Kjell Bækkelund was one of a kind. He made his debut at the age of five with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in1938, and gave his last concert and recording session in 2003.
A champion of contemporary music
In his own country Kjell Bækkelund was one of the foremost champions for the contemporary music. He saw it as a duty towards the society, and most important for him was the performance of music by Norwegian composers. Arne Nordheim’s ’Listen’ and Finn Mortensen’s ’Fantasy and Fuge’ were only two of the works he brought with him all over the world.
His last recording
Kjell Bækkelund’s last recording was a tribute to Norwegian musical life in a different age. An age when a home was considered not fully furnished if it was without a piano, and someone to play it. People bought and borrowed sheet music, playing and discussing music was quite the fashionable thing. From the inter-war years and beyond the Second World War Bækkelund has picked the finest miniatures, a forgotten part of Norwegian musical tradition that he felt we all needed to be reminded of
