Sigmund Groven’s third (and final) album in his Sigmund Groven Collection series was released on April 8th, 2016. The CD, called Concerto, contains 22 tracks and has a classical music profile. It offers highlights from Groven´s long career in interpreting classical music from Norwegian and international composers, as well as some of his own compositions.
The musical quality is always high on a Sigmund Groven release, as can be testified by the participants on Concerto: Iver Kleive, Helge Iberg, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Ivar Anton Waagaard, Armon String Quartet, Terje Venaas, Kjetil Bjerkestrand, Kåre Nordstoga, Rainbow Filmharmonic Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Anne Vada, and last but not least (apart from Sigmund himself), Tommy Reilly.
The album includes no less than four previously unreleased recordings; Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod), new recording made in January 2016. Gavotte en rondeau (Bach/arr.Tommy Reilly), a live recording from a concert in Budapest in 2013. Sonate (Scarlatti), a live recording from Trondheim in 1990. And Møte / The Tryst (Grieg), recorded in 2007. Additionally, the Groven-Reilly duet Seventeen-Seventy-One has never been released on CD before.
The CD booklet counts 30 pages and is jampacked with liner notes, track stories and presentations, in both English and Norwegian. For example, Sigmund writes this about one of the tracks: Bach-Gounod’s Ave Maria has been part of my recital programme for many years. Bach’s music for violin solo may seem less of a likely choice of repertoire for my instrument, but Tommy Reilly has made a tasteful transcription for solo harmonica of the famous Gavotte from Bach’s Partita no.3. This is a live recording from a concert in Budapest where I played it as an encore after my performance with the Budapest Strings.
Concerto track list:
Aria (S. Groven)
Solveigs Sang / Solveig’s Song (Grieg)
Anitras Dans / Anitra’s Dance (Grieg)
Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod)
Gavotte en Rondeau (Bach/arr. Reilly)
Siciliano (Bach)
Sonate (Scarlatti/arr. Moody)
Seventeen-Seventy-One (Moody)
Junimorgon / June Morning (S. Groven)
Here, There and Everywhere (Lennon/McCartney)
Gloria (S. Groven)
New York, New York (Martin)
Nocturne (S. Groven)
Søkjer Din Fred / Seeking Your Peace (Sivertsen)
Snø og Granskog / Snow and Spruce (S. Groven/Vesaas)
Ved Rondane / At Rondane (Grieg)
Vinland Suite: Over Havet / Vinland Suite: Across the Ocean (S. Groven)
Harmonica Concerto: Andante (Villa-Lobos)
Norsk Dans nr. 2 / Norwegian Dance no.2 (Grieg)
Møte / The Tryst (Grieg)
Jean de Florette (Verdi/arr.: Jansen)
Toledo (Moody)
Sigmund Groven has a long and well established history in Norwegian musical life. He held his first radio concert already in 1965, his first national tour was in 1971, and he released his debut album in 1975. In 2015, Groven therefore celebrated two anniversaries, and was also appointed Knight, First Class by the Order of St. Olav. 2016 is also Sigmund’s 70th birthday, and a fitting year for the closure of the album series Sigmund Groven Collection.
Sigmund Groven Collection vol. 3: Concerto is available worldwide from grappa.no (CD). Also from CDon.no (Norway), CDon.se (Sweden), CDon.dk (Denmark), CDon.fi (Finland), Platekompaniet (Norway), JPC.de (Germany), Cosmox (Belgium), Ginza (Sweden), eci.nl and bol.com (Netherlands).
For wholesale inquiries, contact Musikkoperatørene.
Media links: Review in Varden (in Norwegian) – Big interview in Dag & Tid (in Norwegian) – Review in Swiss Harpers News (in German).