— The beauty of tone, nuanced dynamics, sensitivity to the subtleties of phrasing, and rhythmic lift are really quite spellbinding
(Fanfare Magazine, Jerry Dubins, Jan/Feb 2018)
MUSIKERE
MUSIKERE
Ssens Trio
Sølve Sigerland, fiolin
Henninge Landaas, bratsj
Ellen Margrete Flesjø, cello
Ssens Trio (uttales «Essens») ble startet i 2014 av tre musikere med lang fartstid i internasjonalt musikkliv. Trioen har konsertert blant annet i samarbeid med Geir Inge Lotsberg, Eivind Ringstad, Håvard Gimse og Leif Ove Andsnes. Deres første CD med Beethoven Stryketrioer op.3 og 8 (LAWO Classics) mottok «Supersonic Award» (Pizzicato Magazine) og ble nominert til den prestisjetunge ICMA Award i 2018. Fanfare Magazine skrev: «With absolutely no hesitation I will say that it goes right to the top of my Beethoven String Trios list.» (Jerry Dubins). I Pizzicato Magazine fikk CDèn følgende omtale: «Beethoven med kommunikativ spilleglede. Den lekne spillegleden er gjennomgående. «Trialogen» er fremragende, hver og en sanser hverandre. Gjennom denne interaktive musiseringen, som i Adagio-og Menuett-satsene fortryller med intime stemninger, vinner Beethovens verk dybde og sanselighet. Når dette sjelfulle spill kombineres med en fantastisk veltalende virtousitet, står det intet igjen å ønske» (Alain Steffens). I 2019 kom Ssens Trio ut med sin andre CD med Divertimento K.563 og Adagioer og Fuger k.404 a av W. A. Mozart på LAWO Classics. Denne innspillingen er mottatt med svært gode omtaler i bl.a. Classica (Frankrike), Fanfare Magazine og Pizzicato Magazine. Utgivelsen ble nominert til Opus Klassik Award i Tyskland og ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) i 2020. [last ned bio]
Sølve Sigerland har viet mesteparten av sitt musikalske virke til kammermusikalsk utfoldelse, men har også stått frem som solist med flere av de ledende orkestre i Norden og overbevist under dirigenter som Andrew Litton, Daniel Harding og Walter Weller. I 1993 representerte han Norge i den nordiske solistbiennalen i Stockholm, og senere vant han to priser ved den internasjonale Tibor Varga-konkurransen i Sion, Sveits. Som medlem i Grieg Trio har han konsertert i Europa, USA og Asia, og mottatt priser for både konserter og CD-innspillinger. Sølve Sigerland mottok i 2021 Gammlengprisen.
Henninge Landaas er bratsjist i Oslo Filharmoniske Orkester og var en del av den internasjonalt anerkjente Vertavo Kvartetten i en årrekke, med turneer i konsertsaler over hele verden. Kritikerroste CD-innspillinger inkluderer verk av blant andre Carl Nielsen, Brahms, Bartok, Grieg og Debussy. Med Vertavo Kvartetten har Landaas mottatt Kritikerprisen, Spellemannprisen, og den høythengende Diapason d`Or i Frankrike. Hun har gitt ut en rekke CD-er på LAWO Classics, bland annet Brahms` Sonatas for Viola and Piano og The Golden Hindemith. Henninge Landaas spiller på en J.B.Guadagnini bratsj, utlånt av Dextra Musica.
Ellen Margrete Flesjø Flesjø var i 1987 med på å grunnlegge Grieg Trio. Med dette ensemblet har hun konsertert i Europa, USA og Asia, og utgitt CD-er på EMI, Virgin, og Simax Classics til glimrende kritikker. Priser inkluderer Parkhouse Award (London), første pris og to ekstra priser ved Colmar International Chamber Music Competition (Colmar, Frankrike), Kritikerprisen og Spellemannprisen. I 2004—2009 var Ellen Margrete Flesjø kunstnerisk leder av den internasjonale kammermusikkfestivalen i Stavanger sammen med sine kolleger i Grieg Trio.
