2L and Hoff Ensemble present Quiet Winter Night, an acoustic jazz project. Members of the Hoff Ensemble include Mathias Eick (trumpet), Borge Petersen-Overleir (guitar), Annbjorg Lien (nyckelharpa and hardanger fiddle), Jan Gunnar Hoff (piano), Arild Andersen (double bass), Rune Arnesen (percussion). Vocals by Helene Boksle, Asne Valland Nordli, Annbjorg Lien, Sondre Brat land, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjurn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjorn Eidsvag.

As compositions, the three works featured on this release echo the intensity, visions, and personal character of the composers. Benjamin Britten’s 1937 work Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge was composed at the request of Boyd Neel. Neel later conducted the premiere at the 1937 Salzburg Festival. The composition, which launched Britten into international acclaim, was dedicated “to F.B. A tribute with affection and admiration. Bridge had been Britten’s teacher beginning in 1927. Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis was composed in 1910 and premiered later that year at the Three Choirs Festival. Many of Vaughan Williams’ compositions are inspired by music of the Renaissance, this piece, however, is the most directly linked. It is based on a theme by Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), one of the most well known Renaissance composers. A ballet in two tableaux, Stravinsky’s Apollon musagete was composed between 1927 and 1928, and choreographed in 1928. The story is based on the Greek legend of Apollo, the God of music, and his visit from the Muses.

What happens when traditional Sami music meets mainstream western sacred music?This is the question Cantus meets head-on in Spes.Under the direction of its conductor Tove Ramlo-Ystad, and in collaboration with composer and musician Frode Fjellheim, the choir explores a new and little-known musical world, a world with a wide range of emotions: sorrow, joy and vulnerability.Through these songs, sounds and musical forms - some familiar, others scarcely known - Cantus challenges both itself and its audience with a strikingly varied repertoire united in one thing: its expression of hope in the music by Frode Fjellheim, Mia Makaroff, Eriks Esenvalds, Eva Ugalde, Ko Matsushita, Knut Nystedt, Franz Xaver Biebl and Kim André Arnesen.In 2013 Cantus was asked to sing Fjellheim's Vuelie as the musical opening to Disney's new animation film Frozen.This blend of Sami elements, whose roots go deep into an aboriginal people's culture, with music from the Mass and other church music that we are more familiar with, has proved popular with audiences all over the world.In the spirit of hope, Cantus has recorded a revised edition of Vuelie for this album.

TrondheimSolistene and 2L allocated two weeks in 2011 to record a new album. Artistic director Øyvind Gimse and his collaborator Geir Inge Lotsberg initially chose two pieces that represent, in their estimation, "the most beautiful music ever composer for the string orchestra": Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence and his Serenade for Strings. Aiming for a 90 minutes program left 30 more minutes to record. So Øyvind, Geir Inge, the orchestra and 2L logged on to Facebook. They asked their audience worldwide what they'd like to hear. And the audience responded: Nielsen's Suite Opus 1. A little gem that would exploit the Trondheim Soloists' singular way with Nordic repertoire. Inspired by Morten Lindberg's extensive work with choral music, the Tchaikovsky's SERENADE was recorded with the ensemble placed in mixed voices, a configuration in which no two players with the same part are seated together. It created a new and unique soundscape, caught on the album which is called - appropriately enough - SOUVENIR. What we recorded in May 2011 is now published exclusively as high resolution audio files, by streaming and on vinyl. Then our recordings from October will add up to a full release on Pure Audio Blu-ray in May 2012. Produced in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit) TrondheimSolistene (The Trondheim Soloists) are regarded one of the top chamber orchestras in the world. Their DIVERTIMENTI and 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". 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 do not only transform the entire listening experience, more radically, these innovative recordings overturn some very basic concepts regarding how music is played and even composed. 2L emphasize 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.

