Peter Friis Johansson is one of Sweden's most brilliant pianists right now. He has not least won recognition for his cycles of Franz Schubert's complete piano sonatas for more than a decade. Now that he has finally started recording them under the title 'Beyond Schubert' it is with an unusual approach. Not only does he perform from original manuscripts, and even completes unfinished sonatas - he also combines some of the sonatas with high quality works by Swedish composers that somehow are connected to Schubert's. On this first volume, the charming A Major Sonata, Op. 3, by Sweden's grand old lady, Elfrida Andree (1841-1929), is placed next to Schubert's equally charming sonata in the same key (D 664). This album starts, however, with Schubert's big A Minor Sonata (D 845). 'Beyond Schubert' is both a series of recordings and an artistic research project, centered around Franz Schubert and his piano sonatas. As a body of work, the recordings aim to portray Schubert in new and sometimes experimental ways. The word 'Beyond' is therefore central to the project and carries different meanings across it's various components. The research project primarily focuses on Schubert's piano sonata fragments, completing them using diverse methods and aesthetic approaches. Some of these completions will be released as recordings, while others will be available only as sheet music. An online tool will also be developed, allowing anyone to create their own completions of the unfinished sonata movements. The recordings will eventually encompass all of Schubert's finished and fragmentary piano sonatas. Some, as in this recording, will be juxtaposed with other works that have a clear connection to Schubert's music. In this sense, 'Beyond' refers to how Schubert has influenced other composers, and how his style resonates beyond his own compositions.

The composer, violinist and conductor, Hugo Alfven (1872-1960), is a kind of national composer in Sweden. His tonal language is very much romantic nationalism and his period of glory ranges from the late 1890s until the mid-1920s. He was active in all imaginable genres, such as symphonic works, chamber music, choirs, solo instruments, and his many songs are still widely performed today. Several songs are available in different arrangements, partly for voice and piano, partly with orchestra in different settings. The great majority of the orchestral song versions presented on this album are first recordings, performed by a dream team of singers: Kerstin Avemo and Sabina Bisholt, sopranos; Tobias Westman, tenor; Karl-Magnus Fredriksson, baritone. The Goteborg Opera Orchestra is conducted by one of Sweden's foremost conductors, Patrik Ringborg.

Ludvig Norman (1831-1885) was a composer of great importance in Swedish musical life. On this album the Stockholm-based Japanese pianist Kiyo Wada presents, along with Ludvig Norman Strings, two of his major chamber music works: the piano quartet and the piano sextet. As a bonus you get the piano suite "Lifvets �ldrar" (The Stages of Life). The piano sextet and the piano suite are world premiere CD recordings, not to be missed!

World Premiere Recordings! French-Swedish harpist, Delphine Constantin-Reznik, presents the two quartets by the Swedish-Bohemian composer and harp virtuoso, Anton Edvard Pratte (1796-1875): Opus 154 for harp and wind trio, and Opus 155 for harp and string trio. As Pratte did in the 1850s, Swedish-French harpist, Constantin-Reznik (who rediscovered Pratte's music), performs the quartets along with Sweden's foremost musicians such as multiple Grammis Award winner, Cecilia Zilliacus, and members of the Zilliacus Quartet, who released their first quartet album in 2023 to great international critical acclaim (dBCD207). Constantin-Reznik herself was nominated for the Swedish Grammis Award last year for her performance of Andrea Tarrodi's harp concerto, 'Choryn' (dBCD204).

Sweden is well-known for it's many great singers, but perhaps less known for it's operas and orchestral songs. Now you have the opportunity to hear a selection of works by both male and female Swedish composers: Hugo Alfven, Elfrida Andree, Ingeborg von Bronsart, Helena Munktell, Laura Netzel, Gosta Nystroem and Ture Rangstrom. On top of everything performed by a Swedish vocal dream team (Kerstin Avemo, Sabina Bisholt, Julia Sporsen, Viktor Johansson, Karl-Magnus Fredriksson) and the Goteborg Opera Orchestra conducted by Patrik Ringborg. World premiere recordings of more than half of the content!

Bo Linde (1933-1970) was one of his time's most gifted Swedish composers and composed very advanced music already in his teens. Due to his expressive preferences he became more or less a musical outcast since the strongly politicized Swedish music life in the 1950s demanded avantgardistic music which under no circumstances should be satisfying to the listener's ear! Many of his works were neglected, until now, when some of Scandinavia's foremost chamber musicians, Ylva Larsdotter, Torun Saeeter Stavseng, and Peter Friis Johansson have made the world premiere recordings of Linde's Piano Trio No. 1 and Six Character Pieces. Furthermore, the Divertimento Op. 25 is for the first time presented in a version for violin, cello & piano. Don't miss out on these astonishing finds!

Classical Music

Karl Nyhlin is one of Sweden's foremost lutenists. His debut CD was highly praised in Swedish and internatinal press, and this follow up album features renaissance lute "standards" by English and Scottish composers, including John Dowland, Daniel Bacheler, Philip Rosseter, John Danyel, John Sturt, and Robert Johnson. "Nyhlin plays sweetly, most beautifully, and with lovely phrasing. He always keeps the interest alive thorugh delicate nuances and subtle changes." - North Sweden Courier on Nyhlin's debut CD

M+�rten Falk, one of Sweden's finest guitarists, releases his fifth solo album! Falk is also internationally one of the most versatile guitarists, master of renaissance music as well as the newest, experimental guitar music. On this CD he presents Spanish guitar favorites from five centuries.

Tobias Brostrom is one of the hottest, young Swedish composers today, and on this album Vasteras Sinfonietta presents his Cello Concerto with Mats Rondin, and Samsara-Double Concerto with Hugo Ticciati/violin, and Johan Bridger/marimba. Apart from the Vasteras Sinfonietta and members of the Swedish National Youth Orchestra conducted by Johannes Gustavsson, essens:1 interprets the bonus work 'Dreamscape' for electric violin and electric clarinet.

Västerås Sinfonietta and Johannes Gustavsson present fantastic music of the composer trio Britta Byström, Ylva Skog, and Andrea Tarrodi. In 2011 these composers released their works for piano trio on dB Production. Now they offer selected orchestral works for volume 4 in the listener-friendly contemporary music series “Total Tonality.”

Classical Music

Classical Music

Despite the musicians’ young age, the Dahlkvist Quartet now celebrate their 10th Anniversary with their debut album. The whole album contains music of Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi, whose composer portrait “Highlands” was nominated for the Swedish Grammis Award 2016 in the category “Classical Album of the Year.” Her string quartets invite you to a particular, dreamy musical world, which are as easy to the ear as they are difficult to perform. The Dahlkvist String Quartet was formed in 2007 and has established itself at an international level and as one of the most sought after chamber music groups in Sweden. Nominated “Rising Star” 2012-2013 by Stockholm Concert Hall, the Dahlkvist Quartet performed a concert tour across Europe organised by ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) in distinguished concert halls, such Wien Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Paris Cité de la Musique and Budapest Palace of Arts. The Dahlkvist Quartet is made up of the Warsaw-born violinist Bartosz Cajler and Stockholm-born Dahlkvist siblings, Kersti (violin), Jon (viola) and Hanna (cello). All of the quartet members studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm as well as individually in France, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands.

Classical Music