Norwegian by Night

With six first recordings, "On This Shining Night" is a ravishing recital focusing revealingly on a 20th-century phenomenon: works for voice and string quartet. It takes its title from a James Agate setting by Samuel Barber (whose masterly Dover Beach is also heard), here in a sublime arrangement by Roderick Williams.

Hoff Ensemble consists of some of Norway's finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble's basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. Hoff has performed with his own group since 1993, collaborating with such artists as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria Joao and Alex Acuna. This time in this great Norwegian band he mixes flavours in a "cross-over" setting… The music is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway's top names in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.

Grammy®-nominated and Emmy Award-winning conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leading the Norwegian Radio Orchestra introduces his fifth album for the prestigious international label, New South American Discoveries. In addition to his positions as music director with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Peruvian-born conductor is also Founder and Artistic Director of Caminos del Inka, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to performing and promoting the music of the Americas.

An impressive bundle of Norway's foremost soloists, together with the Broadcasting Orchestra, is behind this recording by Helge Iberg's great work: SONGS FROM THE PLANET OF LIFE.

I’m going to be brutally honest; until now I’ve never listened to Årabrot

Theo Bleckmann is the renaissance man of contemporary vocal performance, an emotional jazz singer who is willing to try wild ideas on this 2007 album like processing his voice through an electronically altered toy megaphone or a plunger. Guitarist Ben Monder's peers hold him in considerable awe for his sound, now completely his own, as his long fingers stretch across strings and frets to create chords never heard before. At Night is a study in contrasts that flow together into a unified statement, bound by the recurring texts of Sufi poet Rumi.

From foot soldiers to fighter pilots, step into the shoes of those who fought for one of the largest armies in history. This series highlights ordinary foot soldiers, intelligence officers, mine pickers, gunners, tank men, marines, alpine and airborne raiders and fighter and attack aviation pilots whose role in the Allied victory over the Nazis played a crucial part in the war effort. Using the latest computer graphics and technology, viewers witness the combat equipment design, tactics and strategy of conducting a battle. Rare newsreel shots and the reconstruction of the events allow viewers to feel they are being transported back to the battlegroud, allowing them to see war through a soldier's eyes.

Tine Thing Helseth is a Norwegian trumpet soloist specializing in classical repertoire. Since her breakthrough in 2006 with the Eurovision Young Musician Finale, Tine Thing Helseth's development has moved on at an amazing pace. In 2009 she was made a Borletti-Buitoni Fellow, and her diary is now filled with concert dates all over the world. On 'My Heart is Ever Present', Tine teams up once again with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, led by Elise Båtnes. Isa Katharina Gericke joins in for versions of Handel's two showpieces for soprano, trumpet and orchestra, plus "Eg veit i Himmelrik ei Borg" (I know a Castle in Heavens High). And among the all time classics of Bach/Gounod, Holst, Reger and others, Tine also presents a beautiful piece she has written herself: "Engledans" (Angels' dance).

Important: With this Audiobook, You're entitled to a bonus Audiobook: The Introductory Norwegian Basic Bootcamp (5 Lessons)

Norwegian bassist Mats Eilertsen has been a distinctive presence on ECM recordings by, amongst others, Tord Gustavsen, Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Nils Økland, Wolfert Brederode and Jakob Young and has long maintained several projects of his own, including this trio, now in its 10th year of existence. And Then Comes The Night (named after the novel by Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson), was recorded at Lugano’s Audiotorio Stelio Molo and Eilertsen, drummer Thomas Strønen, and Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje make full use of what Mats calls the studio’s “special character and atmosphere” and the acutely-focused interplay the room encourages. “We came in with a number of compositional sketches and the intention of seeing what could be shaped from them, with Manfred Eicher’s help, in that specific space.“ The result is an album of subtle group music, sidestepping many of the conventions of trio playing, in a recording that demands and rewards concentrated listening.