llegria (2013) LWC1044
ENSEMBLE ALLEGRIA – SPARKLING DEBUT OF A YOUNG NORWEGIAN ORCHESTRA
Allegria is Italian for merriment and enjoyment, and indeed it was the pleasure of playing together that led a group of music students to launch the orchestra in 2007. For its rapid and resolute development over the past five years, Ensemble Allegria was awarded the Statoil Talent Award for classical music for 2012. The orchestra has been managed independently by its own members since its founding, and the Norwegian Academy of Music has played a significant supportive role. Its permanent concertmaster and artistic director is Maria Angelika Carlsen.
The ensemble is celebrating its fifth anniversary with the release of its debut album, a recording that pays tribute to nineteenth and twentieth-century Norwegian composers, from Edvard Grieg via Odd Grüner-Hegge and Johan Kvandal to Knut Nystedt.
In the words of the orchestra’s own members: We have long wished to offer something special on our debut recording, and we invite the listener into the atmosphere and culture that abides in the orchestra, Ensemble Allegria. The album contains Norwegian music we play often and like very much. The works span a relatively long period of time, approximately 100 years, from Grieg’s “Holberg Suite” to Knut Nystedt’s “Concerto Arctandriae”. We feel the combination of familiar and less familiar works provides a rich blend of what Norwegian composers have to offer. We hope the listener’s enjoyment of the album will equal the pleasure we had in making it.
REVIEWS
"A delightfully airy, idiomatic Holberg Suite from this conductorless string group from Oslo, with attractive makeweights by the less familiar Kvandal, Gruner-Hegge and Nystedt. Superbly clear recording."
(TB) - BBC music magazine LWC1044_BBC_music_magazine.PNG
"Here is a real winner. It begins with still another recording of that ubiquitous Holberg Suite, but it commands attention in its superb performance by the Ensemble Allegria, an 18-piece Norwegian string orchestra. Razor-sharp attacks, a huge dynamic range, tremendous energy, and a somewhat steely but totally unified sound gives Allegria a decided edge in the crowded market for Holberg Suites."
Robert Markow - Fanfare LWC1044_FANFARE_MAGAZINE.pdf
"This is a marvelous disc of brilliant music that introduced me to three new composers for which I am extremely grateful. The Ensemble Allegria is well named since ‘Allegria’ translates as ‘merriment’ and the overwhelming impression one gets while listening to these superb young musicians is that they’re all having a really enjoyable time making music together. This is communicated very powerfully in these performances."
Steve Arloff -Music Web International LWC1044_musicweb_ineternational.pdf
"A splendid acquisition for lovers of string music, in a programme which, given the popular Grieg work, is very approachable, with the Kvandal and Nystedt pieces digging deep into the psyche. Highly recommended."
John Miller - SACDnet LWC1044_SACD_net.pdf
"L’Ensemble Allegria garanteix el nivell i l’encant d’un disc primerenc molt prometedor."
Núria Serra - Sonograma magazine
"L’Ensemble Allegria garanteix el nivell i l’encant d’un disc primerenc molt prometedor."
Núria Serra - Suplement de discos LWC1044_Suplement_de_discos.pdf
Grieg, Edvard (1843-1907)
Holberg Suite, Op. 40
01 / I. Praeludium - Allegro vivace /// 02:33
02 / II. Sarabande - Andante /// 03:42
03 / III. Gavotte - Allegretto /// 02:56
04 / IV. Air - Andante religioso /// 05:51
05 / V. Rigaudon ? Allegro con brio /// 04:01
Kvandal, Johan (1919-99)
Sonata for Strings, Op. 79
06 / I. Con moto, agitato - Andante - Adagio /// 08:49
07 / II. Allegro (04:32)
ODD GRÜNER-HEGGE (1899-1973)
08 / Elegiac Melody for Strings /// 05:31
Nystedt, Knut (født 1915)
Concerto Arctandriae for Strings, Op. 128
09 / I. Tranquillo - Allegro ma non troppo /// 06:31
10 / II. Vivo /// 02:18
11 / III. Calando /// 08:09
12 / IV. Allegro feroce /// 04:14