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ICH DENKE DEIN…
Rolf Martinsson
Lisa Larsson
Swedish soprano Lisa Larsson started
her career as a flautist and later studied
singing in Basel. Her first engagements
followed at the Zürich Opera House,
where she performed with conductors
such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and
Franz Welser-Möst.
Following her debut at La Scala di
Milano in “Die Zauberflöte” under
Riccardo Muti, she swiftly developed
an international opera career, in
particular as a Mozart singer with guest
appearances at renowned opera houses
and festivals such as the Bavarian State
Opera, Royal Opera House Covent
Garden, Teatro La Fenice, Grand
Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Monte
Carlo as well as at the Salzburg Festival,
Lucerne Festival, Glyndebourne Festival
and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Lisa Larsson is also known as a remarkably versatile concert singer. In recent years she has constantly
expanded her broad repertoire with works by Mahler, Richard Strauss, Brahms, Berlioz, Britten and
Stravinsky. Conductors she has performed with include Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, David
Zinman, Vassily Sinaisky, Edo de Waart, Louis Langrée, Sir Roger Norrington, Vasily Petrenko,
John Storgårds. This with orchestras such as the Berlin PO, Frankfurt Radio SO, Munich PO, Zürich
Tonhalle Orchestra, Vienna SO, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands PO,
Bergen PO, Hong Kong PO, NHK SO (Tokyo).
Most recent additions to her substantial discography: a Haydn album with the Combattimento
Consort Amsterdam, followed by a Berlioz recording respectively a Mahler programme with the
Arnhem PO. Previous major recordings include Strauss’ “Vier letzte Lieder” under Douglas Boyd,
Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under David Zinman, the Mozart operas “Don Giovanni” under Daniel
Harding, “Mitridate” under Adam Fischer and “Il sogno di Scipione” under Gottfried von der Goltz,
Händel‘s “Jephta” under David Stern, numerous Cantatas, Magnificat as well as the Christmas and
Easter Oratories by Bach under Ton Koopman respectively Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
Lisa Larsson maintains close collaboration with the Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson, who has
dedicated several compositions to her. Her next CD release will be Martinsson’s “Orchestral Songs
on Poems by Emily Dickinson” in collaboration with the Royal Stockholm PO together with Andrew
Manze for BIS.
www.lisalarsson.info
Rolf Martinsson is one of Sweden’s leading composers. His trumpet concerto “Bridge”, written
for Håkan Hardenberger, led to an international breakthrough and has to date been performed
more than 60 times worldwide. Martinsson collaborates with top soloists such as Lisa Larsson,
Anne Sofie von Otter, Martin Fröst and Christian Lindberg, with conductors such as Alan Gilbert,
Andris Nelsons, Manfred Honeck, Vassily Sinaisky and John Storgårds and with the major Nordic
orchestras as well as the BBC SO, CBSO, Vienna RO, Bamberger Symphoniker, NDR Hamburg,
Cleveland O, Detroit SO in venues such as Musikverein/Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie/
Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw, Salzburger Festspielhaus, Royal Festival Hall and Carnegie
Hall. As of today, Martinsson has composed some 130 works, including orchestral pieces, solo
concertos, chamber music and choir music. His work list also includes pieces for solo voice with
various ensembles, most of which dedicated to soprano Lisa Larsson.
Martinsson has been featured composer at the Stockholm International Composer Festival,
Composer in Residence (CiR) at Concertgebouw with the Netherlands PO/CO 14-15 and CiR
with the Helsingborg SO 14-17. His highly acclaimed trumpet concerto has been performed at the
Tanglewood Music Festival by Hardenberger/Boston SO/Nelsons. The soloist and conductor also
performed the piece at the Nobel Prize concert with the Royal Stockholm PO.
Future highlights include three CD recordings with Lisa Larsson and a world premiere by Larsson/
Malmö SO, following the two successful co-commissions with Larsson – “Ich denke Dein...”, cocommissioned by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Philharmonia O, Netherlands PO, Helsinki PO
and Gothenburg SO, and “Garden
of Devotion”, co-commissioned by
the Netherlands, Scottish, Stuttgart
and Swedish chamber orchestras and
Staatsorchester Weimar along with some
major Swedish orchestras. Ms. Larsson/
Malmö SO gave the world premiere of
“Into Eternity” at the inauguration of
Malmö Live 2015. In 2020 Martinsson’s
opera, commissioned by the Royal
Swedish Opera, will be premiered in
Stockholm.
