Search - Lars-Erik Larsson, Bo Linde, Gustaf Nordqvist :: Watercolors: Swedish Songs

Lars-Erik Larsson, Bo Linde, Gustaf Nordqvist
Watercolors: Swedish Songs
Genres: International Music, Pop, Classical

Track Listings (33) - Disc #1
1. Kiss Of The Wind
2. Grass Sings Under Wandering Feet
3. The Cloud, The Flower And The Lark
4. Peonies
5. Take My Heart
6. On The Reef
7. Amazing Day
8. The Song Of The Sea
9. Old Dance
10. A Moment In Time
11. The Anemones
12. If I Could Be Tears
13. On The Sea
14. When You Close My Eyes
15. You Make Everything Beautiful
16. Blessed It Is To Wait
17. From The Depths Of My Soul
18. You Are My Aphrodite
19. Like A Wave
20. The Meadow Where You Kissed Me
21. Apple-trees And Pear-trees
22. And The Knight Rode To The Holy Land
23. To A Rose
24. Winter In My Heart
25. What Do I Want?
26. The Judgment
27. A Summer Morning
28. Serenad
29. The Amazon
30. I Am Tired To Death
31. Is It You, Most Beloved Child
32. Take Me
33. May We Be Happy

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CD Details

All Artists: Lars-Erik Larsson, Bo Linde, Gustaf Nordqvist, Gosta Nystroem, Ture Rangstrom, Bengt Forsberg
Title: Watercolors: Swedish Songs
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 2/10/2004
Genres: International Music, Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Symphonies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 028947470021

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Anne Sofie Von Otter is a born singer of songs, and this collection of Swedish miniatures dating from about 1910 to the 1950s are easy to relate to both in their Romanticism and the direct, unaffected manner in which the fine mezzo puts each across. In Ture Rangström's "En gammal dansrytm" (Old Dance), she uncharacteristically slides into the song in a sultry fashion; it makes you sit up and listen. She rarely brings any darkness into her tone. In keeping with the CD's title, we get soft, Northern light in both her tone and pianist Bengt Forsberg's--and by so avoiding any false sense of drama, each song's subject, particularly the ones about nature are, well, natural. But when something else is called for, as in Bo Linde's "Är jag intill döden trött" ("I Am Tired to Death"), von Otter knows how to emphasize the text amost conversationally. This lovely collection of pastels occasionally threatens to evaporate, but close attention reveal true delights. The mezzo is in fine voice, with no "opera diva" behavior to get in the way of the songs' charms. A specialized collection, perhaps, but one which reaps fine rewards. --Robert Levine

CD Reviews

A magical disc

G.D. | Norway | 04/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are several extremely fine selections of Swedish songs out there - von Otter has made one previous to this one, and there are two excellent ones from Phono Sueciae focusing on even more obscure composers than the ones represented here - but this is probably overall the best introduction to the magical world of Swedish songs dating from the first half of the 20th century. And there really are some marvelous gems in this collection of mostly lyrical, wistful, usually slightly impressionist Swedish songs, and von Otter is an outstanding advocate. The sound-world here varies from the late romantic to the neo-classical, but the various atmospheres are variations on the same abstract mood; a Northern-tinged, nostalgic, colorful and slightly distanced temper with scents of springflowers, rustles of the brook running in misty meadows, pond-ripples, gently rolling waves, longing and halflights, some with a national tinge and some with a basis in folk songs. Only rarely does any of the songs hint at the grandiose (Nordqvist's "Till havs" a fine exception), but they add up to a truly rewarding collection.

Not all of the songs are masterpieces, but some of them come pretty close; especially the Aulin, Nystroem and Linde ones. And von Otter truly bring them all to life, with colors, magic and vibrance. Indeed, it's hard to imagine a more hypnotical performance. But the success of this disc is not only due to von Otter's marvelous characterizations - Forsberg's piano playing is outstandingly sensitive to details and colors and produces some magically evocative sounds. Sound quality is of course excellent as well. All in all, I'd say this is an unmissable issue, utterly magical and delightful, even though the repertoire will be completely unfamiliar to most listeners. Very strongly recommended."