Vagn Holmboe Concertos Norrköping Symphony Orchestra Dima Slobodeniouk Erik Heide, Lars Anders Tomter Vagn Holmboe Concertos Concerto for Viola, Op

Vagn Holmboe Concertos Norrköping Symphony Orchestra Dima Slobodeniouk Erik Heide, Lars Anders Tomter Vagn Holmboe Concertos Concerto for Viola, op. 189 (1992) *�� 21:19 1 I Allegro moderato, ma con forza�� 7:21 Erik Heide, violin 2 II Allegro – Andante – Vivace�� 13:58 Lars Anders Tomter, viola Norrköping Symphony Orchestra Concerto for Orchestra (1929) *# Dima Slobodeniouk, conductor 3 Allegretto molto pesante �� 13:12

Concerto for Violin no. 2, op. 139 (1979) * �� 24:44 4 I Allegro – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I�� 11:46 5 II Adagio affettuoso – Allegro molto �� 12:58

Total 59:18

* World premiere recordings # World premiere performance

Dacapo is supported by the Danish Arts Council Committee for Music Concertos beyond time and space by Jens Cornelius with its special capacity for the elegiac. The orchestra follows the soloist with an Andante, where the solo motif from the first movement appears again before the tempo is speeded Vagn Holmboe is one of those composers whose works are so plentiful and of such up in a last passage and gives the work an ending that is as impactful as its introduction. high quality that it can be hard to form an overall impression of the oeuvre. Inevitably, The Viola Concerto is one of the works of Holmboe’s old age where one can hear his this also means that some works may be unjustifiably overlooked. The situation sur- eternal joy in the roots of music: dance, song, folk music and the collective spirit that he rounding his many solo concertos is particularly confusing, partly because there are solo had experienced so strongly at the beginning of the 1930s in the Balkans. concertos among the almost 80 works that the young Holmboe composed before his first official opus 1, and partly because most of Holmboe’s 13 “chamber concertos” from Concerto for Orchestra the 1940s are in reality solo concertos – simply with a small orchestral ensemble. From Vagn Holmboe’s self-imposed apprenticeship up to 1935, when he composed pro- The special status of the chamber concertos has paradoxically overshadowed Holm lifically without giving a single work the imprimatur of an opus number, his Concerto boe’s larger solo concertos. Such is the case for example with the two solo concertos on for Orchestra from 1929 emerges. This neoclassical genre had been “invented” just this CD, which have never been recorded before. four years previously by the German composer Paul Hindemith, and Holmboe’s work is presumably the first concerto for orchestra written after Hindemith’s. The famous Concerto for Viola, op. 189 concertos by Bartók, Kodály and Lutoslawski only came more than a decade later. Holmboe had also written a concertante viola work – the Fifth Chamber Concerto from After two very early attempts to write a symphony, Holmboe appears to have dropped 1943 – long before he composed his “proper” Viola Concerto. He wrote the latter at the the idea of such an old-fashioned type of test piece and instead turned his antennae age of 82 as the last of his many solo concertos. It is a dynamic, spontaneous work full of towards the new German music of the period. Holmboe had still not been abroad (not infectious, vital music. until the next year did he go to Berlin to study further) and he probably only knew of The Viola Concerto was written especially for the Israeli virtuoso Rivka Golani, who Hindemith’s work from music periodicals or through his teacher Finn Høffding, who had given Holmboe’s Solo Sonata for Viola its first performance three years previously. was strongly influenced by the Neue Sachlichkeit of the 1920s. And it sounds as if Holmboe is sending musical greetings to his soloist on this occasion Curiously, Holmboe’s piece on the whole has nothing but the title in common with too. The first movement of the Viola Concerto is framed by a striking Jewish-tinged Hindemith’s. Holmboe’s Concerto for Orchestra is not in the least concertante in form theme that is presented right from the beginning by the orchestra. After this motto-like and is not a concerto grosso, rather an overture or symphonic first movement. Perhaps theme the soloist plays a recitative over the same scale. In the development section of the title is in reality simply an expression of the language of a young artist in 1929? the movement Holmboe interpolates a passage typified by folk-dance rhythms. After Holmboe’s lack of experience in writing for orchestra explains the atypical this the motto and the solo motif return before the