- Bent Sørensen (b. 1958): La mattina:
- 1 La mattina: I. Lento lugubre 05:25
- 2 La mattina: II. Luminoso - Quasi allegro 04:09
- 3 La mattina: III. Lento misterioso 04:18
- 4 La mattina: IV. Andante 04:02
- 5 La mattina: V. Presto 03:56
- Serenidad:
- 6 Serenidad: I. — (Live) 06:03
- 7 Serenidad: II. — (Live) 05:36
- 8 Serenidad: III. — (Live) 07:47
- Trumpet Concerto:
- 9 Trumpet Concerto: I. — 05:42
- 10 Trumpet Concerto: II. — 06:00
- 11 Trumpet Concerto: III. — 04:01
Info for Bent Sørensen: Concertos
Bent Sørensens (b. 1958) distinctive music thrives on the intangible, from atmospheres and feelings to memories and dreams. This recording assembles three recent concertos from the GrawemeyerAward-winning composer performed by distinguished Nordic soloists, beginning with a second piano concerto played by its dedicatee and inspiration, Leif Ove Andsnes. Sørensensclarinet concerto for Martin Fröstis inspired by the scents of Spanish poetry, while his trumpet concerto for Tine Thing Helsethfeeds of his constant obsession with the beauty and vulnerability of Venice. Each is highly evocative and filled with Sørensens own etched beauty.
"Three recent concertos by Bent Sørensen, which are full of attractive, vivid instrumental effects, are brought together by Dacapo Records, all with their dedicatees as the soloists...It may be fundamentally undemanding music, but it is beautifully made." (The Guardian)
"Here we have three concertos, the earliest, the Second Piano Concerto, given the name La Mattina (The Morning), Sorensen describing it as the “deepest and darkest thing I have ever written”. It might not strike you as that, but it is a very disturbed score in five linked parts, the music often emerging in a distraught and frightening atmosphere. It is a concerto in the sense that the piano largely dominates a score that employs a chamber orchestra, the Andante stylistically taking us back in time before the pure joy and relief of a Presto finale. Obviously a difficult work to perform, the Norwegian pianist, Leif Ove Andsnes, is a highly persuasive exponent. Two years later Serenidad (Serenade), for clarinet and orchestra is in the traditional format of three movements, and takes us back to Sorenson’s sparsity of scoring, with moments approaching silence. The clarinet role at times approaches a melody, as the composer looks to create recognizable bird sounds. The soloist is Martin Frost, now dividing his time between a career as Sweden’s most famous clarinettist and a growing demand as a conductor. Here he produces a beautifully refined and creamy tone. Finally the Trumpet Concerto completed in 2013. A short three-movement work composed with the young charismatic Norwegian, Tine Thing Helseth, in mind, and the multitude of colours she can produce, particularly the quite tones. Often crackling like wood burning, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra adds a transparent accompaniment. The recordings are to Dacapo’s immaculate quality, the release much commended to those looking for cutting-edge contemporary sounds." (David’s Review Corner)
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Martin Fröst, clarinet
Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Sondergard, conductor
Per Kristian Skalstad, conductor
Leif Ove Andsnes
The New York Times has called Leif Ove Andsnes “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight.” With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, the celebrated Norwegian pianist has won acclaim worldwide; the Wall Street Journal named him “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.” Andsnes gives recitals and plays concertos in the world’s leading concert halls and with its foremost orchestras, besides being an active recording artist. An avid chamber musician, he served as co-artistic director of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music for nearly two decades, and was music director of California’s 2012 Ojai Music Festival. He was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in July 2013.
In the 2014-15 season, Andsnes embarks on the final leg of “The Beethoven Journey,” his epic four-year focus on the master composer’s five piano concertos. With the Mahler Chamber Orchestra – his fellow traveller since the project’s inception – he leads complete Beethoven concerto cycles from the keyboard in high-profile residencies in Bonn, Hamburg, Lucerne, Vienna, Paris, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and London, besides performing Beethoven concertos in Boston’s Celebrity Series and a host of key venues across Europe and Asia. He undertakes further Beethoven collaborations with such world-class ensembles as the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, the London Philharmonic and Osmo Vänskä, and the Munich Philharmonic and Thomas Dausgaard. Last season, in addition to a wealth of “Beethoven Journey” orchestral engagements, Andsnes undertook a 19-city solo recital tour of the U.S., Europe, and Japan, presenting an all-Beethoven program in New York, Chicago, London, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Tokyo, and more.
