Rolf Wallin
Act · Das war schön! · Tides
Martin Grubinger, percussion
Kroumata Percussion Ensemble
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, conductor
John Axelrod, conductor
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
Track listing
7 tracks · 60:24Listen to samples on selected tracks.
Rolf Wallin
- 1 Act (2003) 10:07
- Das war schön! (2006) 24:25
- 2 I. M. Noir 6:37
- 3 II. Mon trés cher Pére 4:59
- 4 III. 3 x 3 0:50
- 5 IV. Es klinget... 5:22
- 6 V. Herr Stahr 6:33
- 7 Tides (1998) 25:56
About this recording
"Act" is the première album on Ondine of Norvegian composer Rolf Wallin - one of Scandinavia's leading composers and a figure of increasingly international renown who celebrated his 50th birthday in 2007. The world première recordings of three of his works feature the world-class Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of respectively Jaap van Zweden (1), John Axelrod (2-6) and music director Jukka-Pekka Saraste (7).
Commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra, Act (2003) "is a piece about speed, about the joy of activity, and, above all, about the power of acting together." The CD booklet notes reveal what inspired Rolf Wallin to write this piece, "the symphonic orchestra is for me one the most amazing examples of human collaboration. A large orchestra consists of around 100 extremely skilled and highly individual musicians, acting together as one enormous, resounding organism, transforming the stiff lines and dots of the score into living and moving, yet ephemeral cathedrals of sound." The British Guardian described Act as "a wonderfully tangled study in orchestral acceleration, full of scorching details and driven by a visceral force." (Andrew Clements, The Guardian, 16 November 2007)
A project of the Vienna Mozart Year 2006, the five-movement percussion concerto Das war schön! (2006) ("that was nice!" - a comment taken from W.A. Mozart's diary) focuses on different musical and biographical sides of the picture of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The three middle movements are composed on the basis of musical excerpts from his oeuvre. This recording features the works dedicatee, young Austrian percussion star Martin Grubinger (born 1983) who was recipient of the "Bernstein Award" at the 2007 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and chosen "Rising Artist 2007/08" by the European Concert Halls Organisation.
A commission by the performing Swedish Kroumata Percussion Ensemble, Tides (1998) is a piece written for six percussionists and orchestra. "The soloists, not the orchestra, carry the whole form of the piece, a strictly calculated philigrane of waves, expanding and diminishing in the course of three large 'tides'." (Rolf Wallin)
Features
Booklet with liner notes written by the composer, in English, German and French
Press
Powerful confirmation of a distinctive voice in Norwegian music.
Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone, June 2008
A wonderful and almost addictive disc.
Tobias Pfleger, klassik.com, February 1, 2008, *****
Ce beau disque propose un portrait convainquant d'un compositeur dans l'air du temps : urbain et complexe à la fois.
Pierre-Jean Tribot, ResMusica.com, 5.2.2008, La Clef ResMusica.com
A new Norvegian Impressionism? Perhaps. (...) Terrific!
Partituren 14, January/February 2008
Wallin's music is spectacular in the good sense of the word. Sound events are staged in a mystical way and with such a plastic vitality, that it seizes your guts.
Julia Schölzel, Bayern 4 Klassik, December 22, 2007
Act, from 2003, is a wonderfully tangled study in orchestral acceleration, full of scorching detail and driven by a visceral force.
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, November 16, 2007
The artists
Martin Grubinger
Austrian percussionist Martin Grubinger was accepted by the Austrian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra when he turned eight years. At 16 he was the youngest finalist of the 2nd World Marimba Competition in Okaya in Japan, as well as finalist of the EBU Competition in Norway. He was chosen "Rising Artist 2007/08" by the European Concert Halls Organisation and is the recipient of the "Bernstein Award" at the 2007 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Born in 1983, Grubinger offers an impressive repertoire which shows his extraordinary talents as drum soloist. Composers such as Avner Dorman and HK Gruber have been commissioned to write percussion concertos for Martin Grubinger.
Kroumata Percussion Ensemble
With over 25 years of unequalled performances, Kroumata has brought percussion from the back rows of the orchestra into the limelight of centre stage. The six outstanding members of Kroumata (Anders Loguin, Johan Silvmark, Leif Karlsson, Anders Holdar, John Eriksson and Roger Bergström) all share a strong commitment to contemporary music and have commissioned numerous works from Swedish and international composers. The dynamism and energy of Kroumata's performances have spellbound audiences in over 40 countries - from Reykjavik in the north to São Paulo in the south.
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
The Oslo Philharmonic can trace its roots back to the 1870s, Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen, and was established under its present name in 1919. At its home venue, Oslo Concert Hall, the orchestra is annually giving 60-70 concerts, most of which are broadcast by Norwegian National Radio. The concert programme has a high international profile, as for the repertory as well as the performing artists. The orchestra also has school and outreach programs, outdoor concerts in Oslo drawing up to 25,000 listeners, and nationwide touring programs.
With Mariss Jansons, Music director 1979-2002, the orchestra achieved great international fame. Touring activities from 1982 and on included regular visits at most of the major venues in Europe, like festivals such as BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Lucerne and Salzburg and residency at Vienna Musikverein, as well as major venues in the Americas and East Asia.