movement ends sophisticatedly with instrumentation with heavy percussion and brass. This helps to give the Concerto for a slow, very quiet string version of the formerly so powerful motto. Orchestra even more of the dark pathos that is so typical of the northern European The second movement takes a rhapsodic form that grows out of the violist’s dual role music of the ominous pre-war years. as both player and cantor as presented in the first movement. It begins with a fiery scherzo The piece adopts a traditional sonata form where the hymn-like first subject grows section that merges directly into a great solo cadenza where the viola comes into its own out of a slow introduction. A quiet interlude presents a number of brief motifs that do 4 5 not gather into a whole until the music returns to the initial tempo and presents a solid declaration of love for the wilder music from Hungary and the Balkans. Holmboe was subject in the low strings. The music culminates in an effective bitonal passage that married to the Romanian-born pianist Meta Graf and as a young man he had studied recalls Carl Nielsen’s exotic music for the play Aladdin. More Nielsen inspiration can the folk music of the Balkans. The tradition from there – and not least the influence that be heard in the fugato chorale theme that is interpolated before the recapitulation, and filtered through Bartók – left its imprint on him throughout his life, and in the violin in general the use of polyphony demonstrates great admiration for Denmark’s major concerto the inspiration is clear: the modal melodies, the “Balkan time signature” 5/4, composer, who had been Holmboe’s examiner at his admission audition for the Royal and the soloist’s role as a fantasizing, temperamental folk-like musician, especially as it Danish Academy of Music. unfolds in the last movement. As far as is known, this recording is the first performance ever of the work. Holmboe Along the way there are many nods to the classical concerto tradition that goes all the later wrote several orchestral concertos in the true neoclassical sense, but no more with way back to Beethoven and Mendelssohn. But as usual Holmboe’s use of the heritage is this particular genre title. quite free of stylistic imitations. The connection with the classics is not reactionary, it is exclusively about situating the music beyond time and space. Concerto for Violin no. 2, op. 139 Jens Cornelius, 2013 The masterly Violin Concerto no. 2 from 1979 is Holmboe in fully fledged classical form. It is written with great gusto and orchestrated with razor-sharp precision within a traditional framework with three movements and a concertante dialogue between soloist and orchestra. Despite the numbering, Violin Concerto no. 2 is Holmboe’s “true” violin concerto. Besides Chamber Concerto no. 6 for violin and chamber orchestra there is also an early violin concerto no. 1 from 1938, which has never been performed. The Violin Concerto was composed in a period when Holmboe was particularly interested in solo concertos. Holmboe has aptly been called a “composer of series” because in some periods he concentrated on particular genres. Just as his music grows up organically and branches into new shoots, his work with it often generated new ideas for another work in the same genre. In the mid-1970s the results were a cello concerto, a recorder concerto, a tuba concerto, two flute concertos and this violin concerto. The Violin Concerto was written for the Hungarian violinist Anton Kontra, who had moved to Denmark in 1965 and become well known as the concertmaster of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and first violin in the Kontra Quartet, which gave so many of Holmboe’s string quartets their first performance. In the Violin Concerto Holmboe pays tribute to the Hungarian soloist by combining his own purist Nordic style with a grand 6 7 The Performers The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, SON, is considered one of the most exciting Swedish-born Erik Heide (violin) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music orchestras in Scandinavia. Through tours abroad and a wide-ranging CD output, SON in Copenhagen in 1998 after studies with Milan Vitek and Tim Frederiksen. Further also enjoys great respect on the international scene. SON was founded in 1912 and today studies followed at the Musikhochschule in Cologne. Erik Heide is concertmaster of consists of 81 musicians. The orchestra is based in the De Geer Hall, which is in the both the Copenhagen Phil (= Sjællands Symfoniorkester) and the Danish National unique industrial landscape of Norrköping, and is regarded by many as