Wu Wei, Eldbjørg Hemsing, Ida Nielsen, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra & Andris Poga – Rolf Wallin: Five Seasons; Whirld; Stride; Spirit (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:15:22 minutes | 1,36 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Ondine
This album of works by the prominent Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin (b. 1957), one of Scandinavia’s leading composers, features new works with three outstanding soloists. Wallin’s concerto for the traditional Chinese instrument, the sheng, features award-winning artist Wu Wei, and his violin concerto the rapidly-rising violin star Eldbjørg Hemsing. Wallin’s Spirit for electric bass guitar and orchestra was written for Ida Nielsen, voted as one of the most notable bass players in the world, as well as Prince’s bassist.
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Stavanger Symphony Orchestra & Jan Willem de Vriend – Schumann: Symphonies 1 & 2 (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:06:41 minutes | 618 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Challenge Classics
Jan Willem de Vriend starts a new symphonic cycle dedicated to Schumann. This is the first recording with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra both for the conductor and for Challenge Classics.
Jan Willem de Vriend: Working with this orchestra is very special, and I think it has to do with a very old tradition. A long time ago, they invited my colleague, Frans Bruggen, just as he was starting to conduct. He learned the orchestra about the old music style, the way of playing in the time of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach–how they played and how you must approach the music. On his part, Bruggen put something in the orchestra that I would say is now part of their DNA: the flexibility, the curiosity, and the way to approach the music. It’s so special, here in Stavanger. Schumann’s music is to me something unique, because what he’s writing is so personal; on one hand it is sometimes very emotional, but on the other hand, it’s technically perfect. In music, I don’t often find those two elements together.
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Iveta Apkalna, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra & Andris Poga – Oceanic (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:27 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Berlin Classics
The new album “Oceanic” by Iveta Apkalna is a collection of two expansive organ works and two orchestral interludes with maritime connotations, showcasing Apkalna’s special relationship with the sea as a musician who grew up on the Baltic. The album features Bernd Richard Deutsch’s “Okeanos,” which Iveta Apkalna describes as the best contemporary organ concerto. It also includes Maurice Ravel’s “Une barque sur l’océan,” a key work of musical Impressionism, and Jean Sibelius’s “The Oceanides,” a personal “Rondo of the Waves” along similar lines to Debussy’s “La mer.”
Read more![Jan Willem de Vriend, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Mari Eriksmoen - Arias and Overtures (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download](https://i0.wp.com/imghd.xyz/images/2023/04/09/o7m06i1gnallc_600.jpg?resize=500%2C500&ssl=1)
Jan Willem de Vriend, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Mari Eriksmoen – Arias and Overtures (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:10:31 minutes | 670 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Challenge Classics
The profile of Norwegian soprano Mari Eriksmoen continues to rise through her regular appearance on Europe’s major opera, concert and recital stages, and she is consistently praised for her compelling blend of radiant stage personality and purity of vocal tone. This is her first opera arias recital and is focused on Handel and Mozart. Previously on disc, Eriksmoen features on Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Daniel Harding, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, both with Akademie für alte Musik Berlin under René Jacobs and Glyndebourne Festival conducted by Robin Ticciati, and in a “poised, elegant and persuasive” (Guardian) debut recital featuring songs by Grieg, Grøndahl, Wolf and Strauss with Alphonse Cemin (Alpha).
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