Innovative and enthralling mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter already has a successful discography, including her critically acclaimed album with Brad Mehldau Love Songs, and her Grammy award-winning Douce France. For this release, Anne has joined with Brooklyn Rider, a trailblazing and frequently favorited string quartet. The project which ensued presents music from iconic artists in both the classical and pop music worlds. Brooklyn Rider is violinists Colin Jacobsen and Johnny Gandelsman, violist Nicholas Cords, and cellist Eric Jacobsen. Based in New York City, the ensemble is known for playing contemporary and unusual repertoire. The group founded the Stillwater Music Festival in 2006. New works written just for Anne Sofie and Brooklyn Rider come from composers Nico Muhly, Brooklyn Rider’s own Colin Jacobsen, and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw. Works from Brooklyn Rider’s ‘Almanac’ project are also included, which The Boston Globe called “an all-over-the-map stylistic tour and a treatise on present-day quartet writing.”

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REVIEW:

What is so remarkable about Anne Sofie von Otter is her ability to assimilate so many different styles and make them her own. Nowhere on this album is there a sense of a classically schooled singer who tries to incorporate music from another world in her traditional way of singing. She adjusts her way of singing to the material in question—and it sounds natural.

– MusicWeb International