Sweden’s most Chamber Orchestra; he is also visiting concertmaster of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in beautiful concert hall. The central axis of the repertoire is the great Romantics from Lisbon as well as Hamburg Staatsoper. Erik Heide is one Denmark’s most acclaimed Beethoven to Mahler, but the music from the twentieth century until the present as well chamber musicians, for example as a member of Trio Ondine, which won the awards as Swedish and other Nordic music also play a major role. Many young conductors have DR Artist of the Year (2001-2002) and New Generation Artists from the BBC (2004-2006). started their international career in Norrköping, with former principal conductors such Alongside an extensive solo career Erik Heide teaches chamber music at the Royal Dan- as Herbert Blomstedt and Franz Welser-Möst as the most conspicuous examples. Okko ish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. On previous recordings for Dacapo Erik Heide Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Harding, Andrew Manze, Andrew Parrott and Michail is featured as soloist in Poul Ruders’ First Violin Concerto and in various recent Danish Jurowski are other conductors who have or have had a close association with the orches- piano trios with Trio Ondine. tra and who are to be found today on the world’s orchestral stages. In 2012 the young Briton Michael Francis took up the post as SON’s new chief conductor. Many of SON’s Norwegian Lars Anders Tomter is one of today’s leading violists, described in The CD recordings attract great international attention. Strad as “the giant of the Nordic viola”. A now 25-year-long career counts appearances worldwide at the Vienna Musikverein, Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in Lon- The Russian conductor Dima Slobodeniouk first studied violin at the Conservatory don and Konzerthaus Berlin. He has performed with among others the BBC Symphony in Moscow. Later he moved to Finland, where he studied conducting at the Sibelius Orchestra, the Royal Philhar monic Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Academy under the guidance of Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula and Atso Almila. Dima the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the major Scandinavian orchestras. Lars Anders Slobodeniouk combines his native Russian roots with his years of musical study in Tomter’s repertoire embraces all major works for viola as well as new works written for Finland, his home for more than two decades, where he has positioned himself as one him. He has premiered concertos by composers like Rolf Wallin and Erkki-Sven Tüür. the leading young conductors of his generation. Dima Slobodeniouk has demonstrated Lars Anders Tomter is a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and a vis- his impressive skill across a broad repertoire from Schumann and Shostakovich through iting professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Music as well as Joint Artistic Director of Berio, Lutoslawski and a world premiere by the young Finnish composer Lotta Wennä the famous Risør Chamber Music Festival in Norway. Lars Anders Tomter has recorded koski. Dima Slobodeniouk will be making his debut in Vienna’s Konzerthaus with for labels like Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC and Chandos. the renowned Finnish contemporary music ensemble Avanti! Also ahead are appearances with, among others, the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, Orchestre National de France, Paris, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, the Oslo, Bergen and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras, as well as his debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the USA. 8 9 Erik Heide © Agnete Schlichtkrull Lars Anders Tomter © Nicky Twang

10 11 Koncerter uden for tid og sted af Jens Cornelius dante, hvor solomotivet fra 1. sats dukker op igen, inden tempoet i et sidste afsnit sættes op og giver værket en afslutning, der er ligeså markant som dens indledning. Vagn Holmboe hører til de komponister, hvis værker er så mange og af så høj kvalitet, Bratschkoncerten er et af de alderdomsværker, hvor man kan høre Holmboes evige at det kan være svært at få overblik over hele produktionen. Det fører uundgåeligt også glæde ved musikkens rødder: Dansen, sangen, folkemusikken og fællesskabet, som han til, at nogle værker kan blive uretmæssigt overset. Situationen omkring hans mange i begyndelsen af 1930’rne havde oplevet så stærkt på Balkan. solokoncerter er særlig forvirrende. Dels fordi der er solokoncerter blandt de næsten 80 værker, den unge Holmboe