Storyteller is the first new studio album in over five years from Norwegian/Irish duo Secret Garden.
On the day of release (26 April 2019), Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland have this to say in their newsletter:
“Even though we had great success and response to our “Just the Two of US” album (one of our favourites ), “Live at Kilden” and “You Raise Me Up: The Collection”; “Storyteller” is very special and means so much to us both. From the initial concept of the album to the final mix, its been a truly wonderful journey of writing, arranging, recording, producing and working with some of the most wonderful incredible artists including the incredible Czech National Symphony Orchestra. We have traveled between Norway, Ireland, the UK and the Czech Republic to produce “Storyteller”…
According to pianist Rolf Løvland, Irish-Norwegian neo-classical duo Secret Garden's seventh studio album, Winter Poem, was inspired by the "darkness that surrounds the Scandinavian winter." While there's a genuine sense of melancholy laced throughout its largely instrumental 11 tracks, fans of their luscious new age sound needn't fear a new gothic reinvention, as there's very little here likely to find its way onto a horror movie soundtrack. Indeed, the stately piano chords and sweeping string arrangements (courtesy of the Czech National Symphony Orchestra) of opener "Make a Wish" feel more suited to a Downton Abbey-esque costume drama, while elsewhere the lilting "Anticipation" recalls the emotive ivory-tinkling of Ludovico Einaudi's understated scores, the more uptempo "Fionnuala's Cookie Jar" is a highly percussive Irish jig packed with Celtic fiddles and tin whistles…
Known for their lush and atmospheric, largely instrumental music, the Irish/Norwegian duo Secret Garden rose to fame in the mid-'90s and have since won an international following for their gentle but emotionally evocative sounds, dominated by violin and keyboards and combining notes of Celtic and Norwegian folk, pop, and new age styles. The duo first came together to write and perform the song "Nocturne," which became Norway's winning entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. While they would dabble in vocal music on 2007's Inside I'm Singing and pare back their arrangements on 2013's Just the Two of Us, the sizable majority of their releases saw them remaining loyal to their trademark sound, playing music that touched the hearts and soothed the souls of their many fans around the world.
Introducing the first new Secret Garden collection in 18 years. Secret Garden features Norwegian composer-keyboard artist Rolf Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry. The band first came to international prominence when they won the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Nocturne’, which features on this collection.
Enclosure of the music magazine "Good Times" (Edition Discographien) Special Edition "Fools Garden" March 2018. German pop group Fool's Garden formed in 1991, comprising singer Peter Freudenthaler, guitarist Volker Hinkel, bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele. Debuting in 1993 with the album Once in a Blue Moon, two years later Fool's Garden issued their sophomore effort Dish of the Day, scoring an Asian chart hit with "Lemon Tree." Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing followed in 1997.
German pop group Fool's Garden formed in 1991, comprising singer Peter Freudenthaler, guitarist Volker Hinkel, bassist Thomas Mangold, keyboardist Roland Röhl and drummer Ralf Wochele. Debuting in 1993 with the album Once in a Blue Moon, two years later Fool's Garden issued their sophomore effort Dish of the Day, scoring an Asian chart hit with "Lemon Tree." Go and Ask Peggy for the Principal Thing followed in 1997.