New CD with Henrik Hellstenius: "Readings of Mr. G."
15th April 2008
Henrik Helstenius’ music is lively and animated, with an interaction between musical elements that has a strong dramatic element, a reflection of the fact that Hellstenius has worked a lot with music for
theatre and dance. The listener experiences an immediate sense of an underlying melodic, even lyrical, sensitivity, either directly or indirectly
present.
Hellstenius’ close collaboration with the violinist Peter Herresthal and percussionist Hans-Kristain Kjos Sørensen have resulted in two concertos.
In 'Readings of Mr G', instrumental and theatrical elements are combined. The percussionist is not only a musician, but speaker also: an actor in the
widest sense.
In the beautiful violin concerto 'By the voice a faint light is shed', Hellstenius creates the illusion of a temporal paradox, in that the
music has a forward-moving development, but twists and turns will inevitably return us to the point of origin, revealing what the composer calls a ‘spiral form’.
'Hi Ophelia!' is the title of the third scene in Hellstenius second opera:
“Ophelias: Death by Waters singing”. Even though this excerpt is removed from the drama of the opera, the music’s transient textures, vital pauses
and melodic tendencies nonetheless convey the innocent Ophelia’s dreams, expectations and hopes of the future, before she is reduced to a
pawn in the struggle for power.
A close connection to theatre also exists with the works 'Book of Songs' and 'Imprints', both sets deriving from work Hellstenius has done for
choreographer Ingun Bjørnsgaard’s productions.
In 'Ombra della sera', various musical fragments of the Italian composer Luigi Nono are the basis for the work, allowing Hellstenius’ unmistakable flexibility, marked, gestural lines and extrovert temperament, to function almost like an
active counterpoint to Nono’s music.
Leading the BIT20 ensemble in the two concertos and Hi-Ophelia! is the conductor Pierre-André Valade, with whom Hellstenius worked with for the
first time on his first opera “Sera”.
Available at: iTunes music store, music online, presto classical
For more information: Link til Henrik Hellstenius hjemmeside