Martinsson serves as professor of
composition at the Malmö Academy
of Music. He is a Fellow of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Music from which
he recently received the prestigious
Christ Johnson Prize for his “Orchestral
Songs on Poems by Emily Dickinson”
– dedicated to and internationally
performed by Lisa Larsson.
www.rolfmartinsson.com
Reviews
“ (...) Like the famous tune of your favourite operetta, this melody (1st movement) remained with the
listener long after the concert (...) Larsson gave life to this magnificent natural scene (4th movement) with
quiet, very pure voice. Without the use of vibrato and exaggerated dynamics, she effortlessly filled the hall
with her brilliant soprano. The resplendent colour of her voice carried easily, yet was never obtrusive – a
musical reflection of the vivid, admiring image in Eichendorff’s words: even the most quiet of pianos were
full of suspense, her lines always focussed. The sheen of the blossoms, the wide fields and quiet woods made
audible in this song may have caused the souls of many in the hall to spread their wings (...) As Lisa Larsson
sang “her” new Martinsson songs, it wasn’t mere performance, but a precisely fitting nestling of the work
to her voice. Her considerable contribution to the creation of the songs was obvious in every note, be it
breathed, spoken or in brilliantly bright heights. Her perfect, accent-free German allowed a deep insight into
the development of music with text (...) The reaction of the audience and the warm embrace of Larsson and
Martinsson had me hope for future collaborations of this Swedish duo (...) ”
Katharina Hogrefe / Bachtrack (English translation by Hedy Muehleck)
“ (...) unusually expressive and full music (...) Martinsson accurately captured the exciting relationship
between soprano soloist and orchestra, and the duo with solo cellist Tomas Nuñez-Garcés was most certainly
one of the highlights. Martinsson’s songs stand and fall with the Swedish soloist Lisa Larsson, who in this
case has a hauntingly beautiful voice. She sang melodically and focused, her language was beautiful and her
voice carried above the orchestra throughout the entire performance. These songs (...) are already booked for
performances in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Milan and London, just to name a few (...)
An unusually successful commission of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (...) ”
Wilhelm Kvist / Hufvudstadsbladet
“ (...) The varied concert offered two big surprises: that someone dares to write so unashamedly enjoyable,
sinfully sexy music as the Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson (b. 1956)! And luckily he does not only dare to
but he also can do it (...) Martinsson is so skilful in his orchestration (...) melodicism and silken harmonies,
that you need to prick your ears for the second time: can this even be true? When the shockingly good
soprano Lisa Larsson performed Martinsson’s brand new song cycle “Ich denke Dein...” and John Storgårds
created an “überschön” orchestral background, the listener felt as if he was being led into an enchanted
garden, where an angel had fallen from heaven. Larsson’s soprano radiated and floated, and was sublime in
the pianissimos. It soared effortlessly and entwined playfully with Pekka Kauppinen’s intoxicating violin and
Tomas Nuñez-Garcés’s alert cello in the highest spheres/registers (...) ”
Veijo Murtomäki / Helsingin Sanomat
Work Note
(...) In Lisa Larsson the composer found his muse (...) “Ich denke Dein...” contains a choice out of
the German poetry: Goethe, Eichendorff and Rilke. Their joint theme is love (...) Liebeslied (Rilke) is
written in the first person singular. That person wonders how he can lift his soul over his sweetheart
‘zu andern Dingen’ (towards other things). He realizes that it will not be successful. He and the
beloved lady are caught in the stroke of a bow, which out of two strings, jointly stricken, let sound
of one voice. The poem ends with a sigh: ‘On what instrument have we been bend? And which
player holds us in his hand? O sweet song’. Can a composer wish a more musical text? (...) In the
throat of Larsson the sweet song merges to one sound by the two trifling voice muscles (...) “Ich
denke Dein...” grew in close cooperation with Lisa Larsson, to whom the piece is dedicated. For each
poem Martinsson searched a suiting musical form of the song line and in combination therewith
he developed the orchestration. During 2017 Lisa Larsson will record the piece with the Malmö
Symphony Orchestra/Paul Mägi at the BIS label in the beautiful acoustics at Malmö Live (...)
Extract from a work note by Heinz Köhnen.
Performances
– by Lisa Larsson – Ich denke Dein…
2015-01-14/15/16 World premiere
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich / John Storgårds
Tonhalle Zürich, Switzerland
2015-01-28/29 Finnish premiere
Helsinki PO / John Storgårds
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki, Finland
2015-03-07/10 Dutch premiere
Netherlands PO / Marc Albrecht
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015-09-09/10 Swedish premiere
Gothenburg SO / Antonello Manacorda
Concert Hall, Gothenburg, Sweden
2015-10-01/02/04 Italian premiere
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi / Gustavo Gimeno
Auditorium, Milano, Italy
2016-06-09 Icelandic premiere
Iceland SO / Eivind Aadland
Harpa, Reykjavik, Iceland
2016-10-06
Helsingborg SO / Stefan Solyom
Konserthuset, Helsingborg, Sweden
2017-05-04
Malmö SO / Stanislav Kochanovsky
Malmö Live, Sweden
2017-11-26/27 Australian premiere
Melbourne SO / John Storgårds
Hamer Hall, Melbourne, Australia
2018-05-23/24 Stockholm premiere
Royal Stockholm PO / Gustavo Gimeno
Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden
2017-05-29/30/31 Premiere recording
Malmö SO / Paul Mägi
Malmö Live, Sweden
CD recording, BIS label
2018-02-15 Spanish premiere
Balearic SO / Pablo Mielgo
Auditorium, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Poems by Rilke, Goethe, Eichendorff
4. Mondnacht - Eichendorff
5. Nähe des Geliebten - Goethe
Es war, als hätt der Himmel
die Erde still geküßt,
daß sie im Blütenschimmer
von ihm nun träumen müßt.
