MUSICAL LANDSCAPES: THE SOUND OF THE NORDIC / Ole Edvard Antonsen & Band / Review

MUSICAL LANDSCAPES:
THE SOUND OF THE NORDIC
Ole Edvard Antonsen & Band
Victoria Concert Hall
Tuesday (13 October 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 October 2015 with the title "Trumpet virtuoso plays birdsong and lullaby".

While pianophiles converged upon the Conservatory to attend Jean-Yves Thibaudet's piano recital, a smaller band of brass and wind fanciers gathered at Victoria Concert Hall to hear one of the world's great trumpeters in concert: Ole Edvard Antonsen. The Norwegian virtuoso did not perform a fully-classical programme, which would have been too strait-jacketed, but mixed and crossover fare, including his original compositions.

The 75-minute concert opened with the solo fanfare composed for the 1994 Winter Olympics (in Lillehammer, Norway), which showcased a breathtaking array of trumpeter's tricks, including echo effects and alternating tones from mouthpiece and bell. He was shortly joined by keyboardist Eirik Berge in the song Sved Rondane by Norwegian nationalist Edvard Grieg, which poetically describes mountains, valleys and scenes from childhood.

Antonsen used a number of trumpets for his acts. The diminutive cornet, favourite of brass bands, was the star in a set of variations on the Neapolitan song Funiculi Funicula, which got faster and more virtuosic as the piece progressed. Barely catching a breath or missing a note, he fearlessly embodied the exuberant spirit of the “Golden Age of the Trumpet”. 

Bass guitarist Tom Erik Antonsen, drummer Per Hillestad and sound engineer Dag Stephen Solberg formed the rest of the band, which performed to the end of the evening. A low-pitched rumble vibrated through the hall for Svalbard, an atmospheric recollection of Norway's Arctic islands with shimmering aurora borealis and midnight sun. Here, long-breathed melodies were punctuated by birdsong and whistling wind, all amplified effects of Antonsen's playing.

A number of works were inspired by his life experiences and family members. A lullaby for his first son took the form of a lively rocking rhythm, while a more improvisatory piece was based on his second son's pointing actions and movements. Just as exhilarating was his ride on a F16 fighter jet, with thrills, spills and a splendiferous melody on the gift of flight.

All too soon, the band which completed its Asian tour in Singapore signed off with a medley of typically Scandinavian tunes, which conjured a nostalgic brew of simplicity and melancholy. Antonsen's Landscape, the Swedish melody Men Gar Jag Over Engarna (As I Walked Across The Field) and Vitae Lux, also included a guitar solo and vocalisations from the musicians, which provided for a haunting and mysterious touch.

The sole encore, Bospoorus, was an East meets West number that relived scenes from exotic Istanbul. The amplified trumpet and voices simulated the muezzin's call to prayer in a quite unforgettable melange of sound and musical incense. It was a short concert, but a class act of pure quality such as this is reward enough for one's precious time.



CD Reviews (The Straits Times, October 2015)

NORDIC TRUMPET CONCERTS

OLE EDVARD ANTONSEN, Trumpet

Nordic Chamber Orchestra 

Christian Lindberg (Conductor)

BIS 1548 / ****1/2

Do not let the title of Nordic Trumpet Concertos deter you the listener, as Norwegian virtuoso trumpeter Ole Edvard Antonsen's anthology does not contain a single atonal work, but rather an eclectic mix of different modern styles which are both accessible and engaging. The Finn Harri Wessman's Trumpet Concerto (1987) is both congenial and melancolic, with a main theme that recurs in the finale, heightening the trumpet's ability to sing the moody blues. This is contrasted with Swede Britta Bystrom’s Forvillelser (Delusions, 2005), a more dissonant work that is an unsettling portrait of social isolation and psychosis set in the urban landscape of Stockholm.

The cornet features in Alfred Janson's Norwegian Dance (1996), which has elements of minimalism, with a single theme repeated through cycles of varying tempos, from slow to fast and back to slow again. A manic kind of waltz results, dedicated to the memory of Rikard Nordraak, the short-lived nationalist composer and close friend of Edvard Grieg. Celebrated Swedish trombonist and conductor Christian Lindberg's jazzy Akbank Bunka (2004) is the most extroverted work in the collection, derived from Turkish and Japanese inspirations. Antonsen's exuberant yet sensitive playing is recommended listening for all brass enthusiasts.

