In the house of classical music there are many rooms • ballade.no

She praised Baroque Solitaires in Heaven once a few weeks ago. Then came the following statement from a dear friend of mine:
We must protect classical music and the way it is played. If things turn crosses here and there, we’re in a dangerous downward spiral.

My friend is really interested in classical music. I can understand what he means, because expressions across genres – especially towards pop and popular music – have become commonplace in art music. but like Forever optimistic and enthusiastic in the name of classical music, I think there is enough room for both tradition and innovation. Classical music is not a fragile structure, but a large house with many rooms.

Baroque soloists play with a loose neck, to say the least.

In those rooms we find everything from Bjarte Eike and Baroque Soloists playing loud baroque music To the Baroque Boreal, who sings the Dorothy Engelbrechtsdotter hymns that gaze up at the sky along documentary integrity. We find New compositions From composers as diverse as Bjørn Morten Christophersen, Lasse Thoresen and Olli Mustonen. The Engegård Quartet is sitting as always on the edge of the chairWhile Alessandra Rumbola plays modernist solo flute, The Vilde Frang deals with one of the most classic classics Dignity and Integrity.

BJARTE EIKE AND BAROQUE SOLOISTS: theater sessions (Rubicon)

Bjarti invited Eki and Barokxolistene to a party. We are in 17th century London, in a kind of fantasy world where high and low culture merge. The moral police have closed down theaters, and professional stage musicians have been evicted to beer halls where they now party with entertainment musicians. Shakespeare’s sonnets coexist with Purcell’s music with dance melodies and folk songs.

Baroque soloists play with a loose neck, to say the least. They don’t sit nervously and rigidly with every machine. No, they activate the entire creative person. Don’t sit down, just walk around with your instrument! If you can sing – sing! Jump and dance when it suits you! Fortunately, the Baroque Soloists are excellent musicians and are well thought out technically, so the games don’t become just empty gibberish.

Although this record is full of life and excitement, it works best with quieter pieces, for example the beautiful choral arrangement of “Hush no More” or Purcell’s song “Music for a while” – beautifully sung by Berit Nordbakken over Johannes Bass Walk in Lundberg.

Private listening: “music for a while”

Baroque Boreal: Songs About Death and Joy by Dorothy Engelbritsdatter (ProMusica / Grappa)

Baroque soloists reinterpret, while Baroque documents Boreal. Again in the center is a folk music playing style. Dorothy Engelbreitsdatter (1634-1716) wrote one of the most famous songbooks of her time. The so-called “Book of Dorthe” came in 25 editions, and was used in household devotions until the 19th century. Some hymns are also included in the church hymns. One of the tracks on this recording,”Evensong »still exists already in norwegian hymn book under the title “The day goes back and forth.

Death was a frequent guest in the Baroque, constantly haunting the background. Engelbretsdatter herself has lost seven of her nine (!) children, so perhaps it’s no surprise that she did. He will be delivered “from the evil owl of the world, from the black demon bird.” She prays fervently that “God give peace in our days, and put an end to war and disease of the earth.”

The interesting thing is that these Dorthe songs existed in two traditions: they were also written down and lived on in popular culture. And the creative movement of Barokk Boreal is to put these two expressions together. Catherine Pothner-B sings in classical tradition, in a clear and pure tone, and follows recorded sources. Owen Groven Mehren sings with sliding intonation of folk song, semi-high intervals, lively rhythm and free ornament – the songs live on in folklore.

The two sounds work well together. Sometimes they sing the same phrase, other times they alternate in duets; For example in the song “Anndedlig sang” they sing every other line, giving the text a life of its own.

Accompaniment consists of Vergar Vårdal on cast violin, brass violin and Ulrik Gaston Larsen on erkelute. The sound image is transparent and open. Set alongside the other records in this version of the Ballade classic, the record can look a little weak. But it’s worth listening to as a work of art in its own right, and as a documentation of this central songwriter’s music in Norwegian music history. Listen in particular:Evensong »

Bjorn Morten Kristofferson: time passing. Oratorio on Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (Cymax)

Cast: Ensemble 96 (der. Nina T. Carlsen), Telemark Chamber Orchestra (der. Per Kristian Skalstad), Ditte Marie Bræin (soprano), Frank Havrøy (baritone) and Inger-Lise Ulsrud (organ).

We turn to major work for choir and symphony orchestra. Bjorn Morten Kristoffersen composed the sermon above Charles Darwin On the origin of species. Oratorios are primarily works of ecclesiastical music, but in this case they are one of the sacred texts of science that is dealt with musically. In other words, evolutionary discourse.

Christophersen uses text directly from Darwin’s book:

Watching the sea at work
ancient rock grinding
Make fresh sediments
Too slow
time passing
Monument around us

Look, she’s beautiful!

Kristofferson’s music is huge and complex, and this is a very acoustically exciting work. I particularly like a number of parts where Frank Haveroy and Dett Marie Brian sing in parallel at the outer limits of their respective records. This is effective and striking. The piece was well played and performed well by the Telemark Chamber Orchestra, and there was plenty of great vocals from both the choirs and soloists.

