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Jordlys
Various composers

Hege Høisæter

Jordlys

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020181974
Catnr: LWC 1175
Release date: 15 November 2019
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Label
Lawo Classics
UPC
7090020181974
Catalogue number
LWC 1175
Release date
15 November 2019
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

EARTH LIGHT
Classical singing is a meditation shared with an audience, an insightful sing­ing teacher once said to me. My profes­sional path — the process of developing voice and musicality to my present pro­fessional level — has, in addition to remarkable musical experiences and a wee bit of glamour, also presented many ob­stacles and challenges. I have been com­pelled to come face to face with myself again and again in order to continue. Fascinating and broadening it has been, this privileged journey, yet also de­manding and difficult at times. Coaches and close friends have made audacious leaps possible. In addition, I have had along the way experienced companions in all the superb composers and writers for whom I have been allowed to be an in­strument.

I had an ardent wish to be able to re­cord and share some of these musical treasures from my own generation, while my human, transient voice is still in its prime and I can function as an in­strument for these works. In close in­teraction with the musicians of course — one by one in this somewhat unusual repertoire — in serious, beautiful, jar­ring, strange songs, which deserve to be heard and preserved for posterity.

Some of the songs were composed with my voice in mind. I have collaborated closely with most of these compos­ers over the years — I have partici­pated in premiere performances of operas and larger and smaller-scale works of Skouen, Kverndokk, Mørk Karlsen, and Wallin. One deceased composer, Sparre Olsen, and one foreign guest, American Thomas Sleeper, have been included in somewhat irregular fashion, but their welcome into this circle is no less gen­uine and heartfelt.

I had a few other Norwegian contemporary composers on the guest list, but with space limited, I had to draw the line. There will be other opportunities per­haps?

Decisions regarding the selection of songs (and their texts) were made along the way, with a few numbers even added after the recording had begun. Such was the case with Synne Skouen's Memento Malin in connection with the staging of the opera Ballerina at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in 2017 (the work earned Skouen a nomination for the Nordic Council Music Prize), and Engel og stjerne (Angel and Star), written for cellist Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen and this writer on the occasion of a Mørk Karlsen concert in Kampen Church in November 2016. Tåke­sanger (Fogsongs)
was completed in 2014 but then set aside and has its premiere performance on this release … with the help of modern tech­nology; the work was originally intended for a live ensemble.

It is not a total coincidence perhaps that the earliest authors here — Hölder­lin and Rilke — have been important sources of inspiration for several of our contemporary writers, Jon Fosse be­ing one example. Transcience, autumn and death, religious contemplation and mys­ticism, of utmost importance also life’s miracles, love, nature ... as the some­what introspective native of Norway’s west coast that I am, I feel a deep kin­ship with these manifestations of life’s quest and find immense joy and profound meaning in being able to give expression to them. And am happy to be able to add a few Breathers and a little humour!

It is my hope that others listening to this CD will be able to discover a bit of light and sustenance for their own journey.

– Hege Høysæter

Artist(s)

Hege Høisæter (mezzo soprano)

