making a case for these works as strongly as could be imagined. The sound, which this label prides itself on, justifies the label's claims. Highly recommended!

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

BULL Sæterjentens Søndag . Violin Concerto in A. Concerto Fantastico in e. I Ensomme Stunde. La Verbena de San Juan. Et Sæterbesøg • Annar Follesø (vn); Ole Kristian Ruud, cond; Norwegian RO • 2L 67 (Blu-ray audio: 69:21)


& SACD


Tall, preternaturally handsome Ole Bull captured the fancy of concertgoers in Europe, and in the United States as well. In fact, at a time when classical artists like Henri Vieuxtemps had trouble making inroads in the American hinterland (supposedly after an initially disappointing reception, he composed his first set of variations on Yankee Doodle ), Bull made immediate connections with his program of atmospheric, sentimental, and technically dazzling pieces that he had composed himself—and always with his audiences in mind. Nevertheless, as had Paganini, whom he idolized, before him, he proved himself able to win the admiration of first-rank composers. The opening work on this program, Sæterjentens Søndag (The Herd Girl’s Sunday Morning), represents just such a simple song, one that must (and seems calculated to) have drawn an admiring tear from his listeners. Annar Follesø gives an appropriately sensitive and atmospheric account of it (with the accompaniment arranged for orchestra by Johan Svendsen), along with Ole Kristian Ruud and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. The two concertos, recently discovered, represent the more virtuosic side of Bull’s personality. The first, in A Major, opens with a long and symphonically conceived tutti, with some of the quieter passages sensitively orchestrated. The soloist enters with a showy cadenza that must have been in part just what Bull’s audiences wanted—and even expected. The writing for violin sounds like a (derivative?) mix of Paganini’s pyrotechnical wizardry and De Bériot’s suave tunefulness. Still, many listeners may doubt that Bull has integrated his thematic materials as successfully (or at least consistently) into the passagework as did his contemporaries the Henris (Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski). But Follesø displays the natural virtuosic flair to play some of these seemingly aimless passages without retaining his tongue in his cheek, as well as an affinity for the concerto’s genial ethnic harmonic and melodic atmosphere. The brief slow movement also opens with an extended orchestral passage; but the soloist claims the limelight upon his entry in an affecting passage on the G string. The Rondo pastorale that brings the concerto to a close features thematic fireworks in double-stops, and while some of the later material grows almost maudlin, Bull always manages to hold his listeners’ interest.


The nominally programmatic Concerto fantastico (with movements representing night, dawn, and day) also begins with a long tutti and features even more flamboyant passagework, which Follesø plays with aplomb. As in Bull’s Concerto in A Major, the streamers seem to be stretched pretty thinly over their underlying framework. Once again, though, Follesø (and Ruud and the orchestra) play their roles without sounding smugly superior to the program. The slow movement, built on a simple, heartfelt tune, sounds affecting in the same way as did the other concerto’s corresponding movement. The finale, a short but intoxicating romp with lyrical pauses for breath, seems even more shrewdly calculated for effect than does the other concerto’s finale. Once again, Follesø provides a rollicking, technically dazzling account. I Ensomme Stunde (La Melancolie), here arranged by Johan Halvorsen and Wolfgang Plagge, offers Grieg-like fare like that in Sæterjentens Søndag . The more extended fantasy, La Verbena de San Juan , however, with its percussion-rich orchestration, sounds like a sort of Norwegian counterpart to Sarasate’s ethnic concoctions, although it seems to go a step further in local color. According to the notes, Bull wrote it for Queen Isabella of Spain upon the occasion of a tour in 1846. The queen, again according to the notes, enjoyed Bull’s music—and perhaps other attentions. According to the notes, Bull incorporated Sebastian Yradier’s Jota Aragonesa out of gratitude to that composer; audiences should recognize it. They should also recognize Sarasate’s whistling harmonics (also familiar from Paganini). And Bull, as did Sarasate, incorporated left-hand pizzicatos liberally in his works. Follesø is equal to the challenges both these techniques pose.


Et Sæterbesøg includes references to folk fiddling with drones that I’ve always associated with the Hardanger fiddle or at least its style. The notes relate that, coupled with the words to Sæterjentens Søndag, it’s become a part of Norway’s cultural heritage. For those inclined, as many have been, to dismiss Bull as a sort of musical charlatan, the lyrical outpouring in the song’s middle should invite at least a second look. Arve Tellefsen played a program of Bull’s music for violin and orchestra with Andrew Karsten and the Bergen Symphony Orchestra in 1988 (Norsk Kulturraå ds Klassikerserie 50008), including two works on Follesø’s, Et Sæterbesøg, I Ensomme Stunde , and the Adagio sostenuto from the Concerto fantastico . Tellefsen’s version of Et Sæterbesøg takes advantage of bells to enhance the mountain atmosphere, and his “Hardanger” sounds twangier, even if he doesn’t draw as deeply affecting a cantabile from its lyrical passages (or those of I Ensomme Stunde— though Tellefsen’s version of the concerto’s slow movement throbs with a warmer expressivity despite his edgier tone production).


