Release Date: 01 December 2014
Label: ECM New Series
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028948111602
Genres: Classical  
Release Date: 01 December 2014
Label: ECM New Series
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028948111602
Genres: Classical  
Description
Trio Mediaeval - three Scandinavian women whose singing produces "a sound of extraordinary and consoling beauty," says the Boston Globe - offer a collection of polyphony from the medieval to the modern titled after the North Wind, 'Aquilonis'.
On this recording one can sense a reference in the title to the Nordic roots of the singers, as well as the bracing purity of their voices; moreover, the album's repertoire travels from Iceland to Italy, from north to south like the Aquilonis wind. In creatively realising the music of one Saint Thorlak - who died in Iceland just before Christmas 1193 - Trio Mediaeval accompany their vocals with discreetly textural instrumentation. The group has also arranged 12th-century Italian chant and sings 15th-century English carols, with timeless Scandinavian folk melodies in the air, too.
From our contemporary age come pieces by the Swede Anders Jormin (best known as a leading jazz bassist), American William Brooks and Englishman Andrew Smith. Former Hilliard Ensemble tenor John Potter, in his liner notes for 'Aquilonis', aptly describes Trio Mediaeval's ability to "create a synthesis of sound and atmosphere...history and geography blending seamlessly".
The album was recorded, like four of Trio Mediaeval's previous five, at the monastery of St Gerold in the Austrian Alps - in June 2014. It's the first of the trio's discs to feature Berit Opheim, alongside Anna Maria Friman and Linn Andrea Fuglseth.
Personnel: Anna Maria Friman (voice, hardanger fiddle, melody chimes), Linn Andrea Fuglseth (voice, portable organ, melody chimes), Berit Opheim (voice, melody chimes)
Tracklisting
Delian Quartett
Anna Gourari, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana & Markus Poschner
Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica & Vida Mikneviciute
Arvo Part
Thomas Larcher
John Holloway Ensemble
Heinz Holliger & Anton Kernjak
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra & Tonu Kaljuste
Theo Plath, Armand Djikoloum, Olivier Stankiewicz, Sakoto Doi, Jordi Carrasco Hjelm
Roeland Hendrikx, Jan Michiels, Brussels Philharmonic, Il Novecento, Robert Groslot
Tomasz Zagorski, Jacek Kortus
Novi Piano Duo
Ensemble Jerycho, Bartosz Izbicki
Maria Shetty, Monika Wilinska-Tarcholik
Adam Kostecki, Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Hannover Chamber Orchestra, Carsten Petermann
Roberta Invernizzi, Accademia Strumentale Italiana, Alberto Rasi