- Per Nørgård (b. 1932): Cello Concerto No. 1 "Between":
- 1Nørgård: Cello Concerto No. 1 "Between": I. In Between11:10
- 2Nørgård: Cello Concerto No. 1 "Between": II. Turning Point04:21
- 3Nørgård: Cello Concerto No. 1 "Between": III. Among13:28
- Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Notes on Light:
- 4Saariaho: Notes on Light: I. Translucent, Secret05:52
- 5Saariaho: Notes on Light: II. On Fire03:05
- 6Saariaho: Notes on Light: III. Awakening11:30
- 7Saariaho: Notes on Light: IV. Eclipse05:11
- 8Saariaho: Notes on Light: V. Heart of Light07:22
- Per Nørgård (b. 1932): Viola Concerto No. 1 "Remembering Child" (Arr. J. Kullberg for Cello & Orchestra):
- 9Nørgård: Viola Concerto No. 1 "Remembering Child" (Arr. J. Kullberg for Cello & Orchestra): I. —08:59
- 10Nørgård: Viola Concerto No. 1 "Remembering Child" (Arr. J. Kullberg for Cello & Orchestra): II. —11:10
Info zu Remembering
On Remembering, the Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg continues his collaborations with two of the foremost Nordic composers: Per Nørgård and Kaija Saariaho. Praised internationally for his performances of the modern cello concerto, Kullberg regards the concerto form as the encounter of an individual soloist with the sound world of a composer. With living composers this approach often results in an unusual degree of collaboration, as the works gathered here bear witness to. Since 1999, Kullberg has enjoyed a close and unique partnership with Nørgård which has resulted in a large number of works.
Between, the opening work on the disc, hails from a time before this, but Nørgård’s viola concerto Remembering Child in its version for the cello is very much an example of Kullberg’s process. He has not only transferred the concerto to his own instruments, but has also – in consultation with the composer – written his own cadenza as well as added details to the score. Likewise, at a climactic point exactly halfway through Saariaho’s concerto Notes on Light, Kullberg creates an expressive space of his own, with a two-minute cadenza he has composed himself. In this work, as well as in Nørgård’s Between, Kullberg is supported by the BBC Philharmonic, with Sinfonia Varsovia appearing in the closing concerto.
Jakob Kullberg, cello
BBC Philharmonic
Michael Francis, conductor
John Storgards, conductor
Sinfonia Varsovia
Szymon Bywalec, conductor
Jakob Kullberg
A prize-winner at international solo and chamber music competitions, he has a discography which to date has earned him P2 Prisen – ‘the Danish Grammy’ – twice, as well as a shortlisting for a Gramophone Award. He has been artist-in-residence with, amongst others, the International Carl Nielsen Competition, Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen and the New Music Orchestra (Poland). Currently collaborating with the BBC Philharmonic on a large-scale concerto recording project, he appears with leading orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Avanti Ensemble and Ensemble Intercontemporain.
He is also a recurring guest at festivals such as the Aldeburgh Festival, Warsaw Autumn Festival, Bergen International Festival and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Jakob Kullberg enjoys a uniquely close collaboration with the Danish composer Per Nørgård, whose entire cello-output of the last 20 years has been composed specifically for him. The paradigm example of their dialogic collaboration is manifested in Kullberg’s composition Nocturnal Cadenza based on fragments by Nørgård. He is also a notable interpreter and collaborator of Kaija Saariaho and Bent Sørensen.
In recent times his interest in freer ways of being expressive has led him to record an improvisation album with Per Nørgård and the prolific experimental jazz drummer Kresten Osgood, and he recently finished recording his first album as a singing composer named Propounding which draws its inspiration from indie-pop, free-jazz and contemporary classical music as well as the poems of Ezra Pound.
Artistic director of the Open Strings Cello Masterclass since 2004, Jakob Kullberg has been professor of cello at the Royal College of Music, London since 2016. He has been a juror at the Schoenfeld International String Competition (China) as well as the Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition.