On this new release, organist Kare Nordstoga plays a variety of famous works by Bach, Grieg, Reger, Gounod, and others to showcase the beautiful organ in Oslo Cathedral. The main organ in Oslo Cathedral was built by Norwegian organ builders Ryde & Berg in 1998. The organ façade is the original one from the Baroque organ of 1727 built by the Danish organ builder Lambert Daniel Kastens, who studied and worked with the famous North German organ builder Arp Schnitger. Kare Nordstoga studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Soren Gangflot, Bjorn Boysen, and Kaare Omung, among others. Following his debut concert in 1978, he continued his studies under David Sanger in London, and he was for a time organist at Ullern Church, before coming to Oslo Cathedral in 1984. He has also been associated with the Norwegian Academy of Music, where he was appointed professor in 1994.

Ketil Hvoslef (b. 1939) is a productive, versatile and undogmatic composer who- in the year he turns 80- continues to write music at a furious pace. Hvoslef's style is characterized by an economy of means, the accumulation of latent energy, rhythmical ingenuity and, often, an element of humor. Hvoslef Chamber Works No. VI is the sixth in a series of nine albums of Ketil Hvoslef's chamber music. The idea to document 38 of Hvoslef's chamber music works on album was initiated by violinist Ricardo Odriozola and pianist Einar Rottingen, both with backgrounds spanning many years of cooperation with the composer. The recordings draw from the vast pool of performers in Bergen, where the composer lives and works. The musicians are primarily from the Grieg Academy and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Organist Halgeir Schiager's first release on the LAWO Classics label is a tribute to German composer and organist Johann Gottlob Schneider (1789-1864). Today Schneider is virtually forgotten, but in his time he was compared to Paganini and given the sobriquet "king of organists." He represents organ literature between Bach and Mendelssohn, traditionally regarded as a period of decline.

Classical Music

Francis Poulenc is not an easy composer to relate to. Not the man himself perhaps- though possibly that too- but his music. It is somehow dated. Here is a composer who produced his best works, all more or less completely tonal, at a time when Arnold Schoenberg was writing twelve-tone music and Poulenc's countrymen Oliver Messiaen and Pierre Boulez were into innovative rhythms, scales and techniques to lift the music out of the realm of subjective emotionalism. This release features three concertos by Francis Poulenc. The Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani (1938) is considered to be the most popular and, perhaps, the most serious. The Piano Concerto (1949), a light concerto a wellspring of musical ideas, more or less brutally juxtaposed. The Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1932) lies perhaps somewhere between these two.

Through a network of illuminated streets brings together the best chamber music from Martin Rane Bauck's classical middle period (2013-17) points towards the 2020s. This music is characterized by drowsy states and subtle humor. It is more mumbled than articulated, and is perhaps reminiscent of staring at falling snow through a window, only to be interrupted by the occasional thud as your forehead crashes against the glass. This recording is Bauck's first collaboration with the award-winning Ensemble neon, and also includes interpretations from renowned Bauck experts Heather Roche and Ole Martin Huser-Olsen. Martin Rane Bauck is a Norwegian composer who has mainly worked with acoustic chamber music. In addition to his artistic work, he has been active in organizing the music festival Ung Nordisk Musikk and was also instrumental in starting the contemporary music ensemble Aksiom in 2010 and in 2016 the concert series Periferien in Oslo. In 2005 he was the Norwegian national champion in fraction mathematics.

The axiom is “a statement that is self-evident,” as it says in the dictionary, or “a principle that does not need to be proved;” and what is it that the orchestra, Aksiom, do not need to prove: something as prosaic as their own musical philosophy. Shiver (2014) was commissioned by Aksiom, with financial support from the Composers’ Remuneration Fund, and was first performed at Ultimafestivalen/ Nordic Music Days in 2014. Papirosm (2013) explores the throwing open of a bridge to new content, letting numerous, different thoughts traverse the normal flow of thoughts. It was commissioned with financial support from the Swedish Arts Council. It was first performed in Buffalo, New York. Etude ralentissante (2014) could be translated as “slowing etude.” The piece was commissioned by Aksiom, with financial support from the Norwegian Arts Council and was first performed in 2014. The final piece, Misantropi Illb (2014) was commissioned by Aksiom and was first performed in Gronland Church, Oslo, in 2014.

The Engegard Quartet, born under the midnight sun in Lofoten in 2006 and now one ofScandinavia's most sought-after chamber music ensembles, is very excited to launch a recording partnership with the ambitious and visionary recording label Lawo Classics. It is a huge honor and responsibility to record Mozart's string quartets, but it feels right to take one of our most cherished concert programmes into the recording studio. We have been working on Mozart's string quartets since our first notes together. Our shared love for Mozart's music, and particularly our primarius, Arvid Engegard's passion for Mozart reflected in his choice of repertoire both as a conductor and violinist throughout the last three decades, make recording Mozart's string quartets a timely project indeed. In this album we present the three final quartets Mozart ever wrote, known as the ''Prussian'' quartets, because of their dedication to teh King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II. They are intricately constructed and give a prominent role to all voices, but particularly to the cello. If all goes according to plan, this will be the first of several albums of Mozart's string quartets recorded by Engegard Quartet for Lawo Classics.

Classical Music

Tundra, featuring exclusively Russian music, is Knut Erik Sundquist and Nils Mortensen's second CD. Although average listeners may not be familiar with the names Serge Koussevitzky, Reinhold Gli�re, and Anatoly Alexandrov, they will be surprised at how romantic, virtuoso, and soulful the music is. Knut Erik Sundquist (b. 1961) is one of the leading double bassists of our time. He studied in Vienna, under Professor Ludwig Streicher, before assuming the position of assistant principal double bass with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Nils Anders Mortensen studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music, �cole Normale in Paris, and Hochschule f�r Musik in Hannover with Einar Steen-N�kleberg. He has appeared as soloist with Norway's leading orchestras.

LAWO Classics presents here an entire album devoted to a selection of Kjell Habbestad’s sacred choral works. The music on this release was written over a period of 35 years and ranges from the composer’s opus 1 to opus 90. Textually, the works constitute a cycle of the church eyar, from the Annunciation to Christmas, and from Lent and Passion Week to Easter and Pentecost. The Latvian Radio Choir, one of the world’s leading choirs, performs music from all periods, but has specialized mainly in contemporary music. There is hardly another choir that would be able to master the tonal challenges presented by certain works on this album. Thus the recording session in Riga turned out to be a very special experience both for the composer and the recording company. Other contributors to the recording are Oslo Cathedral Choir, conductor Vivanne Sydnes, and Kare Nordstoga at the organ. The reason for this is that the first three tracks, in the midst of a Latin and English language landscape, present Anglican chants with new Norwegian text. As one could not expect the Latvian Radio Choir to take on this task, the Latvan and Norwegian choirs pass the baton back and forth in the three works Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis and Benedictus Dominus. Composer Kjell Habbestad studied church music and is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He has an earlier album of organ music, and has other releases planned.