The Blu-ray version (audio only), to which I listened (although I used the CD version of Follesø’s program in making the comparison with Tellefsen’s program), provides extraordinarily sharp definition, hardly losing clarity in the midst of a somewhat reverberant setting. Whether or not this medium will offer relief to listeners fatigued by the roughness of even the best CDs, in particular in recordings of violin tone, it represents an improvement over CDs, as did DVD-Audio, among formats dependent on high-storage media (the sound: 24 bit and at least 192 kHz, with a choice of 5.1 DTS HD, 7.1 DTS HD, or 2.0 LPCM). Notes in the highest registers hiss and spit, yet with a relaxing smoothness and stimulating three-dimensional (a metaphor only) projection. The entire program, in this rich smorgasbord of formats, should appeal to lovers of the violin and perhaps to general listeners as well. As did Paganini and figures like Sinatra and Presley, Ole Bull represented a cultural phenomenon that should interest at least historians. His success in his own time demonstrates that, at least to the extent that his effect didn’t depend on his personality, genuine musicality underlay his work. It’s apparent in this collection. Recommended on that account, as well.


FANFARE: Robert Maxham

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


This beautifully played and expertly engineered program, recorded at Norway's Bergen Cathedral, just may be one organ disc that nearly everyone can enjoy and will even return to often. It also may encourage listeners to investigate the film for which the music was chosen--an award-winning 2008 release from director Erik Poppe titled deUSYNLIGE (translated as "Troubled Water"). It's the story of a man just released from prison for the murder of a child, who returns to his former home town and takes the job as, of all things, a church organist. Complexities, conflicts, and confrontations of life and love follow, and along the way we hear the organ music as, in the words of the director, one of the film's "main characters."

Given the film's title you won't be surprised to learn that a significant place in the proceedings is claimed by Simon and Garfunkel's hit song "Bridge over troubled water", and we hear it twice--at the disc's beginning and end--in shorter and "extended" versions arranged by organist Iver Kleive. Kleive is a sensitive interpreter and a supremely accomplished artist who convinces us through his very respectful treatment that this quasi-religious, gospel-tinged anthem could have--or should have--been conceived for the magnificent resources of a cathedral organ, where the fullness of its soul-stirring power can truly be realized. Indeed, the longer, seven-minute version that concludes the disc could give a new generation of listeners incentive to "turn it up" and lose yourself in the sheer all-encompassing sensation of sound and harmony.

All of which owes much to the engineering, which really does literally demand that you turn your volume knob a few notches higher than usual--and you will be rewarded, as the organ really does surround you (with or without an SACD system) and shake you. And speaking of shaking listeners: Kleive's own Toccata is a tour de force that not only exploits the organ's orchestra-sized resources (and is uncannily reminiscent of the similarly-named movement from Widor's Symphony No. 5), but also, as in many of the big works of Bach, keeps you near-breathless, on the edge of your seat through an ever-building display of relentlessly exploding fireworks.

The program also features Kleive's arrangement and improvisation on Hassler's Velt alle dine veie (the tune known to many listeners as "O sacred head now wounded"), Vivaldi's Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro, and Kleive's very affecting and remarkably unadorned setting of "O bli hos meg", better known to English church-goers as "Abide with me". Although we could complain that at a mere 37 minutes this disc is temporally, programmatically challenged, the consistent high quality of the content--including Kleive's masterful, conscientiously understated exhibition of the organ's capabilities as well as his own formidable facility--and the ravishing sound make any such concerns irrelevant, and make this both a disc to savor and to share. Highly recommended!

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

World premiere recording in the DXD resolution! With this recording, 2L presents a fresh version of the most elegant violin concertos in the history of music. While respecting the origin and tradition of this music, we have sought a new and dynamic musical experience rooted in our present time.

HOFF ENSEMBLE consists of some of Norway's finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble's basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. Hoff has performed with his own group since 1993, collaborating with such artists as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria Joao and Alex Acuna. This time in this great Norwegian band he mixes flavours in a "cross-over" setting. Eick, with whom Hoff has worked on earlier projects, was the obvious first choice for QUIET WINTER NIGHT, along with Andersen and the rest of the band, complemented by Rune Arnesen (ex N.P.Molvær) on percussion and Børge Petersen-Øverleir, Norway's leading session guitarist.

