Nade

On this new release, Nadège Rochat performs Antonín Dvorák's Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, and André Caplet's mystically spiritualized Épiphanie, Op. 22, together with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Benjamin Levy. Nadège Rochat is a distinguished expressive voice among young cellists. Besides her wide-ranging musical interests in baroque, classical and romantic repertoire, she likes to explore forgotten composers, world music and contemporary pieces. She started to play the cello at the age of four and first studied in Geneva, then in Cologne with Maria Kliegel. She attended master classes with Heinrich Schiff and Anner Bijlsma among others, and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music under Robert Cohen where she now has a teaching assignment. She won several first prizes in Swiss, German and British competitions and won twice the Swiss SUISA prize for the interpretation of contemporary music.

Christmas songs! Not exactly what you’d expect from Rebekka Bakken, the risk-taking shooting star of the exploding Scandinavian vocal scene, Christof Lauer, the equally stormy and thoughtful sound magician of all timeless post-post and pre-pre styles and Geir Lysne, the most important European reviver of the big band score.
This music will certainly not be heard on the third week of Advent in the lifts of department stores. Which doesn’t mean that they approach the subject arrogantly or in an ironic deconstructive manner. They treat the spiritual templates between chorale and folksong with respect for the former aims and atmospheric uniqueness. The world-weary hits such as "Jingle Bells" and "Oh Christmas Tree" have anyway been left outside in the blizzard. Lauer’s approach to this material is without affectation based on his emotional background…