BOOK IT:

THE SOUND OF THE NORDIC WITH

OLE EDVARD ANTONSEN AND BAND

Tuesday 13 October 2015 

Victoria Concert Hall at 8 pm

Tickets available at SISTIC

SHOSTAKOVICH Cantatas

Soloists & Estonian Concert Choir

Estonian National Symphony

PAAVO JÄRVI

Erato 0825646166664 / ****1/2

This year marks the 40^th death anniversary of Soviet era Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), which will account for the rush of new recordings of his music. This disc of three rarely performed cantatas demonstrates how a composer's art may be compromised by the political and social milieu he occupies. While Stalin was alive, composers' works were to glorify the State and party policies, Hence the blissful optimism and lack of irony of The Sun Shines Over Our Motherland (1952), which sounds like an extended national anthem at 14 minutes. A longer pot-boiler, The Song Of The Forests (1949) praising USSR's reforestation programme, won Shostakovich the Stalin Prize First Class and 100 thousand roubles despite having been denounced as a formalist and enemy-of-the-people merely a year before.     

Contrast these with The Execution Of Stepan Razin (1964), with texts by Yevgeny Yetuvshenko, a mightily serious work which decries political persecution and totalitarianism. Stalin had died in 1953 and his legacy was thrashed by Krushchev shortly after that. Its dark and bitter subject makes this work the one of three most likely to be performed in concert outside of Russia. The performances by Paavo Jarvi's Estonian forces are examplary and are vividly recorded. The only drawback is the absence of texts and translations, which would have enhanced the appreciation of this period-specific music. Recommended listening, nonetheless.  

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, July 2014)

CHOPIN Études

JAN LISIECKI, Piano

Deutsche Grammophon 479 1039 / ****1/2

It would seem like every young hot-shot pianist has to establish his or her credentials by cutting their teeth on Chopin’s 24 Études, long considered the ideal marriage between technical wizardry and musical poetry. The Polish-Canadian Jan Lisiecki, just 18 years old when he recorded both sets of studies last year, distinguishes himself as rather special talent in the crowded field of keyboard virtuosos. He displays a natural unforced facility in these unrelenting finger-twisters, and when the going gets tough, it is lyricism that shines through.

From the opening C major “Arpeggio” study (Op.10 No.1) to the torrents of crashing sea-waves of the final C minor etude (Op.25 No.12), one gets the sense of an artist fully in control of his faculties. The tricky filigree of the F major (Op.10 No.8), the ferocious runs of thirds in the G sharp minor (Op.25 No.6), or the octave cascades in the B minor (Op.25 No.10) hold little fears for this wunderkind. One however wishes he could have taken a little more time to savour the unfolding lament in the E flat minor number (Op.10 No.6), which  sounds hurried. This is a small quibble in an otherwise highly impressive showing from Lisiecki, a new name and one to note for the future.

FRENCH TRUMPET CONCERTOS

OLE EDVARD ANTONSEN, Trumpet

Sao Paulo Symphony / LAN SHUI

BIS 1778 / ****1/2

The 20^th century trumpet is an extraordinarily versatile instrument, equally at home with classical forms as well as jazz and contemporary music. Its powers of sustaining long notes and agility in articulation make it ideal for the blues idiom and extroverted pyrotechnics. These 20^th century French trumpet concertos exploit those qualities, making for an entertaining listen. The two Trumpet Concertos by André Jolivet (1905-74) are already well-established. The First (1948, published as a Concertino) is influenced by Stravinsky’s neoclassicism, employing strings and piano like a modern concerto grosso.  The forces of the Second (1954) resemble those of a jazz band, offering a similar vibe as Milhaud’s Afro-centric ballet The Creation of the Earth.

The Trumpet Concerto of 1944 by Henri Tomasi (1901-71), a native Corsican, is more traditional in its acrobatic displays but the silvery strains of the moody blues are never far away. Less well known are the Robert Planel’s Concerto (1966) and Alfred Desenclos’s Incantation, Threnody & Dance (1953), which are highly tonal and totally engaging. Norwegian trumpeter Ole Edvard Antonsen is a virtuoso of the first rank, and he is well supported by the excellent Brazilian orchestra led by the Singapore Symphony’s music director Lan Shui. This interesting corner of the repertoire is well worth exploring.