Brilliant fiddle player Annbjørg Lien is an exciting addition to the HOFF ENSEMBLE, giving QUIET WINTER NIGHT a sound that is definitely Nordic with elements of jazz, folk and beyond, making this an interesting and original journey. On some of the instrumental tracks, like "Blågutten", Eick and Petersen-Øverleir create an overall jazz/fusion sound, while the trio setting of "Redd Mamma" is reminiscent of the work of Sweden's Jan Johansson. "Hva skal hende nå" bears comparison with Metheny's ballad form, yet with a more rock-influenced guitar sound. This tune also includes a great bass solo by Andersen.

The music is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway's top names (and Universal artists) in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.

The music captured by 2L features Norwegian composers and performers, and an international repertoire reflected in the Nordic atmosphere. The surround sound recordings of Lindberg Lyd not only transforms the entire listening experience, more radically, these innovative recordings overturn some very basic concepts regarding how music is played and even composed. 2L emphasizes surround sound with Pure Audio Blu-ray and HiRes file distribution, and have garnered no less than 12 American GRAMMY nominations over the past six years.

This is an audio-only (i.e., with no video content) Blu-ray disc playable only on Blu-ray players.

TCHAIKOVSKY Souvenir de Florence. Serenade for Strings. NIELSEN At the Bier of a Young Artist. Suite for Strings • Trondheim Soloists • 2L 2L-090-PABD (Blu-ray: 85:16)

Here’s yet another of 2L’s superlative-sounding Blu-ray audio releases, although there’s a slight change in medium from the ones I’ve reviewed before. Those included both SACD and Blu-ray discs. This one has a Blu-ray only, but there’s compensation. Besides high-resolution LPCM stereo, 5.1 HD MA 24/192kHz, and 7.1 HD MA 24/96kHZ (not to mention MP3 and FLAC download opportunities), they’ve included, for the Souvenir de Florence and At the Bier, a 9.1 Auro-3D option that adds, to the 5.1 surround mix, an additional four-channel height option. I didn’t have a chance to try out the 9.1 tracks, and I didn’t try the downloads. (Nor have I heard the audiophile vinyl version, part of which was reviewed by Raymond Tuttle in Fanfare 36:3.) But the three “standard” Blu-ray options offer exemplary engineering. Granted, since the producers place you at the center of a circular orchestra, the two-channel version is relatively unexciting—but only by comparison to the surround versions. As I hear it, the 7.1 version provides the most gripping audio experience, with markedly greater fullness and sense of space; certainly, switching between the 7.1. and 5.1 tracks gives a strong argument in favor of the two extra channels. But if you buy this disc, I suspect you’ll spend a lot of time testing various options.

None of this would matter much if the performances were mediocre; fortunately, to my ears, they’re all first-rate (although you should also check out Tuttle’s less positive response). The Trondheim group plays with prismatically changing tone, artful dynamic molding, and superior balances (aided, of course, by the spatial setup), which bring out the music’s contrapuntal interest. Phrasing is consistently imaginative, and while it’s possible to give the Tchaikovsky works greater toughness (the Andante non troppo opening of the Serenade could surely be grander and more austere), the Trondheim’s control of accents and their rhythmic unanimity provide plenty of energy and lift (note the stunning clarity of the sixteenth-note figures in the finale of Souvenir de Florence or the swing once we get to the Allegro moderato of the first movement of the Serenade or the infectious lilt of the Serenade’s waltz). There’s plenty of sheer drama in the finale of the Tchaikovsky Serenade, too. Like Tuttle, I normally prefer to hear Souvenir as a sextet (as Tchaikovsky intended) rather than in a plumped-up version for string orchestra. But this account, played by 20 performers with all the dexterity of a much smaller ensemble, now goes to the top of my list; and the thoughtful reading of the Serenade is nearly as good. As for the Nielsen: the understated eloquence of At the Bier is perfectly gauged—and while the Suite is the work of an immature composer who was yet to find his voice, it gets a performance that draws the most from it (the mystery of the first movement is especially compelling here). In sum, a release that demonstrates the utmost care in both engineering and performance—and that could serve as a model for other companies to emulate. Strongly recommended.