Can the dualism of life, nature and art be expressed in pure music? This is the question the multi-talented composer Flint Juventino Beppe - formerly known as Fred Jonny Berg - has set out to answer. The album Remote Galaxy is a journey in time and space, a journey given meaning by the album's music and philosophy. The music is uncompromisingly honest, with a genuine power of it's own. Using well-known acoustic technology, the composer takes US to some unusual and, for most of us, unknown places. Remote Galaxy continues the journey of 2L's Grammy nominated album Flute Mystery, and again the Philharmonia Orchestra is conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy to interpret these adventurous scores. The composer's deep spiritual interest in nature, philosophy and space is as central in the universe of Remote Galaxy as it was in Flute Mystery. Beppe's music leaves a unique fingerprint in the artistic world: there is quite simply nothing like it. The individual and inventive nature of his orchestral works demands a rich palette of instruments and an extended use of woodwinds, brass and organ. As solo instruments, the intense but delicate sound of the clarinet, the scope of the flute's range of expression and the special characteristics of the rarely used viola da gamba make for an inimitable atmosphere captured in 2L's innovative surround sound technology. With the introduction of height channels, acoustic reflections create a natural sound presence originating from both around and above the listener.

Ola Gjeilo was born in Norway in 1978 and moved to America in 2001 to begin his composition studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. Presently a full-time composer and pianist based in the US, his published concert works are performed all over the world. Ola is also very interested in film, and his music draws a lot of inspiration from movies and cinematic music. "Although many of the pieces on this album are free improvisations recorded in one take, the first three tracks are fantasies around three of my own choral works; Ubi Caritas, Tota Pulchra Es and Prelude." - Ola Gjeilo, 2012.

Stale Kleiberg’s Mass for Modern Man is about the loss of existential meaning as an antithesis to faith and belief. The work commutes between these two extremes, and raises the following underlying question: Is belief possible for modern man? In this work, the answer is ‘yes’: not a resounding ‘yes,’ but a ‘yes’ in spite of all. The work is a large-scale concert mass for two soloists, choir and orchestra where Kleiberg’s neo-romantic music commutes between the intimate and the grand. Stale Kleiberg (b. 1958) is a major Norwegian composer with a considerable international reputation. His music is widely performed in Norway and abroad, and is mostly commissioned by well-established orchestras, ensembles, and performers. There are also many published recordings of his music, including seven albums (the present one is number eight), that have received outstanding international reviews. Kleiberg’s music is characterized by a highly distinctive form of extended tonality and by meticulous attention to coloristic details.

Jan Gunnar Hoff - Stories - Stories is Jan Gunnar Hoff's third solo piano album on the 2L label and is a sequel to his critically acclaimed album LIVING from 2013. On the new release Hoff stretches his creative abilities, presenting contrasting compositions and improvisations, in a distinctly personal mixture. Some of the pieces are meditative and expressive, while others have a strong rhythmic vibe. Stories also displays Hoff as an arranger, presenting versions of classics like "God Only Knows" and the traditional Swedish folk song "Värmlandsvisan". SACD and Blu-ray Audio

Human creativity is versatile and endless. If we enthuse about something we feel a need to convey that enthusiasm to others - to quote, to recite. Creativity is thus closely bound up with inspiration. One of the oldest and most resilient ways of fostering cultural life is to "borrow" ideas. In music this has been normal practice as long as there have been songs and singers to sing them. In the Romantic period, this musical borrowing became an art form in its own right, with world-famous virtuosos and composers leading the way. But there are also artists today who relish this art form. Ole Edvard Antonsen and Wolfgang Plagge are two exemplary examples on this release!

The combination of Haydn Opus 77/1, Nordheim's Duplex and Bartók's Fifth String Quartet, was an irresistible challenge for us. A choice of programme from our hearts. We aim for our recordings to be like our concerts, with balance throughout the programme and a feeling of having fulfilled a journey at the end. It is also imperative for us to have a close relationship with the works we record. Our primarius, Arvid, has a special connection with both Bartók's Fifth Quartet through his mentor Sándor Végh, and with Duplex because of his contact with Arne Nordheim. The great quartets of Joseph Haydn are an ongoing project, and the joyful opening of Opus 77/1 sweeps the listener headlong into our third programme with 2L. Duplex is also one of Nordheim's later works. It is an extreme work, filled with contrasts, virtuosity and beauty and is among the most accessible of Nordheim's output. As with Haydn in opus 77/1, Bartók has found a comprehensive and unique musical language in his Fifth Quartet, an undisputable masterpiece.

The Engegård Quartet made their first appearance at the 2006 Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival. Inspired by the midnight sun, their musical landscape ranges from glowing core energy to the gentle lyrical sound of Norwegian nature.

