Vagn Holmboe: Concertos Dima Slobodeniouk & Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

• 1 I. Allegro moderato, ma con forza 07:21
• 2 II. Allegro - Andante - Vivace 13:58
• 3 Allegretto molto pesante 13:12
• 4 I. Allegro - Poco meno mosso - Tempo I 11:46
• 5 II. Adagio affettuoso - Allegro molto 12:59
• Total Runtime 59:16

Info for Vagn Holmboe: Concertos

Vagn Holmboe’s solo concertos for violin and viola are works that combine the composer’s own purist Nordic style with a huge declaration of love for the wild, dancing eastern European folk music that captivated him throughout his life. These premiere recordings by some of Scandi navia’s strongest string soloists – Norwegian Lars Anders Tomter and Swedish Erik Heide fronting the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Dima Slobodeniouk – are joined by Holmboe’s Concerto for Orchestra, which has never been performed before.

The excellent Vagn Holmboe series from Dacapo continues with this superb recording of three concertos. Performances are by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dima Slobodeniouk with soloists Erik Heide and Lars Anders Tomter, violin and viola respectively. By my count, this is release number seventeen in this authoritative series, with many performances that will likely stand as benchmarks for many years to come. The three works on this CD are all world premiere recordings.

Holmboe (1909-1996) was an extraordinarily prolific composer. Between the chamber concertos and concertinos (both earlier works written before 1956), ensemble concertos (e.g. concerto for strings), and those designated simply 'Concerto' as we have here, there are some thirty compositions. The works on this disc are Concerto for Viola, Op. 189 (1992), Concerto for Violin No. 2, Op. 139 (1979), and the Concerto for Orchestra (1929), a striking and significantly earlier work written prior to Holmboe's Opus one. It appears here not only as a world premiere recording, but a premiere performance as well.

For those who have not been following this important series and are unfamiliar with Holmboe, his music is tonal (albeit, it's an extended tonality, highly dissonant at times) and written in a neoclassical style with an emphasis on technique - rhythm, counterpoint, form, et cetera. Dynamic, colorful and interesting, it's also striking how uniform his musical language is across the nearly seven decades represented here. Holmboe set his creative course early, influenced by the music of his primary teacher Carl Nielsen, as well as Hindemith, Bartók, Stravinsky and Shostakovich.

The sample provided is the first movement of the Concerto for Viola, Op. 189, which, in terms of dissonance, is fairly representative of all of the music on this CD. The Danish label Dacapo demonstrates the vital role that independent record labels serve with ventures such as this one. We would have had to wait forever, and then some, for any major record label to undertake this important and enriching project.' (Paul Ballyk)

“'Concertos' is an excellent place to start a collection of Holmboe's music, a path that all true music lovers should take unhesitatingly...the quality playing of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and two fine soloists, this disc, even with the sub-hour running time, adds up to a must-have.” (MusicWeb International)

Erik Heide, violin
Lars Anders Tomter, viola
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor

Dima Slobodeniouk
The Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk first studied violin at the Conservatory in Moscow. Later he moved to Finland, where he studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy under the guidance of Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula and Atso Almila. Dima Slobodeniouk combines his native Russian roots with his years of musical study in Finland, his home for more than two decades, where he has positioned himself as one the leading young conductors of his generation. Dima Slobodeniouk has demonstrated his impressive skill across a broad repertoire from Schumann and Shostakovich through Berio, Lutoslawski and a world premiere by the young Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski. Dima Slobodeniouk will be making his debut in Vienna’s Konzerthaus with the renowned Finnish contemporary music ensemble Avanti! Also ahead are appearances with, among others, the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, Orchestre National de France, Paris, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, the Oslo, Bergen and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras, as well as his debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the USA.

The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
has the reputation of being one of the most exciting orchestras in Scandinavia. Through foreign tours and an extensive CD production the orchestra has developed a large following and much well-deserved respect on the international stage.

The orchestra was founded in 1912 and today comprises 85 musicians. Through its long and rich history it maintains a special place in Sweden's cultural life. The orchestra's home is the Louis De Geer Concert Hall which lies in Norrköping's historical industrial landscape. It is said by many to be Sweden's most beautiful concert hall.

Erik Heide
Swedish-born and graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 1998 after studies with Milan Vitek and Tim Frederiksen. Further studies followed at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. Erik Heide is concertmaster of both the Copenhagen Phil (= Sjællands Symfoniorkester) and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra; he is also visiting concertmaster of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon as well as Hamburg Staatsoper. Erik Heide is one Denmark’s most acclaimed chamber musicians, for example as a member of Trio Ondine, which won the awards DR Artist of the Year (2001-2002) and New Generation Artists from the BBC (2004-2006). Alongside an extensive solo career Erik Heide teaches chamber music at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. On previous recordings for Dacapo Erik Heide is featured as soloist in Poul Ruders’ First Violin Concerto and in various recent Danish piano trios with Trio Ondine.

Lars Anders Tomter
is one of today's most outstanding violists. The Giant of the Nordic Viola (The Strad) was born at Hamar, Norway. He began to play the violin at the age of eight and also took up the viola. Both instruments he studied with Professor Leif Jørgensen at the Oslo Music Conservatory and the Norwegian State Academy. He then continued his studies with Professor Max Rostal and with Sándor Vegh. He was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók's Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest in 1984 and then went on to win the Maurice Vieux International Competition in Lille in 1986.

The seasons 2008/09 and 2009/10 included the world premiere of four concertos which have been written for Lars Anders Tomter. In July 2008, the world premiere of the viola concerto by Ragnar Söderlind took place, and in October 2008, Lars Anders Tomter played the world premiere of a new viola concerto, written by the renowned Estonian Composer Erkki-Sven Tüür. The Tüür Concerto “Illuminatio” is a joint European commission of the the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover and the Orchestre National de Lille with support of Norsk Kulturråd. In June 2009, a new piece for viola and strings by Rolf Wallin was premiered within the Risør Chamber Music Festival, and in November 2009, a double concerto for violin and viola by Anders Eliasson will be premiered at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.

Lars Anders Tomter's international solo career started in 1987/88 when he toured extensively in the United States and Germany with the prestigious Norwegian Chamber Orchestra under its director Iona Brown. Since then his appearances as a viola soloist has been greeted with the highest public and critical acclaim throughout Europe and the United States, such as Vienna Musikverein, New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Kölner Philharmonie.

Booklet for Vagn Holmboe: Concertos