Simply Beautiful
Brian Ziegler | Elgin, IL USA | 06/24/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording is the second duo collaboration on the ECM label for pianist Ketil Bjornstad and cellist David Darling. The music is achingly beautiful, carrying one along as if it is a dance in slow motion, with each note just perfect at just the right time. Even though it invokes an almost meditative calm, it is quite different from other acoustic new age efforts. Rather than simply being background or sonic wallpaper, there is real depth to the compositions. Or are they improvisations, because one senses that this music flows directly from the hearts of the artists rather than their heads. Their previous effort, The River (ECM 1593), is equally entrancing. As in all ECM recordings, the superb sound quality just adds to the magic."
A sublime album beyond New Age
Manny Hernandez | Bay Area, CA | 08/17/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"David Darling's cello work typically gets labeled as new age. However, in a number of his works (this one included) released under ECM Records, he's also bordered straight up classical music. In this recording he is joined by pianist Ketil Bjornstad in a sublime production that blends the classical and the contemporary, effortlessly transporting the listener to Scandinavian fjords and open landscapes under overcast skies. Sounds like a score to a movie? If it were, I wouldn't miss it. Ever since I first borrowed it from the library, a couple of years ago, I had been determined to buy my own copy."
Magic
Nuno Guerra | Lisboa, Portugal, Europe | 10/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD has one of the most beutiful musics I've ever heard (and I'm really into music) - it's the second one, named "upland". I strongly advise you to get this CD if you like to be challenged to accept your solitude. Simply perfect music!"