In the early romantic period, struggles with absolutism's collapse led people to find new solutions in communal life. Another vision of society emerged, shaped by artists who viewed a higher world order in nature through synthesis of all the arts, to be felt by the individual, ushering in new freedom of stylistic decisions, especially in music. The virtuosic sonatas for natural horn and fortepiano by Danzi, Ries und Nikolaus von Krufft offer stunning horn and piano dialogues. They explore the full range of timbres, flamboyantly surpassing classical structures in search of new modes of expression.

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A 2021 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Immersive Audio Album!

The Norwegian Girls Choir and pianist Tord Gustavsen combine their talents in a programme of much-loved Christmas carols, leading the audience through expressive improvisations and quiet melancholy to glittering, ecstatic moments. Anne Karin Sundal-Ask directs the performances with attention to each individual singer and to the distinctive sound of the choir as a whole. The result is an uplifting, emotional encounter in which these radiant, young voices appeal to our very hearts. The Norwegian Girls Choir is an independent continuation of The Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s Girls Choir, which was established in 1947. The choir has long been a strong institution in Norwegian cultural life, and it has fostered a number of great singers, musicians and artists.

The sound of the horn epitomized stormy emotions for composers of Romantic music. Robert Schumann is said to have spoken of the horn as being the orchestra's soul. For poets, the horn's sound was a symbol of the soul's longing. For horn players, however, what was at stake for much of the Romantic period was the soul of the horn itself, for it was an instrument that faced experiment and change occasioned by new technology, notably the invention of the valve. This recording explores and illustrates this important era in the evolution of the horn.

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Perhaps the greatest single characteristic of Franz Schubert's Rosamunde Quartet (1823) is the elusive, longing and perhaps even tragically unconsummated atmosphere that pervades the entire work. Only in the Andante are we really allowed to relax in it's peaceful serenity. The ambiguity in the title of Maja Ratkje's Tale of Lead and Light (2011) reflects the dread which pervaded Oslo in the summer of 2011, and the life-affirming light of Beethoven's opus 59/1 which inspired Maja's work. It is a tribute to Benjamin Britten's inherent "joie de vivre" that optimism and love triumph in his Second String Quartet (1945), composed just after the 2nd World War. The quartet reaches it's emotional climax in the magnificent Chacony, a passacaglia with no less than 21 variations, inspired by Henry Purcell. Britten's 2nd string quartet received it's premiere on the 21st November 1945, 250 years to the day after Henry Purcell's death. Recording Joseph Haydn's Op. 76 No. 5 on our debut CD in 2008 inspired us to include the complete opus, arguably Haydn's greatest string quartet collection, in our repertoire as soon as possible. The heart of the Emperor Quartet, Opus 76/3 is also the most well known movement, Poco adagio. Haydn composed the psalm that he subsequently used as the theme of this movement after a prolonged stay in England. Something of a celebrity, Haydn mingled with the royals, and his admiration for the British national anthem inspired him to compose a tribute to Emperor Francis II. It was later used first as the Austrian and then as the German national anthem. Haydn used a musical cryptogram of the first line of the Anthem, "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" to create the opening theme of the first movement, using the first letters of each word in the German text. G e f d k/c, are the exact musical notes of the main theme in the Allegro. The simplest ideas are often the best!. Hybrid SACD Pure Audio Blu-ray two-disc-box at the price of one ordinary Blu-ray 5.1 SURROUND STEREO produced in DXD (Digital eXtreme Definition 352kHz/24bit) by Lindberg Lyd, Norway The compact disc looks like a normal CD and plays on all standard players and computers.

It is common to date the beginning of the Renaissance to the mid-14th century. From the ashes of the Black Death emerged a society that was fundamentally changed , and to a large extent saw itself as re-born - formed a new. It cannot be a coincidence that this transformation first took place in the very parts of Europe that had been at the centre of the Roman Empire when at it's strongest, in Italy. Florence became the main powerhouse of the new Europe, and from there the Renaissance spread rapidly, bringing an intense cultural flowering to France, England, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. It is in these countries that Nordic Brass Ensemble has assembled the repertoire for "European Tour" - music arranged specially for this ensemble by Hans Petter Stagnes and Stian Aareskjold. Modern brass instruments have a hsitory going back to the Jaissaries, the Ottoman sultan's special military corps. Contact between Renaissance Europe and Islamic culture helped determine how European culture, and in particular it's music, would develop in this period. Nordic Brass Ensemble is made up of musicians from symphony orchestras and wind ensembles in the Nordic countries, and it has always played early music.