komponerede inden sit første officielle opus 1. Og dels fordi Koncert for orkester de fleste af Holmboes 13 “Kammerkoncerter” fra 1940’erne i realiteten er solokoncerter, Fra Vagn Holmboes selvpåførte læretid indtil 1935, hvor han komponerede på livet løs blot med lille orkesterbesætning. Kammerkoncerternes særlige status har paradoksalt uden at blåstemple et eneste værk med et opusnummer, træder hans Koncert for orke- overskygget Holmboes større solokoncerter. Det gælder bla. de to solokoncerter på ster fra 1929 frem. Denne neoklassiske genre var blevet “opfundet” bare fire år tidligere denne cd, der aldrig har været indspillet før. af den tyske komponist Paul Hindemith, og Holmboes værk er formodentlig den første Koncert for orkester skrevet efter Hindemiths. De berømte koncerter af Bartók, Kodály Koncert for bratsch, op. 189 og Lutoslawski følger først mere end et årti senere. Holmboe havde også skrevet et koncertant bratschværk – nemlig den 5. Kammerkoncert Efter to meget tidlige forsøg på at skrive en symfoni droppede Holmboe tilsynela- fra 1943 – længe inden han komponerede sin “egentlige” Bratschkoncert. Den skrev han dende tanken om sådan en gammeldags form for svendeprøve og rettede i stedet anten- i en alder af 82 år som den sidste af sine mange solokoncerter. Et dynamisk og spontant nerne mod tidens nye tyske musik. Holmboe havde endnu ikke været udenlands (først værk fuld af smittende, livskraftig musik. året efter tog han til Berlin for at studere videre) og har sikkert kun kendt Hindemiths Bratschkoncerten blev skrevet specielt til den israelske virtuos Rivka Golani, som værk fra musiktidsskifter eller gennem sin lærer Finn Høffding, der var stærkt påvirket tre år tidligere havde uropført Holmboes Solosonate for bratsch. Og det lyder, som om af 1920’ernes Neue Sachlichkeit. Holmboe også ved denne lejlighed sender musikalske hilsener til sin solist. Bratsch- Ganske pudsigt har Holmboes stykke stort set kun titlen til fælles med Hindemiths. koncertens 1. sats indrammes af et markant, jødisk-farvet tema, der præsenteres Holmboes Koncert for orkester er ikke spor koncerterende og er ingen concerto grosso, straks fra begyndelsen af orkestret. Efter dette motto-agtige tema spiller solisten men nærmest en ouverture eller symfonisk førstesats. Måske er titlen i virkeligheden et recitativ over samme skala. I satsens gennemføringsdel indskyder Holmboe et blot udtryk for ungt kunstnersprog anno 1929? afsnit præget af folkedanserytmer. Derefter vender mottoet og solomotivet tilbage Holmboes manglende erfaring i at skrive for orkester forklarer den atypiske instru- inden satsen raffineret afsluttes med en langsom og helt tyst strygerudgave af det før mentation med tungt slagtøj og messing. Det er med til at give Koncert for orkester så kraftige motto. endnu mere af den mørke patos, som er så typisk for den nordeuropæiske musik fra de 2. sats har en rapsodisk udformning, der udspringer af bratschistens dobbeltrolle skæbnesvangre førkrigsår. som både spillemand og kantor, der blev præsenteret i 1. sats. Det begynder med et Stykket følger en traditionel sonateform, hvor det hymniske hovedtema vokser frem fyrigt scherzo-afsnit, der går direkte over i en stor solokadence, hvor bratschen træder i af en langsom indledning. Et stilfærdigt mellemspil præsenterer en række korte moti- karakter med sine særlige evner for klagesang. Orkestret følger solisten op med en An- ver, der ikke samler sig, før musikken vender tilbage til udgangstempoet og præsenterer 12 13 et massivt tema i de dybe strygere. Musikken kulminerer med en effektiv bitonal pas- tydelig, lige fra de modale melodier over “balkantaktarten” 5/4 til solistens rolle som sage, der giver mindelser om Carl Nielsens eksotiske musik til skuepillet Aladdin. Mere fabulerende, temperamentsfuld spillemand, der især folder sig ud i sidste sats. Nielsen-inspiration kan høres i det fugerede koraltema, der indskydes inden reprisen, Undervejs sendes der mange hilsener til den klassiske koncerttradition, der går helt og i det hele taget viser brugen af polyfoni en stor beundring for Danmarks store kompo- tilbage til Beethoven og Mendelssohn. Men som sædvanlig er Holmboes brug af arven nist, der havde eksamineret Holmboe ved hans optagelsesprøve til Musikkonservatoriet. helt uden stilistiske efterligninger. Forbindelsen til klassikerne er ikke reaktionær, men Denne indspilning er efter alt at dømme værkets første opførelse overhovedet. Holm- drejer sig udelukkende om at sætte musikken uden for tid og sted. boe skrev senere adskillige orkesterkoncerter i egentlig neoklassisk forstand, men ikke Jens Cornelius, 2013 flere med denne særlige genretitel.

