International media-impact for Norwegian music

BBC Music Magazine votes Naxos’ latest Tveitt release Editor’s Choice, musicweb raves over the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’s Irgens-Jensen album and BBC One World falls in love with Tromsø.

	Listen to a 30 second clip of Ludvig Irgens-Jensen’s Passacaglia performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra with soprano Ragnhild Heiland Sørensen
	Listen to more tracks or buy the entire Ludvig Irgens-Jensen’s Japanischer Frühling album

03.02.2003 | By: Tomas Lauvland Pettersen

2003 looks set to be one of Norwegian music’s strongest years, and for many it has begun well already with great reviews and positive captions in international media.

Rave review for Tveitt in BBC Music Magazine
Naxos’ release Geirr Tveitt’s Piano Concerto No. 4 – Aurora Borealis – Variations on A Folksong from Hardanger is met with great enthusiasm by the BBC Music Magazine in its February issue. The release is picked out as Editor’s Choice in the Orchestra Music category and the recording is awarded an Outstanding classification with regards to performance and sound quality. This recording of Geirr Tveitt’s Aurora Borealis features Bjarte Engeset as a conductor for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The soloists are also Norwegian: Håvard Gimse and Gunilla Sussman – both on piano. Gimse, in particular, is singled out for his thorough understanding of Tveitt’s highly personal world of conception. Naxos’ series of recordings of Tveitt’s piano concertos and suites based on Hardanger tunes has been very well received both nationally and internationally. As an example one can mention that all of Naxos’ Tveitt releases have been awarded Critic’s and Editor’s Coice both in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra release applauded
Musicweb, one of UK’s premier classical music review sites, recently awarded a very positive review to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Ludvig Irgens-Jensen’s “Japanischer Frühling” released on Simax. The Orchestra is conducted by Eivind Aadland and the featured soloist is soprano Ragnhild Heiland Sørensen. Musicweb’s John Quinn is pleased with what he hears: Throughout the programme the playing of the Bergen orchestra is of a very good standard indeed and Aadland sounds to be fully inside the music and committed to it. Simax provide notes and texts in German, Norwegian and English and pay the music the compliment of a fine, detailed recording. This is a most interesting collection of unfamiliar, well-crafted music which will give pleasure to collectors with an enquiring ear. I am glad to have made the acquaintance of Ludvig Irgens-Jensen’s music and I happily recommend this CD.

BBC falls in love with Tromsø
BBC Radio One’s influential One World show has recently shifted its focus in Norway’s direction. As mic.no/english has already reported, One World travelled to Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø to record live-concerts, interview key-figures and catch up with the Norwegian mood. The BBC producers recorded a full concert night at renowned Oslo club Blå which featured such strong names as Nils Petter Molvær, Sternklang and Bjørn Torske. One World also travelled as far as north of the Polar Circle to sub-arctic city Tromsø – birthplace of Norwegian electronica. As you can read about and listen to here, the Tromsø visit left a lasting impression on the BBC One World crew. This first part of a Norwegian series features interviews with some of the current top names of Tromsø and Norwegian electronica: Doc L Junior, Rune Lindbæk, Kyd and Biosphere. It’s evident that the BBC crew was captured by this urban frontier in the arctic north: Our time in Tromsø was an unforgettable experience. With a very special type of persona and some really fantastic music, from icy streets, to igloos and a film festival, moon boots flying, ice fights, a Kandinsky off the wall and a headache that lasted until we reached Bergen.

During February BBC One World will air three two-hour programmes with a Norwegian focus.

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