Repertoar
Repertoar
Johann Sebastian Bach
«Goldberg Variasjoner» BWV. 988 (arr. Dmitri Sitkovetsky)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Trio i Ess-dur op.3
Serenade i D-dur op.8
Trio i G-dur op.9 nr.1
Trio i D-dur op.9 nr.2
Trio i c-moll op.9 nr.3
Edvard Fliflet Bræin
Trio op.15 (1964)
Ernö Dohnanyi
Serenade i C-dur op.10
Haflidi Hallgrimsson
Trio op.54 (2017, for Ssens Trio)
Joseph Haydn
Trio i G-dur op.53 nr.1
Trio i B-dur op.53 nr.2
Trio i D-dur op.53 nr.3
Bertil Palmar Johansen
“Ricercare” for Stryketrio (1996)
Zoltan Kodaly
Intermezzo (1905)
Gyorgy Kurtag
«Signs, Games and Messages» (1989/97)
Johan Kvandal
Stryketrio op.12 (1950)
Bohuslav Martinu
Trio nr. 2 (1934)
Finn Mortensen
Trio op.3 (1950)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento i Ess-dur KV.563
Seks langsomme satser og trestemmige Fuger KV.404a
Krzysztof Penderecki
Trio (1991)
Alfred Schnittke
Trio (1985)
Franz Schubert
Trio i B-dur D.471
Trio i B-dur D.581
Händel/Halvorsen
Passacaglia for fiolin og bratsj/cello
Zoltan Kodaly
Duo for fiolin og cello op.7
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Duo i G-dur KV.423 (fiolin og bratsj)
Maurice Ravel
Sonate for fiolin og cello (1920/22)
Johannes Brahms
Klaverkvartett i g-moll op.25
Klaverkvartett i A-dur op.26
Klaverkvartett i c-moll op.60
Antonin Dvorak
Klaverkvartett i D-dur op.23
Klaverkvartett i Ess-dur op.87
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Klaverkvartett i g-moll KV.478
Klaverkvartett i Ess-dur KV.493
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Strykekvintett i B-dur KV.174
Strykekvintett i c-moll KV.406
Strykekvintett i C-dur KV.515
Strykekvintett i g-moll KV.516
Strykekvintett i A-dur KV.581
Strykekvintett i Ess-dur KV.614
Franz Schubert
«Forellkvintetten» i A-dur D.667
LYTT
LYTT
NYHETER / PRESSE
NYHETER / PRESSE
News and reviews
PIZZICATO Magazine
(Supersonic Award, September 2017)
Beethoven mit kommunikativer Spielfreude
30.09.2017
Ludwig van Beethoven: Trio op. 3, Serenade op. 8; Ssens Trio; 1 CD Lawo 1122; Aufnahme 02/2016, Veröffentlichung 09/2017 (71'28) — Rezension von Alain Steffen
Mit dieser CD ist es der norwegischen Plattenfirma Lawo gelungen, außergewöhnliche Interpreten für Beethovens Trio op. 3 und die Serenade op. 8 zu finden. Solve Sigerland, Violine, Henninge Landaas, Bratsche, und Ellen Margarete Flesjo, Cello, bilden das ‘Ssens Trio’, das 2014 gegründet wurde. Die spielerische Freude hört man in jedem Moment. Der ‘Trialog’ ist hervorragend, jeder hört und spürt den anderen. Durch dieses interaktive Musizieren, das im den Adagio- und Menuett-Sätzen gar innige Stimmungen hervorzaubert, gewinnen Beethovens Werke an Tiefe und Sinnlichkeit. Und kombiniert man dieses gefühlvolle Spiel mit einer wunderbar eloquenten Virtuosität, dann steht dem Hörvergnügen nichts mehr im Wege. Und mehr braucht man über diese wunderbare CD auch nicht zu sagen. In den CD-Player und einfach nur genießen!
The Ssens Trio is completely inside the idiom here, and the sensitivity and the imagination lead to truly appealing performances. Just put the disc in the player and enjoy!"