Koncert for violin nr. 2, op. 139 De medvirkende Den mesterlige Violinkoncert nr. 2 fra 1979 er Holmboe i fuldt udfoldet, klassisk form. Svenske Erik Heide (violin) er uddannet fra Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium Uhyre veloplagt skrevet og knivskarpt orkestreret inden for traditionelle rammer med hos Milan Vitek og Tim Frederiksen med debut i 1998. Han er koncertmester i både Sjæl- tre satser og et koncerterende dialogspil mellem solist og orkester. lands Symfoniorkester og DR UnderholdningsOrkestret og er ligledes gæstekoncertmester På trods af nummereringen er Violinkoncert nr. 2 Holmboes “egentlige” Violinkon- i Gulbenkian Orchestra i Lissabon samt i Hamburg Staatsoper. Erik Heide er en af landets cert. Udover Kammerkoncert nr. 6 for violin og kammerorkester findes der også en tidlig mest prisvindende kammermusikere bl.a. i Trio Ondine, med hvem han har været Årets violinkoncert nr. 1 fra 1938, der aldrig er blevet opført. DR-Kunstnere i 2001-2002 samt New Generation Artists hos BBC i 2004-2006. Sideløbende Violinkoncerten er komponeret i en periode, hvor Holmboe var særligt optaget af med en omfattende solistkarriere underviser Erik Heide i kammermusik på Det Kongelige solokoncerter. Holmboe er passende blevet kaldt en “seriekomponist”, fordi han i perio- Danske Musikkonservatorium. På CD for Dacapo har Erik Heide tidligere indspillet Poul der koncentrerede sig om bestemte genrer. På samme måde som hans musik gror frem Ruders’ 1. violinkoncert og forskellige nyere danske klavertrioer med Trio Ondine. organisk og skyder nye knopper, affødte hans arbejde med værkerne ofte idéer til endnu et værk i samme genre. Midt i 1970’erne blev det både til en Cellokoncert, en Blokfløjte- Norske Lars Anders Tomter er en tidens førende bratschister, som det anerkendte koncert, en Tubakoncert, to Fløjtekoncerter og denne Violinkoncert. magasin The Strad har kaldt “The Giant of the Nordic Viola”. En mere end 25 år lang Violinkoncerten er skrevet til den ungarske violinist Anton Kontra, der var flyttet til karriere tæller adskillige optrædener verden over i bl.a. Wiens Musikverein, New Yorks Danmark i 1965 og blevet kendt som koncertmester i Sjællands Symfoniorkester og som Carnegie Hall, Londons Wigmore Hall og Konzerthaus Berlin. Han har optrådt med primarius i Kontra Kvartetten, der uropførte så mange af Holmboes strygekvartetter. I bl.a. BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Violinkoncerten hylder Holmboe den ungarske solist ved at kombinere sin nordiske, Budapest Festival Orchestra og de store skandinaviske orkestre. Lars Anders Tomters re- renfærdige stil med en stor kærlighedserklæring til den mere viltre musik fra Ungarn og pertoire omfatter alle de store værker for bratsch foruden helt nye værker særligt skrevet Balkan. Holmboe var gift med den rumænsk-fødte pianistinde Meta Graf og havde som til ham; han har bl.a. uropført koncerter af komponister som Rolf Wallin og Erkki-Sven ung studeret folkemusikken på Balkan. Traditionerne derfra – og ikke mindst indfly- Tüür. Lars Anders Tomter er professor på Norges Musikkhøgskole i Oslo, gæsteprofes- delsen gennem Bartók – prægede ham hele livet, og i Violinkoncerten er inspirationen sor ved Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium samt en del af den kunstneriske 14 15 ledelese for Risør Kammermusikkfest i Norge. Lars Anders Tomter har indspillet for pladeselskaber som Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC and Chandos.