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

This disc gave me one of the strongest musical experiences I have ever had.


Do not be repelled by the album’s title or by the morbid picture on the front cover. This is not a gloomy collection of gruesome, death-obsessed music. This beautiful and diverse vocal music is, in particular, unified by reflections on death, the acknowledgement of its presence in - or after - our life. Only in the last song, Mussorgsky’s Field-Marshal, is Death openly terrifying.
 
The “golden thread” of this programme is Shakespeare’s poem Come Away, Death from The Twelfth Night. Out of more than twenty settings, three were chosen. All of them treat the text as a tragic renunciation - despite it being originally placed in the context of a merry comedy. These three short songs are like way-markers on the path through the album, separating three longer works.
 
The setting by Korngold opens proceedings. It is lyrical and almost operatic, with frequent switches between major and minor. The melody moves in slow, steady waves. The mood is close to Purcell’s Dido’s Lament: this is a calm acceptance of death, with bitter sorrow, but without protest. The setting by Sibelius is, I guess, in Swedish. It is stern and bare - the darkest of the three. The music conveys both dread and foreboding. Despite being very sparse, it leaves a feeling of heaviness, of a hard and cold tombstone. Finzi’s setting adopts the pace of a funeral cortege and the ceaseless slow swaying of a tolling bell. The melody is poignant, with distressing accents: here the hero is definitely not agreeing with his fate! This version is more theatrical, less personal than the other two: the music ascends like a thorn bird rising to the skies. It is also the most beautiful version, and the melody is haunting. It stayed with me for a long time.
 
Wolfgang Plagge set four poems by Edith Södergran. There is no explicit mention of death in the poems. However, they can be interpreted as pondering the subject. The music is boldly dissonant and creates a feeling of fragility and strength at the same time - as if depicting a strong yet emotional personality in deep depression. The accompaniment is sparse and effective. These settings succeed in their aim to “reproduce and reinforce both the ascetic and the uninhibited aspects of Södergran’s incomparable language”, as the composer strove to do. Although very modern, the music grips and enthralls with its interplay of white light and delicate glass, of cold rain and warm wind. The match with the words is tight and delicate. Kielland’s dark velvety voice brings the songs to life - frightening, poignant, stirring. This is a very memorable and beautiful work. 

HVIL is described by its creators as “the Earth’s plea to humankind”. There is no translation, and there probably cannot be any, for the Earth speaks an eerie language, whispering and shouting out words in clusters. If you know Norwegian (and Latin) you’ll probably be able to decipher those long long words; the rest of us will need a translation, which is absent. I understand that a detailed explanation is not feasible - still, I would have expected to receive a little more information. As it is, I can only speak about the effect of the sounds, without really understanding the meaning of the words. The effect is spectacular. The piano part lies in the lowest and highest registers. In between, the voice cries out: a desperate plea, dark and intense, and at the same time fragile. The voice jerks and thrashes about as if in fever. The music descends to the lowest reachable areas. Kielland is a marvel; her voice is powerful in all the registers, and she shows great affinity with the work. This is the most persuasive advocacy for the Earth’s plea: I don’t understand what the singer is saying, but I feel that I totally agree with her. The music is atonal: the Earth does not care about our ridiculous conventions.
 
The programme is closed by a strong, memorable performance of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. Grammatically, in the Russian language, Death is feminine. Thus a woman’s voice is more suitable here than the customary bass or bass-baritone: we hear Death speaking, not someone retelling her words. And among the female voices, the lower one surely has a better claim to the work, due to its darker connotations. So, Kielland is already in a good starting position - but a good start is not enough. What she does, how she sings, what she makes out of these songs, is absolutely awesome. Lullaby, this female counterpart to Erlkönig, is a gem of the musical theatre, and Kielland sculpts each word as if she lived it, with absolute identification in all roles. This is one of the cases where it is borne home to the listener that music is not just about accurate note-rendering. If you have children, by the end you’ll be half-dead yourself.
 
