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Asheim: Høgsongen Tchaikovsky: Serenade
Ensemble Allegria, Petronella Barker
There’s some gorgeous playing from Ensemble Allegria in tuneful Tchaikovsky, but Asheim’s Høgsongen is less immediately appealing.
Asheim: Høgsongen Tchaikovsky: Serenade
Ensemble Allegria, Petronella Barker
Purchase product
There’s some gorgeous playing from Ensemble Allegria in tuneful Tchaikovsky, but Asheim’s Høgsongen is less immediately appealing.
About
"Høgsongen" (the Song of Songs): Some several thousand years ago a text came into being, pieced together from a number of sources. Some were in use as nuptial poetry, some were known through oral tradition, and some of the text was composed. There are those who say it originated with King Solomon; others simply call it the "Song of Songs". No matter what, it is a magnificent celebration of love and eroticism. As a book of the Bible, it is written in a surprisingly direct first-person voice. Both he and she speak in turns, but it is the woman who leads, and it is from here we have picked the excerpts to be used in this work. Different passages, different stages of desire and attraction.
Contents and tracklist
- Ensemble Allegria, Petronella Barker
- Ensemble Allegria
Awards and reviews
April 2020
There’s some gorgeous playing from Ensemble Allegria in tuneful Tchaikovsky, but Asheim’s Høgsongen is less immediately appealing.
July/August 2020
The performances of both the Asheim and the Tchaikovsky are exemplary. This is not the grandeur and nobility of my old favorite recording of the Tchaikovsky, by Koussevitzky. The Ensemble Allegria, being a small group, gives us a different perception of the music. It is filled with intimacy and remarkable precision. As I mentioned above, the narration by Barker is fluently measured and imbued with a profound understanding the tone of the work. The recorded sound is excellent.
