Сomposer: Ståle Kleiberg (b.1958)
Album title: MEZZOTINTS – chamber music by Ståle Kleiberg
Performer: Marianne Thorsen, violin; Øyvind Gimse, cello; Bård Monsen, violin;  Ole Wuttudal, viola; Jørgen Larsen, piano
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Release date: October 2015
Recording date: February 2015
Original Quality: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Length: 1:10:18
Vidieo: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps / 1920*1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1   
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 10957 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: Auro-3D 9.1 / 96 kHz / 6664 kbps / 24-bit
Audio#3: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

Since the early twentieth century there has been a radical renewal of pedigreed chamber genres. We need only think of the late sonatas of Debussy, or of the string quartets of Bartók; or, to enter a high modernist space later in the century, of the duos and quartets of Elliott Carter; or, to move into a less prescriptive space that some like to label postmodern, of Ståle Kleiberg in our own time. In the solo and chamber works recorded here, Kleiberg recaptures something of the ethos of the private sphere. The solo works have an inward character, occluding display, while the chamber works restore the thematic sharing and instrumental characterization of the classical era, but in both cases of an informal kind, shy of system, wary of rhetoric.
Ståle Kleiberg is a major Norwegian composer with a considerable international reputation. The works on this album represent a lesser-known, but valuable, part of his output. His innovatory approach, formal command and technical mastery are especially apparent in his chamber music oeuvre, and it is gratifying to be able to present the following selection here: String Quartet No. 2, Ruf und Nachklang, Ashes, Piano Trio No. 2, Sonata for Violin and Cello and Sonanza e cadenza.

Recording sessions: Facebook Photo Album

Immersive Sound is a completely new conception of the musical experience. Recorded music is no longer a matter of a fixed one-dimensional setting, but rather of a three-dimensional enveloping situation. Stereo can be described as a flat canvas and Surround Sound as a field, but Immersive Sound is a sculpture that you can literally move around and relate to spatially; surrounded by music you can move about in the aural space and choose angles, vantage points and positions. The 9.1 Auro-3D on this Pure Audio Blu-ray features sound reproduction that is more realistic than anything you’ve heard before. It delivers a new standard in immersion, fully enveloping the listener in a cocoon of life-like audio. (more…)

Сomposer: Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838), Franz Danzi (1763-1826), Nikolaus von Krufft (1779-1818)
Album title: Early Romantic Horn Sonatas
Performer: Steinar Granmo Nilsen, natural horn; Kristin Fossheim, fortepiano
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Jar Church, Norway
Release date: August 2015
Recording date: June 2014
Original Quality: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Length: 1:07:40
Vidieo: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps / 1920*1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1   
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 10703 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

In the early romantic period, struggling with the aftermath of absolutism’s collapse, people had to find new solutions in all realms of communal life. Because old certainties vanished, another vision of society emerged, shaped by artists: poets, painters and musicians. They viewed a higher world order in nature, to be felt by the individual, and expressed in a synthesis of all arts. Especially in music, these ideas were embodied with a new freedom of stylistic decisions. The sonatas for natural horn and fortepiano by Franz Danzi, Ferdinand Ries und Nikolaus von Krufft are virtuosic compositions with stunning dialogues between the horn and piano parts. They explore the full range of timbres, flamboyantly surpassing classical structures in search of new modes of expression. The verve and profusion of colors in the performance of Steinar Granmo Nilsen and Kristin Fossheim incorporate the early romantic idea that music was the most royal of all arts.

Recording sessions: Facebook Photo Album

Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) Grande Sonate F-Dur, op. 34, 1811
Franz Danzi (1763-1826) Sonate Es-Dur op. 28, 1804
Nikolaus von Krufft (1779-1818) Sonata E-Dur, 1812 (more…)