Clemens Hagen – of the legendary Hagen Quartet – at last records Haydn Cello Concerto in C. Teaming up with the young Norwegian 1B1 orchestra Hagen has finally found co-musicians who can join him in a fresh chamber musical approach to this classic.
A different and deeply felt Haydn
When Clemens Hagen finally decides to record the Haydn C Major, it goes without saying that the result is unlike anything else ever heard on record. With his exquisite sense of phrasing and sound colouration Hagen embodies Haydn’s shifts from euphoria to melancholy with deeply felt understanding and empathy. Having been a part of the the Hagen Quartet since the foundation in 1981, Clemens Hagen has released more than 40 recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, in addition to numerous releases as soloist together with such artists as Gidon Kremer, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Thomas Zehetmayr. Hagen plays on one of the few Stradivari cellos in the world, built in 1689. Norwegian violinist and composer Henning Kraggerud also contributes with new solo cadenzas written especially for Hagen on this recording.
Warm Mozart with Bjøranger and Tomter
Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and chamber orchestra is of course one of the most loved pieces in the classical repertoire. For this recording, Bjøranger is joined by violist Lars Anders Tomter as soloist in an open dialogue with the orchestra. That special Nordic sound is of course audible in every phrase, but Bjøranger and Tomter also bring a certain gentleness and compassion to their reading, perhaps reaching for the more profound layers of Mozart.
1B1 attracts both musicians and audiences
For a young orchestra like 1B1 to be working and recording with artists like Clemens Hagen is both a sensation and the most natural thing. The foremost artists all have a very special dedication and devotion to music making, an attitude they find so crystalline with 1B1. So of course principal oboe of the Berlin Phil. Christoph Hartmann joins in for the Mozart; as part of the orchestra! Just this spring 1B1 gave 16 concerts in New York at the National Sawdust and Trinity Church Wall Street, alone and together with such soloists as Renée Fleming, Simone Dinnerstein og Glen Kotche (Wilco). In October Clemens Hagen and 1B1 have concerts in Italy, and spring dates in Germany are being fixed.