If I have any objections, it will be the same as I have against a good deal of other new orchestral music. They are often complex and acoustically exciting, but the energy level is constant. More variation in rhythm and expression would be nice.

The play premiered in Alesund in 2013, and was shown again at a life sciences conference in Oslo earlier this year. Maybe science music a new niche? I think this piece can live well in such forums. Private listening: “Interlude 1: Mistletoe”

LASSE THORESEN, ARCTIC PHILHARMONIC, CONNECTOR. Christian Clausen: arctic sound (2 liters)

arctic sound It is a piece of vocal music of the northern regions. The wind blows. Birds scream. We are standing in an icy winter landscape. The sound of the Klangmeister Lasse Thoresen string shines like the northern lights across the sky.

There is a double meaning in the title. On the one hand, the piece is an arctic musical panel. On the other hand, this is the sound of the Arctic Orchestra orchestra. The orchestra has two centers – in Bodø they have a symphonita and in Tromsø there is a chamber orchestra. They meet several times a year and become a full symphony orchestra. In the work of Thoresen, all the different constellations are shown.

But the fact that everything has to be included also makes the play a bit like a painting. It is not a story to be told, but rather a series of pictures – a kind of catalog of the types of nature, places and cultures that are shown one by one. Everyone gets their turn. But never worked. The Arctic Orchestra is supposed to be the orchestra for the entire region, and this is probably what makes the piece a bit like a thematic paragraph.

In short, you will be arctic sound For me there it all works Not Not greater than the sum of the pieces, even if many of the pieces are really good. Listen especially: “Sixth. Untouched Hymn.”

ENGEGÅRDQUARTETTEN and OLLI MUSTNONEN: Mustonen – Quartet Chord No. 1 / Piano Quintet (Lao)

Record party! Finn writes dramatic chamber music clearly inspired by the great 20th century masters, Béla Bartok, Igor Stravinsky and Dmitriy Shostakovich – peppered with a bit of northern blackness and coolness. Is this a heavy sound? It’s not like that at all! On the contrary, he sparkles with brilliance and vitality. The Engegård Quartet, or the Engegård Quartet as they insist they are now called, play hysterically well. They always sit on the edge of their seats, run fast and are very coordinated.

possesses a muston Also the variety in expression that I miss in the two authors I wrote above. He dares to write very fast and very slowly, which means that the pieces have a much clearer tension curve than the music of Kristofferson and Thorsen.

In Piano Quintet, the composer himself takes part in the piano, proving that he is also a high-ranking performer. It is rare today to meet people who write and possess such a high level of technology and creativity. And then we can’t help but forgive that sometimes music feels like it was composed 100 years ago. Listen to the genres: “II. Furioso e pesante” from Quartet Series No. 1

Alessandra Rumbol: Gyorgy Kortag – Blumen da Minchin, Nor Blumen … (Stradivarius)

Alessandra Rombola is an Italian flute player living in Oslo. In this recording, I collected all the music written by Hungarian György Kortag for solo flute – so far. He’s 96 years old, but he’s still going.

Kurtág writes short, succinct pieces based on a few completely clear ideas. The word that sums up his best music is Gatecock – Taken from the title of one of his collections. The word is Hungarian and means “play”. But it’s a serious game. Sense of humor in curague is serious.

His music is imbued with An uncompromising belief in its integrity – completely without the friendliness filter that contemporary music loves to install. Do you miss Boulez and Stockhausen? Then this is something for you.

He plays Rumbula with difficulty, accuracy and temperament. In several compositions, she has with her compatriot Benedetto Bocuse on piano and Norwegian Haakon Thelin on double bass. They immersed themselves deeply in Cortage’s demanding expression, and played the music with dignity and sincere respect. It makes this deep conviction and participation in the music Blumen da Minchin, Nor Blumen… exceptional recording.

This is enough music that requires the ears to be set to an open channel. But inside each rumbula flute is a small flower. Listen privately. “Dühhös Korál” (“Angry Coral”)

The Wild Frang and Deutsche Camerfilharmonie Bremen, der. Becca Cusisto: Beethoven / Stravinsky – Violin Concerto (Warner Classics)

This recording begins with one of the true great classics of classical music: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

One of the most famous Norwegian musicians, Fang stands in the middle of classical expression without twisting or turning things around. It has a subtle, bright and clear tone, and it floats easily atop a German chamber orchestra. But compared to what I’ve heard from her in the past, it seems she can’t fully play. In part, I think this is due to conductor Pekka Kosisto, who seems conservative and Heavy – especially in the first movement of the concerto. I never got an idea of ​​Kuusisto’s vision of the piece, and this technical uncertainty seems to turn on Frang, who can’t brag on his best side.

A much more successful violin strapping concerto. Fang’s playing style is tight and precise. It has a very different expression, for example, than Arve Tellefsen, which is famous for its distinctive tone and wonderful vibrato, if you have to point to an example for comparison. With Frang, the quality lies in the precise delivery, articulated bow strokes, and sharp musical style – something that fits well with Stravinsky’s ironic and metronome neoclassicism.

All objections I have to Beethoven’s concerto are set aside, for this is one of the truly great recordings of this rather strange work. Listen especially: “I. Tokata” by Igor Stravinsky Violin Concerto