Ich denke dein, wenn mir der Sonne Schimmer
vom Meere strahlt;
ich denke dein, wenn sich des Mondes Flimmer
in Quellen malt.
Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
die Ähren wogten sacht,
es rauschten leis die Wälder,
so sternklar war die Nacht.
Ich sehe dich, wenn auf dem fernen Wege
der Staub sich hebt;
in tiefer Nacht, wenn auf dem schmalen Stege
der Wandrer bebt.
Und meine Seele spannte
weit ihre Flügel aus,
flog durch die stillen Lande,
als flöge sie nach Haus.
Ich höre dich, wenn dort mit dumpfem Rauschen
die Welle steigt!
I’m stillen Haine geh’ ich oft zu lauschen,
wenn alles schweigt.
2. Blaue Hortensie - Rilke
1. Liebes-Lied - Rilke
Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß
sie nicht an deine rührt? Wie soll ich sie
hinheben über dich zu andern Dingen?
Ach gerne möcht ich sie bei irgendwas
Verlorenem im Dunkel unterbringen
an einer fremden stillen Stelle, die
nicht weiterschwingt, wenn deine Tiefen schwingen.
Doch alles, was uns anrührt, dich und mich,
nimmt uns zusammen wie ein Bogenstrich,
der aus zwei Saiten eine Stimme zieht.
Auf welches Instrument sind wir gespannt?
Und welcher Spieler hat uns in der Hand?
O süßes Lied.
So wie das letzte Grün in Farbentiegeln
sind diese Blätter, trocken, stumpf und rauh,
hinter den Blütendolden, die ein Blau
nicht auf sich tragen, nur von ferne spiegeln.
Sie spiegeln es verweint und ungenau,
als wollten sie es wiederum verlieren,
und wie in alten blauen Briefpapieren
ist Gelb in ihnen, Violett und Grau;
verwaschenes wie an einer Kinderschürze,
Nichtmehrgetragenes, dem nichts mehr geschieht:
wie fühlt man eines kleinen Lebens Kürze.
Doch plötzlich scheint das Blau sich zu verneuen
in einer von den Dolden, und man sieht
ein rührend Blaues sich vor Grünem freuen.
3. Die Liebende schreibt - Goethe
Ein Blick von deinen Augen in die meinen,
ein Kuß von deinem Mund auf meinem Munde –
Wer davon hat, wie ich, gewisse Kunde,
mag dem was anders wohl erfreulich scheinen?
Entfernt von dir, entfremdet von den Meinen,
führ ich stets die Gedanken in die Runde,
und immer treffen sie auf jene Stunde,
die einzige; da fang ich an zu weinen.
Die Träne trocknet wieder unversehens:
Er liebt ja, denk ich, her in diese Stille –
und solltest du nicht in die Ferne reichen?
Vernimm das Lispeln dieses Liebewehens;
mein einzig Glück auf Erden ist dein Wille,
dein freundlicher zu mir – gib mir ein Zeichen!
Ich bin bei dir, du seist auch noch so ferne,
du bist mir nah!
Die Sonne sinkt, bald leuchten mir die Sterne.
O, wärst Du da!
Instrumentation
2 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo)
2 Oboes (2nd doubling English Horn)
2 Clarinets in Bb (2nd doubling Bass Clarinet in Bb)
2 Bassoons (2nd doubling Contrabassoon)
Harp (the two lowest strings should be tuned
in C and D)
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C (mutes: harmon)
Trombone (mute: straight)
Bass Trombone (mute: straight)
Tuba
Solo Soprano
Piano (doubling Celesta)
String Orchestra (Double Basses: with extension
to low C)
Timpani
Percussion (2 players)
I
Glockenspiel, Metal Wind Chimes,
Suspended Cymbal, Tam-Tam
II Vibraphone (motor)
Duration
26 minutes
YouTube clip
Lisa Larsson sings Martinsson at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KglXjQbQFg
CD recording BIS label
Lisa Larsson / Malmö SO / Paul Mägi
Malmö Live, Sweden
Soprano
Composer
Lisa Larsson
[email protected]
www.lisalarsson.info
Rolf Martinsson
[email protected]
www.rolfmartinsson.com
Agency
Publisher
Impulse Art Management
Martijn Jacobus
+31 20 626 69 44
[email protected]
Gehrmans Musikförlag
Kristina Fryklöf, promotion manager
+46 8 6100 617
[email protected]
www.gehrmans.se
Photo Merlijn Doomernik
Larsson
Photo Mats Bäcker
Martinsson
Design & Layout
www.louisemartinsson.se
2017-01-01