Mathias Halvorsen

Mathieu van Bellen, Mathias Halvorsen – Puccini: La Bohème (Arr. M. van Bellen & M. Halvorsen for Violin & Piano) [Live] (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:29:57 minutes | 1,62 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Backlash Music

Mathieu van Bellen and Mathias Halvorsen present an ambitious and first ever completly instrumental arrangement of Giaccomo Puccini’s entire opera La Bohème. The musicians have arranged the score themselves, bringing together the parts of the soloists, the choir and the orchestra into a hyper-virtuosic piece for just violin and piano. Recorded live in front of an audience, van Bellen and Halvorsen give everything they have; bringing forth each scene in an expressive and highly evocative tour de force. Drawing on styles and techniques from Puccini’s contemporaries Kreisler and Godowsky, the musicians have strived to utilise a wide array of colours and textures. Ranging from intimate love scenes to buzzing streets filled with soldiers and children, the arrangement is meant not only to reflect Puccini’s orchestration, but also to build the scenic imagery and bring the characters to life.

(more…)