Norrköpings Symfoniorkester, SON, anses for at være en de mest spændende orkestre i Skandinavien. Gennem udlandsturneer og en omfattende cd-produktion nyder SON også stor respekt på den internationale scene. SON blev grundlagt i 1912 og har i dag 81 musikere. Orkestret har hjemme i De Geerhallen, som ligger i Norrköpings unikke, historiske industrilandskab og af mange betragtes som Sveriges smukkeste koncerthus. Repertoirets omdrejningspunkt er de store romantikere fra Beethoven til Mahler, men også 1900-talsmusiken frem til i dag samt den svenske og nordiske musik spiller en væsentlig rolle. Mange unge dirigenter har indledt deres internationale karriere i Norrköping, hvilket tidligere chefdirigenter som Herbert Blomstedt og Franz Welser-Möst er de fornemste eksempler på. Okko Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Harding, Andrew Manze, Andrew Parrott og Michail Jurowski er andre dirigenter, som har eller har haft nær tilknytning til orkesteret og som i dag befinder sig på verdens or- kesterscener. I 2012 tiltrådte den unge brite Michael Francis som SONs nye chefdirigent. Mange af SONs cd-indspilninger høster stor international opmærksomhed.

Den russiske dirigent Dima Slobodeniouk studerede violin på musikkonservatoriet i Moskva og flyttede siden til Finland, hvor han studerede direktion på Sibelius Akade- miet under Olga Parhomenko, Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula og Atso Almila. I dag kom- binerer Dima Slobodeniouk sine russiske rødder med inspirationen fra musikstudierne i Finland, hvor han har placeret sig solidt blandt de førende dirigenter i sin generation. Dima Slobodeniouk demonstrerer et imponerende håndelag indenfor et bredt repertoire med opførelser af alt fra Schumann over Sjostakovitj til Berio, Lutoslawski og en uropførelse af finske Lotta Wennäkoski. Han debuterer med det anerkendte finske ny © Brita Nordholm musik-ensemble Avanti! Kammerorkester ved en koncert i Wiens Koncerthus i 2013. NorrKöping Symphony Orchestra Derudover venter der engagementer med bl.a. Philharmonia Orchestra i London, Royal Scottish National Orchestra og Filharmonikerne i Oslo og Bergen samt hans debut med Baltimore Symphony Orchestra i USA. 16 17 d Recorded at De Geerhallen, Norrköping, on 13-17 June 2011 Recorded by TimbreMusic, www.timbremusic.dk Recording producer: Preben Iwan Sound engineer: Preben Iwan Recorded in the DXD audio format (Digital eXtreme Definition), 352.8 kHz / 24bit. Microphone main array: 5x DPA 4006TL & 2x 4011TL microphones for surround channels. Solo spot mikes Neumann U89 & DPA 4011TL, DAD AX24 converters/preamps, Pyramix DAW system with Tango Controller. Monitored on B&W 802 Diamond speakers & © 2013 Dacapo Records, Copenhagen Liner notes: Jens Cornelius English translation: James Manley Proofreader: Svend Ravnkilde Artwork: Denise Burt, www.elevator-design.dk Publisher: Edition Wilhelm Hansen AS, www.ewh.dk Dacapo Records acknowledge, with gratitude, the financial support of Dansk Musik Forlægger Forening

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Dacapo Records, Denmark’s national record label, was founded in 1986 with the purpose of releasing the best of Danish music past and present. The majority of our recordings are world Dima Slobodeniouk premieres, and we are dedicated to producing music of the highest international standards. 19 © Marco Borggreve