Two Sides: Baroque & Icelandic Contemporary Music / Barokkbandid Brák

$10.49
Label
Sono Luminus
Release Date
September 23, 2022
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Johan Joachim Agrell, Arcangelo Corelli, Thrainn Hjalmarsson, Finnur Karlsson, Kristinn Kristinsson
    • PERFORMER
      Barokkbandid Brak
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      September 23, 2022
    • UPC
      053479702623
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SLE-70026
    • LABEL
      Sono Luminus
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Allegro

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    2. II. Andante

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    3. III. Allegro

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    4. I. Allegro

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir

    5. II. Largo

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir

    6. III. Allegro

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir

    7. I. Vivace

      Composer: Arcangelo Corelli

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson

    8. II. Adagio

      Composer: Arcangelo Corelli

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson

    9. III. Allegro

      Composer: Arcangelo Corelli

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson

    10. IV. Presto

      Composer: Arcangelo Corelli

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson

    11. I. Allegro

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    12. II. Andante

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    13. III. Allegro ma non presto

      Composer: Johan Joachim Agrell

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    14. Trio Sonata in D Minor

      Composer: Alessandro Stradella

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, Halldór Bjarki Arnarson

    15. I. Allegro

      Composer: Giuseppe Sammartini

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    16. II. Andantino, e cantabile

      Composer: Giuseppe Sammartini

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    17. III. Allegro moderato

      Composer: Giuseppe Sammartini

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    18. IV. Minuet gratioso

      Composer: Giuseppe Sammartini

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    19. I. Allegro - Adagio e spiccato - Allegro

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir

    20. II. Largo e spiccato

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir

    21. III. Allegro

      Composer: Antonio Vivaldi

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

      Performer: Elfa Run Kristinsdottir, Laufey Jensdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir

    22. I. Prelude

      Composer: Fridrik Karlsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    23. II. Slow and Steady

      Composer: Fridrik Karlsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    24. III. Pattern

      Composer: Fridrik Karlsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    25. IV. Passacaglia

      Composer: Fridrik Karlsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    26. Recitar Cantando (Speaking in Song)

      Composer: Þráinn Hjálmarsson

      Performer: Laufey Jensdóttir, Sólveig Vaka Eyþórsdóttir, Margrét Sveinsdóttir, Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir

    27. Quorum Sensing

      Composer: Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    28. I. —

      Composer: Kristinn Kristinsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák

    29. II. —

      Composer: Kristinn Kristinsson

      Ensemble: Barokkbandið Brák


Tvær hliðar/Two Sides presents two contrasting sides of our music-making. On the first album we perform our core repertoire of Italian and Swedish Baroque music, but Barokkbandið Brák also seeks to expand the repertoire for historical instruments by commissioning new works by up and coming Icelandic composers, and the second album showcases new Icelandic music written specially for the ensemble. All of these works share the same sound world as all the music is performed on historical instruments from the baroque era.

REVIEW:

This is a gripping if curiously conceived album, divided unequally between an entertaining music from the High Baroque, and four new works by young Icelandic composers all commissioned by Barokkbandi Brák.

There are no doubts about Barokkbandi Brák’s virtuosity or musicality: the lively opening Allegro of Vivaldi’s Sinfonia bounds along with flawless intonation and ensemble. In Agrell’s vibrant Sinfonia in A and Sammartini’s energetic Concerto grosso, musical flow is always beautifully maintained, moving consistently at pace without seeming hurried. Barokkbandi Brák’s partnership with Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir in the Agrell Concerto is immaculate, with a real sense of joy – but then Kristinsdóttir is not only one of theirs but was one of the founders of the group in 2015. The same applies to the crisp performance of Vivaldi’s triple concerto for two violins and cello, featuring the group’s co-founder Laufey Jensdóttir and cellist Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir.

The group’s chamber credentials are highlighted in the trio sonatas by Corelli and Stradella, and – in a very different vein – Thrainn Hjalmarsson’s string quartet Recitar cantando/Speaking in Song, a study in ethereal textures. Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir composed her septet Quorum Sensing to evoke the biological mechanism that can ‘regulate gene expression’ and ‘co-ordinate group behavior’. Starting in not dissimilar expressive territory to Recitar cantando, it develops, slowly, in a more focused manner. Finnur Karlsson describes Fold as ‘a kind of contemplation about different aspects of Baroque music’. Kristinn Kristinsson’s diptych BRK also explicitly references the Baroque at its opening, though the music immediately circles away from (and back to, several times) the idiom in the first span’s sedate progress. Sono Luminus’s sound is crystal clear throughout.

-- Gramophone