FANFARE Magazine (Jan/Feb 2018)
BEETHOVEN String Trio in E♭, op. 3. Serenade in D, op. 8 • Ssens Tr • LAWO 1122 (71:23) String Trio 3 & Serenade 8
"Among Beethoven’s earliest published works are five string trios for violin, viola, and cello, “published” being the operative word, since there is a ton of juvenilia without opus numbers, and several not juvenile works with opus numbers, such as the three piano trios of op. 1, that predate the string trios. The Trio in E♭ Major, op. 3, was composed between 1792 and 1794, but may have been sketched out earlier while Beethoven was still in Bonn. Its six-movement, divertimento-like layout, with two Menuetto movements enclosing a central Adagio, is an obvious nod to Mozart’s great string trio, the Divertimento in E♭ Major, K 563. The so-titled Serenade in D Major, op. 8, was Beethoven’s second go at a string trio. Composed in 1796–97, it’s a strange work, perhaps even unprecedented in terms of form. It’s laid out in seven movements, but lacks the expected second Menuetto typical of serenade and divertimento-type works. Instead, it begins and ends with a short march, framing an Adagio and a Menuetto, followed by a movement that’s almost a self-contained work within itself (Adagio–Scherzo–Allegro molto–Adagio–Allegro molto–Adagio), then an Allegretto alla polacca, and finally a theme and variations movement, before reprising the opening march. These are the two trios on this disc. More than likely, the Ssens Trio will give us a follow-up release containing the three remaining string trios grouped together under op. 9. They were composed in 1797–98, and all three of them are in the expected “normal” Classical form, with a sonata-allegro first movement, a slow movement in second place, a scherzo or menuetto in third place, and a fast, high-spirited, concluding movement. Of the three, however, the Trio in C Minor, op. 9/3, in Beethoven’s tragic-heroic key, is very agitated, foretelling the composer’s Sturm und Drang mode to come. Even by the measure of recent chamber group hatchlings, the Norway-based Ssens Trio is a newborn, formed in 2014 by three veteran musicians whose names may be familiar in other contexts. Violinist Sølve Sigerland is a member of the Grieg Trio and has appeared as a soloist with leading Scandinavian orchestras. Henninge Landaas is co-principal viola of the Oslo Philharmonic and a former member of the internationally renowned Vertavo String Quartet. Cellist Ellen Margrete Flesjø was a founding member of the Grieg Trio in 1987. Constituted as the Ssens Trio—whose name I’m not sure how to pronounce—this is the players’ debut album; and with absolutely no hesitation I will say that it goes right to the top of my Beethoven string trios list. Heretofore, I’ve enjoyed listening to these works performed by the Leopold Trio on Hyperion, though I still reserve a special liking for a set of the trios on Denon not listed by ArkivMusic, performed by the Mozart String Trio (Jean-Jacques Kantorow, violin; Vladimir Mendelssohn, viola; and Mari Fujiwara, cello). The Mozart Trio’s technical precision, combined with its bold and forthright readings, comes across as more sharply focused than the comparatively looser or laidback sound of the Leopold Trio. But the performances here by the Ssens Trio are something else. The beauty of tone, nuanced dynamics, sensitivity to the subtleties of phrasing, and rhythmic lift are really quite spellbinding. There’s always one passage in particular I zero in on as a test of an ensemble’s expressive acumen, and that’s the second half of the first Menuetto in the E♭-Major Trio. Here we encounter one of the earliest examples of what I call Beethoven’s “music by suggestion.” The first half of the Menuetto’s Trio section contains a lovely and quite touching lyrical tune played by the violin. When the time comes for Beethoven to repeat it in the second half of the Trio section, he doesn’t, at least not literally. Instead, he outlines and embroiders around it, so that the ear thinks it’s hearing the tune as previously heard, even though it’s not. It’s an aural illusion, and it’s one of the secrets of the powerful effect that Beethoven’s music has on us. By manipulating us into hearing what we want to hear, we personalize the music and ascribe our own meaning to it, which pulls at and touches the heartstrings in a way that no other music does. Listen to Sølve Sigerland play this passage. Your heart will simultaneously ache and leap for joy. When the performance history of this period is written, the chapter on string playing will be titled “The Golden Age.” Do not wait for the companion disc with the three op. 9 Trios on it to arrive, as I’m sure it will in due time. This is an imperative purchase. Jerry Dubins This article originally appeared in Issue 41:3 (Jan/Feb 2018) of Fanfare Magazine."
KONTAKT | BOOKING
KONTAKT | BOOKING
ellenflesjoe@live.no
henninge@lawo.no
solve@ssenstrio.com
Europa (utenom Norge):
Granvig Artists v/ Marianne Granvig
Pantheonsgade 12 st, DK—5000 Odense C, Danmark
P: +45 2829 7927
M: mg@granvigartists.dk
CVR—nummer: 38 18 64 93