FANFARE: Peter J. Rabinowitz

This project was produced exclusively for 180 gram audiophile vinyl release. SOUVENIR and has been referred to as "the most beautiful music ever composed for the string orchestra". Ensemble leaders Øyvind Gimse and Geir Inge Lotsberg decided early for Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence" and 2L opted for the "Serenade for Strings". The Trondheim Soloists are regarded as one of the top chamber orchestras in the world. Their DIVERTIMENTI and their FOLK STYLE were both nominated for a total of five American GRAMMY Awards in categories "Best Small Ensemble", "Best Engineered Album" and "Best Surround Sound Album".

Mention of Japanese composer Karen Tanaka in these pages has been very brief, but always complimentary: her string quartet, At the Grave of Beethoven, reviewed more than a decade ago, and two of her very short piano works featured on this new release, Northern Lights and Lavender Field, played by Thalia Myers on two anthologies, reviewed here. This appears to be the first CD devoted entirely to her works - the nearest thing to date was 'Invisible Curve', a disc of chamber music released on New World Records (80683) in 2008, which she shared with Chinese composer Chen Yi.

Crystalline I and II, which open and close this fascinating recital respectively, were written a few years apart, the latter an obvious follow-up to the first. According to the liner-notes, the title reflects the composer's intention to create a "rendering of a cool timeless world of glittering, sparkling crystals." The style and sonorities of Crystalline I, one of Tanaka's earlier works, give a good idea of what to expect from her piano music - detail, delicacy, consonance, timbral sculpturing, sensuality.

The 'prismatic' idea of the Crystallines recurs in the most recent of Tanaka's piano pieces, Water Dance - actually a set of three dances - which was commissioned by Norwegian pianist Signe Bakke herself, who has had a working relationship with Tanaka for some time. The 'water' element is not the musically archetypal undulation of waves or ebb and flow of tides, but more the play of light on the shimmering surface of a clear - crystalline, one may say - mountain stream.

One great service Tanaka renders art music in works like Water Dance or the Techno Etudes, is to expose the mountebankery of mainstream minimalism. Her music here is a minimalism of sorts, but so much more intelligent, more inventive, more profound than the piano music of, say, Philip Glass or Ludovico Einaudi, or a thousand anonymous Hollywood film scores. Tanaka studied at IRCAM with Tristan Murail, famed for his so-called 'spectral' music, which clearly had a strong influence on her own stated interest in the "transformation of timbre in space, analogous to a gradual change of light refraction in crystals and prisms".

A different side of Tanaka's pianism can be heard in the Children of Light, a set of simple but exquisite melodic miniatures written for children, both to enjoy and play - although one of them at least, African Elephant, sounds far from easy! Some of the pieces are so instantly, deliciously memorable that listeners will be amazed that this is the first time of hearing. As an educational bonus to children, there is an overall ecological theme - each piece describes the special natural beauty of or a threatened species of animal from different parts of the world. The eight varied items selected here are from a total of twenty; what a pity, on this evidence, that the rest were not recorded - there would surely have been enough space on this disc, which, though otherwise excellent in every regard, is rather brazenly on the short side.

There are two pieces in Bakke's recital with the title Northern Lights, one from the Children of Light collection, the second a stand-alone work commissioned by the Royal School of Music with Lavender Field for teaching purposes. The CD booklet gives Tanaka's instructions to learners for performing these rhythmic, succinct pieces - both of which, incidentally, were recorded by Thalia Myers on the CDs linked to above. For Lavender Field, for example, the player is told to "imagine weaving colour and scent with sounds. The harmonic series on E flat appears and disappears into space at the end."

In all the above works the pianist must show great finesse and sensitivity, a demand which Bakke meets with total reliability. In the curiously named Techno Etudes, on the other hand, the accent is firmly on virtuosity, particularly rhythmic speed - and again Bakke is equal to it. The music was commissioned by Japanese pianist Tomoko Mukayama, who originally asked for a work to synchronise with some pre-taped 'techno' music. Though the techno idea was thankfully dropped, the title stuck, as did the emphasis on an almost robotic drive and great velocity. This is hypnotic, primal music, and the CD notes argue the case, not altogether convincingly, that it expresses at a deep level similar ideas to the far more delicate, complex sounds of the 'crystalline' works. Quite inventively, the notes describe the particularly virtuosic first movement as sounding like "a frenetic boogie-woogie machine that sometimes seems to get stuck".

The sound quality on this hybrid SACD is immaculate, even listening in normal stereo. This is how solo piano music should be recorded. The booklet, the back cover of which is glued onto the cardboard case, has well-written, detailed notes in English and Norwegian. Oddly, Tanaka does not get a mention on the front cover or the CD itself.

Playing time aside, a superb release.

-- Byzantion, MusicWeb International