The text of the Serenade is rather verbose, without the dense action that we encounter in other three songs. Kielland compensates by giving us some magnificent opera singing. Her diction is very good, and the Russian pronunciation is praiseworthy. She conveys the feeling of restrained power, which finally uncovers itself in the explosion of the last notes. Trepak has the grim dare-devilry, which we know from some pages of Boris Godunov - especially the role of Varlaam and the Kromy scene. In the midst of the winds and blizzards whipped up by Osadchuk, Kielland sings with raw abandon. The ending is a soft consolation. The Field-Marshal puts a huge exclamation mark at the end of the recital. The images of the battlefield are shocking, and Death’s monologue is terrifying. Kielland’s voice is strong and cuts deep like a blade through butter. The ending is devastating.
 
Throughout the disc, the contribution of the pianist Sergej Osadchuk is invaluable. The power and expressiveness of his playing matches those of Marianne Beate Kielland’s singing. He has to handle difficult scores, and he does it boldly, yet his technique always serves dramatic purposes. In the liner-note, Kielland recounts the conception of the album. The works are described - by the creators where they are still living. We have bios of the performers, all this in English and Norwegian. Complete texts with English and Norwegian translations (where possible) are provided. As usual for this label, the recording quality is exemplary. I listened on an ordinary CD player, but even so I was amazed by the quality of the surround. If something can persuade me to buy a SACD player at last, it is this disc. I just want to hear what the “real thing” can be, if the plain-CD reduction has such a feeling of space and presence. Kielland’s voice is captured most vividly and is presented as if a shining gem on a velvet bed.
 
There are experiences in life that you remember, although they may not be pleasant. Some of them are musical. They make you think, maybe even change. They clean the pipes of your soul. This disc is one such experience: a work-out for the psyche. Our souls need exercising not less than our bodies do - especially in these times when we consume so much emotional junk food. And, just like the effort and the tension of sport, the process does not necessarily induce an enjoyable feeling, but in the end you are glad you did it … and so it is here. Unless even the mention of Death is taboo for you, consider hearing this disc. There may be no joy in this enjoyment, but there is much beauty, sincerity and high art. This disc gave me one of the strongest musical experiences I have ever had. 

-- Oleg Ledeniov, MusicWeb International  

Nikolai Medtner's music fascinates and surprises, in the midst of what also seems to be well known. You may imagine that you have heard the melodies before, in childhood or in a dream. But, even if you haven't, it is as if you have been waiting for this music to return. In some mysterious way, it evokes the memory of the unheard. He named many of his piano pieces SKAZKA - tale. Some of them carry subtitles, but it is uncertain whether the composer had specific narratives in mind, as the name would suggest. The influential Soviet musicologists Boris Asafyev may have been right when he claimed that "these are not descriptive tales or tales that illustrate an event. These are tales of personal experiences - of conflicts in the inner life of man". In this recording, Gunnar Sama plays five of Medtner's albums, composed over the course of some 30 years.

The Magnificat is the Virgin Mary's song of praise to God after one of the Bible's greatest wonders: the angel Gabriel visiting her with the message that she is to be the mother of God's son. + In his setting composer Kim André Arnesen expresses the feelings Mary must have felt: wonder, devotion, gratitude, joy, humility, hope and compassion. + God's selection of an unknown woman living in poverty to be the mother of His son is a bottom-up view of the world if ever there was one - and Arnesen sees the Magnificat as offering support and hope for all people struggling against adversity or in need of strength. + Musica Celestis portrays the ceaseless praising of God by angels in heaven. + Aaron Jay Kernis builds his work around a fairly simple melody that he remolds in a series of variations. + The intensely beautiful and mostly barren Hardangervidda mountain plateau inspired Ola Gjeilo to write Tundra, while his Song of the Universal expresses unabashed optimism, exuberance and poet Walt Whitman's unwavering confidence in our deeper humanity - all through the prism of a big, warm, beating heart.

Beethoven's Sonatas for Fortepiano and Cello or Horn clearly demonstrate the connection of the transition from Classicism to Romanticism - they were composed throughout his entire creative career and tell a continuous story, a musical and historical testament, of maturity and change. The three sonatas on this CD were created in three different phases - the young, the struggling and the mature Beethoven in an intense and lucid performance.

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Lasse Thoresen is a bold exponent of contemporary Scandinavian music, inspired by a culture rich in tradition where new instrumental techniques express a unique range of feelings. His chamber music for flute and piano is here performed by Maiken and Trond Schau with a virtuosity that succeeds in evoking an immediate response from the listener in its revitalization of a time-honoured musical language.

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