Audiophile Audition, written by Peter Joelson:
«Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) wrote three violin sonatas, the last of which was completed at Troldhaugen in 1887. It got its first performance in Leipzig, played by the violinist Adolph Brodsky with the composer at the piano. The work builds, as does so much of Grieg’s writing, on Norwegian dance rhythms and folk tunes, all brought out with natural grace and exciting drama by Ragnhild Hemsing and Tor Espen Aspaas. The contrasts in moods of the three movements, and within those movements, are presented with subtlety, the overall architecture of the whole work always in the musicians’ sights. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) completed the five Danses Champêtres, op.106 in 1924, round about the same time as he was finishing his last symphony. This charming collection of bucolic miniatures also uses folk influences and Hemsing and Aspaas present these with obvious affection. Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) wrote two sonatas for violin and piano, the first appearing a couple of years after the first symphony. Ragnhild Hemsing and Tor Espen Aspaas bring out the energy and humour, occasionally acerbic at that, so clear in the very DNA of Nielsen’s writing. Ragnhild Hemsing has exquisite clarity in her playing which brings out so successfully the crystal-clear focus of Nielsen’s writing. That Hemsing and Aspaas are a very well-established duo is apparent from the complementary fluency of their enormously impressive playing. The quality of sound that Morten Lindberg and his 2L team have captured with such transparent naturalness is astonishingly excellent, whether auditioned via the Pure Audio Blu-ray or SACD discs, both supplied with this release. State-of-the-art, indeed!» — Peter Joelson, August 2017
All digital services, including MQA on TIDAL http://phonofile.link/northern-timbre
Pure Audio Blu-ray with Auro-3D and Dolby Laboratories Atmos https://shop.klicktrack.com/2l/1001832
A Hybrid SACD is included in the box. The compact disc looks like a normal CD and plays on all standard players and computers.
NORTHERN TIMBRE - Ragnhild Hemsing & Tor Espen Aspaas
Album details, artwork and eBook: www.2L.no/pages/album/138.html