Tuesday, March 1, 2016

DVD of the Month - "Anna-Lena Laurin: Iphigenia"

DVD of the Month
"Iphigenia - A Composer Portrait of Anna-Lena Laurin" (Vanguard Music Boulevard)

Rating: ***** (musical performance, video & sound quality)

A Film by Lin Laurin & Michael De Pasquale
Contains the world premiere of "Iphigenia," comissioned to acclaimed Swedish composer and pianist Anna-Lena Laurin by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Featuring: Anders Bergcrantz (trumpet), Richie Beirach (piano) and Thomas Sondergard (conductor)

Produced by Lin Laurin for Loft 910
Directors of Photography: Jonathan King & Michael De Pasquale
Editor: Jonathan Wing

"Iphigenia" is a contemporary orchestral work that integrates jazz soloists and the symphonic world.
Originally produced for national Swedish television, SVT, both the film and the concert itself were received incredibly well. In this DVD you'll hear the entire world premiere performance of "Iphigenia," and get to follow the procedure of creating this project. It's a colorful, cinematic, and intimate composer portrait with masterful music and extraordinary soloists.
The DVD also contains extracts from Laurin's "Concerto For Flute, Srings and Harp," which was one of the four nominees for Swedish Music Publisher Association's Award 2011, performed by Magnus Bage, Terje Tonnesen and Camerata Nordica.

Anna-Lena Laurin is a composer who have had commissions from/worked with orchestras and artists such as Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrlandsoperan's Symphony orchestra, Göran Söllscher, Håkan Hardenberger, Andrew Manze, Thomas Søndergaard, Anders Bergcrantz, Richie Beirach and Swedish Radio among many others.

Her music has been performed in USA, China, Hong Kong, Europe etc. Laurin is Composer in residence 2014-2016 by Camerata Nordica and in pipeline are three new concertos in collaboration with them and their leader Terje Tønnesen – for trumpet, guitar and violin. She also worked on a double concerto premiered by the Tokyo Festival Orchestra and a long list of chamber music works are coming up for premieres arround the world. Many distinguished soloists ask for her music and she has commissions planned for a long time ahead.

Laurin started her musical career as a jazz pianist and vocalist and is still working in betweeen her classical commissions in the jazz field – touring with TV, radio and performances on different events and festivals. Swedish Radio appointed Laurin Composer of the Year/Jazzkatten 2013 with the motivation; ”For her ability to create a succesful crossover between the jazz’s and classical music’s language and the courage to write music from her heart without leeking at prevailing musical trends” and her classicla work Concerto for flute strings and harp was nominated to one of the most important works 2011. Acchieving such big apprieciation in two different genres make Laurin very unique.

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