It is the pianist’s partnership with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra that anchors “The Beethoven Journey,” and the present season sees them release the third and final installment in The Beethoven Journey, their recording series for Sony Classical, completing the cycle with accounts of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto (“Emperor”) and “Choral Fantasy.” The series has already proved a resounding success: the first volume, featuring the First and Third concertos, was named iTunes’ Best Instrumental Album of 2012 and awarded Belgium’s Prix Caecilia, while the second, a coupling of the Second and Fourth, was hailed as “a landmark of artistic integrity, intelligence, and musical insight” (Telegraph, UK).
Andsnes now records exclusively for Sony Classical. His previous discography comprises more than 30 discs for EMI Classics – solo, chamber, and concerto releases, many of them bestsellers – spanning repertoire from the time of Bach to the present day. He has been nominated for eight Grammys and awarded many international prizes, including six Gramophone Awards. His recordings of the music of his compatriot Edvard Grieg have been especially celebrated: the New York Times named Andsnes’s 2004 recording of Grieg’s Piano Concerto with Mariss Jansons and the Berlin Philharmonic a “Best CD of the Year,” the Penguin Guide awarded it a coveted “Rosette,” and both that album and his disc of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces won Gramophone Awards. His recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 18 was another New York Times “Best of the Year” and Penguin Guide “Rosette” honoree. He won yet another Gramophone Award for Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Antonio Pappano and the Berlin Philharmonic. A series of recordings of Schubert’s late sonatas, paired with lieder sung by Ian Bostridge, inspired lavish praise, as did the pianist’s world-premiere recordings of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Piano Concerto and Bent Sorensen’s The Shadows of Silence, both of which were written for him.
Andsnes has received Norway’s most distinguished honor, Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. In 2007, he received the prestigious Peer Gynt Prize, awarded by members of parliament to honor prominent Norwegians for their achievements in politics, sports, and culture. He is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Instrumentalist Award and the Gilmore Artist Award, and, saluting his many achievements, Vanity Fair named Andsnes one of the “Best of the Best” in 2005.
Leif Ove Andsnes was born in Karmøy, Norway in 1970, and studied at the Bergen Music Conservatory under the renowned Czech professor Jirí Hlinka. He has also received invaluable advice from the Belgian piano teacher Jacques de Tiège who, like Hlinka, has greatly influenced his style and philosophy of playing. A Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, he currently lives in Bergen and in June 2010 he achieved one of his proudest accomplishments to date, becoming a father for the first time. His family expanded in May 2013 with the welcome arrival of twins.
Martin Fröst
Undoubtedly one of the most outstanding wind instrumentalists of today, Martin Fröst future highlights include debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchester, Orchestre National de France, Detroit Symphony and Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber, Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, Bamberger Symphoniker and NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, plus return visits to the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. He also returns to the Australian Chamber Orchestra following a substantial tour of Europe with them last season, and embarks on a major European tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta performing Weber and Copland in May 2013.
Last season Martin Fröst performed with the Wiener Symphoniker, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Minnesota Orchestra (all under Osmo Vänskä), Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Gustavo Dudamel), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as well as the Tonkünstler, Oslo and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras. In August 2012 he made his debut at New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto under the direction of Louis Langrée.
Keen to expand the existing clarinet concerto repertoire, Martin has personally championed Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales (which incorporates elements of mine and dance), Kalevi Aho’s Concerto (commissioned for him by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust) and Rolf Martinsson’s Concerto Fantastique. 2012/13 sees him premiere a new concerto by Bent Sørensen with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Cologne’s Philharmonie under Michael Schønwandt.
A keen recitalist and chamber musician, Martin Fröst gave five concerts as part of a major residency at Cologne’s Philharmonie in 2010/11 including a dance programme ’Double Points’ with violinist Janine Jansen. In 2011/12 Fröst performed in venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Berlin’s Konzerthaus and the Vienna Konzerthaus. He has a long-standing association with the Verbier Festival, and this season not only appears at the festival but also with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Schloss Elmau and on tour around Asia.
Fröst regularly collaborates with such musicians as Leif Ove Andsnes, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Thorleif Thedéen, Roland Pöntinen and the Belcea and Apollon Musagète Quartets. Upcoming chamber appearances include performances at the Schubertiade and a series of concerts with Marc-André Hamelin and Anthony Marwood in Boston, San Francisco and London’s Wigmore Hall.
Fröst conducted a series of concerts with the Oslo Philharmonic last season, as well as conducting programmes with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Norrkoping Symphony orchestras plus Swedish and Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. Future conducting dates include projects with Detroit Symphony and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
Martin Fröst is the Artistic Director of the Vinterfest in Mora, and of the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway. He has an extensive discography for BIS, with whom he has an exclusive contract; his recent CD ‘Dances to a Black Pipe’ received substantial critical acclaim.
Booklet for Bent Sørensen: Concertos