Evening Hymn Berit Norbakken, Arctic Philharmonic & Henning Kraggerud

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, HWV 72:
• 1 Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, HWV 72: Verso già l'alma 05:10
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Cessate, omai cessate, RV 684:
• 2 Vivaldi: Cessate, omai cessate, RV 684: Ah ch'infelice sempre 05:25
• Anonymous: O Death Rock Me Asleep:
• 3 Anonymous: O Death Rock Me Asleep 04:17
• Henry Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629:
• 4 Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: The Plaint - O let me weep 07:30
• Tarquinio Merula (1595 - 1665): Folle è ben che si crede:
• 5 Merula: Folle è ben che si crede 03:12
• Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643): Scherzi Musicali:
• 6 Monteverdi: Scherzi Musicali: Quel sguardo sdegnosetto, SV 247 02:14
• Ego flos campi, SV 301:
• 7 Monteverdi: Ego flos campi, SV 301 03:21
• Tarquinio Merula: Canzonetta Spirituale sopra alla nanna "Hor ch´è tempo di dormire":
• 8 Merula: Canzonetta Spirituale sopra alla nanna "Hor ch´è tempo di dormire" 08:16
• Henry Purcell: An Evening Hymn, Z. 193:
• 9 Purcell: An Evening Hymn, Z. 193 04:32
• Antonio Vivaldi: Tito Manlio, RV 738:
• 10 Vivaldi: Tito Manlio, RV 738: Sonno, se pur sei sonno 02:22
• George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17:
• 11 Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: Piangerò la sorte mia 05:46
• Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626:
• 12 Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626: Thy hand, Belinda (When I am laid in Earth) 04:55
• Total Runtime 57:00

Info for Evening Hymn

Berit Norbakken is one of Scandinavia's leading sopranos. Her versatility and flexibility of voice have allowed her to master a repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary, including folk music. Here she introduces a selection of repertoire consisting of arias from various operas and cantatas from the Baroque era, some of which are familiar to many while others are more unfamiliar. She says of this recording: "Our desire is to present our version, our encounter with this music and with each other in the music. The pieces are woven together through our artistic voices and experiences, helping to foster new connections." Her previous recordings have been critically acclaimed: "Soprano Berit Norbakken Solset sings with a clear, pure tone that continually delights."

"Soprano Berit Norbakken Solset sings with a clear, pure tone that continually delights." - Charlottesvilleclassical.org

"...and so wonderfully performed, and the fabulous soprano, Berit Norbakken, who has exactly the right blend of straightness, so you can hear every note, but when she decides to open up, it's just fabulous, for me, it's got everything..." - BBC Radio 3

Berit Norbakken, soprano
Arctic Philharmonic
Hennig Kraggerud, conductor

Berit Norbakken
(formerly Berit Solset) is one of Scandinavia’s leading sopranos. With outstanding versatility, she masters a repertoire ranging from Renaissance to contemporary, including folk music.

Berit appears regularly in performances of oratorios, passions, and masses, and continues her work with leading ensembles, orchestras and conductors in major concert halls all over the world. Norbakken has also sung opera with great success, most recently in a new staged production of Bach’s St John Passion directed by Calixto Bieito at Theatro Arriaga in Bilbao. After studies in Tromsø/Norway, Karlsruhe/Germany and graduating from the Norwegian Academy of Music, she won the 2006 INTRO-classical competition, the prestigious launch programme sponsored by Concerts Norway. This led to, among other things, a close collaboration with Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene. Their recording ‘The Image of Melancholy’ received brilliant reviews in Norway and abroad. She collaborates closely with conductor Juanjo Mena, with whom she regularly appears in concert, lately in Bach’s Matthewpassion at the May Festival Cincinnati. For her recording with the BBC Philharmonic of Arriaga’s vocal music, she has received glowing reviews internationally.

In November 2019 she performed the world premiere of Kaia Saariaho’s Quatre Instants – (sinfonietta version) with the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta and Tim Weiss. She appeared in Sydney Opera House together with Anima Eterna Brugge, in Beethoven Symphony no 9, conducted by Jos van Immerseel, in Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall in Grieg’s Peer Gynt with Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra led by Mikhael Pletnev and in several programs touring in Europe.

Other parts include Marzelline (Beethoven/Fidelio), Rosina (Rossini/Il Barbiere de Sevilla) Balkis (Haydn/L’Incontro Improvviso), Aci (Händel/Aci, Galatea e Polifemo), Adonis (Scarlatti/Il Giardino di Amore), Abel (Scarlatti/ Il Primo Omicidio), first soprano in Mozart/Great Mass in C Minor, Mozart/Exultate Jubilate, Haydn: Creation, Haydn: Seasons. Since 2015 she has been a research fellow at the The Norwegian Artistic Research Programme. During her project she has worked closely with the Swedish composer Karin Rehnqvist.

Upcoming engagements includes Mozart-program with Lorenzo Coppola, Bach Matthewpassion with Andreas Spering, Händel Saul with Hans-Christoph Rademann, Mozart Great Mass in C minor (soprano 1) with Daniel Reuss, Bach: St Johnpassion with Stephan MacLeod, Händel La Resurrezione with Ottavio Dantone and Arriaga Hermine & Médée with Juanjo Mena.

‘Carrying all of this emotional weight was soprano Berit Norbakken Solset, whose rendition of each song was astonishingly gorgeous, making them deeply moving. Nowhere more so than in the third of the songs, ‘Perfume of the instant’, its enraptured, intimate sensuality practically inducing the sensation of wafts of fragrance in the concert hall. Throughout the work, Solset made the music marvellously tactile, her voice seemingly communicating to each one of us in the audience personally. i can honestly say that if this was the last performance i ever heard, i would have died perfectly happily. Amazing.’

Booklet for Evening Hymn