Kari Klark

Kari Rueslåtten is considered one of the most beautiful voices in alternative Nordic folk pop, and she is the Norwegian queen of melancholy. Now the Norwegian Polar Princess presents an unconventional and powerful debut album! Kari Rueslåtten was a founding member of the progressive Doom Metal band The 3rd and the Mortal. The band defined a special genre and was an inspiration for many other bands worldwide. After her retirement in 1995, Rueslåtten released seven solo albums. It is well-known all over Europe and Latin America. Kari Rueslåtten has shown her unique talent in collaboration with many different artists, including Toumas Holopainen by Nightwish or Anneke van Giersbergen (Ex-The Gathering). Kari Rueslåtten has always paid attention to the beauty in the dark.

The Finnish clarinettist Kari Kriikku is best known for his performances of contemporary works, many of them composed specifically to exploit his phenomenal virtuosity; his recording of Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto was one of the finest of the last year. But as this disc of Mozart and Molter with the Tapiola Sinfonietta shows, Kriikku is an equally impressive interpreter of the mainstream clarinet repertory. Like a number of soloists these days, he opts for a basset clarinet in his wonderfully fluid and constantly alert performance of the Mozart concerto, taking advantage of that instrument's extended lower register to restore the original shape of some of the solo lines. But there is not much he can do enliven the three routine concertos, by Johann Melchior Molter, which will be welcomed by clarinettists more than anyone else. The music leaves little impression, though Kriikku's performances on the high clarinet in D are technically impeccable.