Nordic Light

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra present First Light, the first fruit of Kuusisto’s tenure as the ensemble’s Artistic Director, on which two eminent New York composers are cast in a Nordic light. The album offers the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly’s Shrink (Concerto for Violin and Strings), a unique, remotely-recorded rendition of Philip Glass’ The Orchard by Kuusisto and Muhly, and Kuusisto’s new string orchestra arrangement of Glass’ “Mishima” String Quartet No. 3.

Lasse Thoresen - Nordic Voices - Himmelkvad
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz: 2,30 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: 2L # 2L-075-SABD | Country/Year: Norway 2012
Genre: Classical, World | Style: Contemporary, Folk, Vocal | Source: 2L

…Throughout the singing of all concerned is incredible - involving and incredibly wide-ranging for different timbres, sounds and types of pitch employed. The music sounds tremendously difficult yet Nordic Voices carry it off with apparent ease and appropriate devotional feeling to the score. The 2L sound is, as usual, incredibly precise - defining each location with clarity but resolving every last nuance that is uttered from the performers lips…

Subtitled “Songs of Love and Fear”, “The Light” brings together Ketil Bjornstad’s “Four Nordic Songs”, compositions for female voice and accompaniment written over a 30 year period, with a song cycle based on poetry of John Donne (1572-1631). Bjornstad: “The intellectual energy in Donne’s poetry, which was always receptive to the metaphysical, is also nurtured by emotional excitement, and it is this unique combination that has held such powerful appeal to me as a composer.”