Hege Høisæter was born and raised in Bergen. She studied in England, first privately in London, then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. She continued her studies at the National Academy of Opera in Oslo.   Hege was a regular soloist with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet for 14 years until her retirement in 2016. All the while she has sung many concerts, both church and orchestral music, and has performed in numerous chamber music settings with music from different periods. Since her student days she has regularly premiered Norwegian works in both large and small arenas.   Opera roles Hege has sung include Cornelia (Handel/Julius Caesar), Gunhild (Kverndokk/Fourth Night Watch), Fionula (Kverndokk/Around the World in 80 Days), Ottavia (Monteverdi/Poppea),...
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Hege Høisæter was born and raised in Bergen. She studied in England, first privately in London, then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. She continued her studies at the National Academy of Opera in Oslo.
Hege was a regular soloist with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet for 14 years until her retirement in 2016. All the while she has sung many concerts, both church and orchestral music, and has performed in numerous chamber music settings with music from different periods. Since her student days she has regularly premiered Norwegian works in both large and small arenas.
Opera roles Hege has sung include Cornelia (Handel/Julius Caesar), Gunhild (Kverndokk/Fourth Night Watch), Fionula (Kverndokk/Around the World in 80 Days), Ottavia (Monteverdi/Poppea), Rebekka (Haugland/Rebekka), Jocaste (Stravinsky/Oedipus Rex), Kabanicha (Janacek/ Kátya Kabanová), The Neighbour (Wallin/Elysium), Edith (Skouen/Ballerina), Erda, Fricka, 1st Norn and Waltraute (Wagner/Ring Cycle), and The Countess (Tchaikovsky/The Queen of Spades). Over the years she has worked closely with opera directors Stefan Herheim, Peter Konwitschny, Willy Decker and Ole Anders Tandberg, among others, and she has sung under the baton of such conductors as John Fiore, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alessandro De Marchi, Antonino Fogliani and Lothar Koenigs. Hege has sung countless roles and innumerable concerts with the Opera Orchestra, and she has appeared with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, NOSO (Arctic Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra), Oslo Sinfonietta, and the Italian baroque ensemble Armoniosa. She has been a frequent guest at the Casa dei Mezzo International Music Festival on the island of Crete, and her song and role interpretations have been broadcast numerous times on Norwegian Radio and TV (NRK) and via the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Following her retirement from the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, Hege’s career has continued on two parallel tracks: one consisting of opera roles within the mature mezzo range in Norway and abroad (including the entire Ring Cycle at the Gothenburg Opera); the other exploring chamber music settings that encompass recordings and concerts at home and around Europe.

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01.
Hälfte des Lebens
05:12
(Gisle Kverndokk) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
02.
Engel og stjerne: I. Dette eine
02:36
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen
03.
Engel og stjerne: II. Kvarandre
01:39
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, Hege Høisæter
04.
Engel og stjerne: III. Jamne bølgjer
01:51
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, Hege Høisæter
05.
Engel og stjerne: IV. Engel og stjerne
01:57
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, Hege Høisæter
06.
Engel og stjerne: V. Ingenting
03:08
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, Hege Høisæter
07.
Essay-ord
02:16
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter
08.
Triptych: I. Before the Passion
02:17
(Thomas Sleeper) Odd Hannisdal, Hege Høisæter
09.
Triptych: II. Crucifixus
01:58
(Thomas Sleeper) Odd Hannisdal
10.
Triptych: III. Pietà
02:09
(Thomas Sleeper) Odd Hannisdal, Hege Høisæter
11.
Memento Malin
03:06
(Synne Skouen) John Lidal, Hege Høisæter
12.
Trøytt hjarte: I. Ver still mi sjel
02:09
(Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen) Andjei Maevski, Hege Høisæter
13.
Trøytt hjarte: II. Trøytt hjarte
01:53
(Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen) Andjei Maevski, Hege Høisæter
14.
Trøytt hjarte: III. Da du var ung
02:28
(Carl Gustav Sparre Olsen) Hege Høisæter, Andjei Maevski
15.
Det bittelille lyset
01:17
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter, Odd Hannisdal
16.
Tåkesanger: I. Sang 1
01:04
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter
17.
Tåkesanger: II. Sang 2
01:18
(Synne Skouen) Frode Amundsen
18.
Tåkesanger: III. Elfis parole
00:38
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter
19.
Tåkesanger: IV. Sang 3
00:23
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter
20.
Tåkesanger: V. Sang 4
01:09
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter, Frode Amundsen
21.
Tåkesanger: VI. Call Notes
01:25
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter, Frode Amundsen
22.
Ein stille vind: I. Svevnens kjærleik
02:12
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
23.
Ein stille vind: II. Har vore
02:53
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
24.
Ein stille vind: III. Ein stille vind
02:39
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
25.
Ein stille vind: IV. Berre veit
01:47
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
26.
Ein stille vind: V. Uboteleg
05:28
(Kjell Mørk Karlsen) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
27.
Ordløs
00:53
(Synne Skouen) Hege Høisæter
28.
Drei Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke: I. Liebes-Lied
03:23
(Rolf Wallin) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
29.
Drei Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke: II. Buddha in der Glorie
04:18
(Rolf Wallin) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
30.
Drei Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke: III. Schlußstück
02:30
(Rolf Wallin) Hege Høisæter, John Lidal
show all tracks

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