Norwegian violinist – Laureate Spellemannprisen | Norwegian Grammy 2020
Eldbjørg Hemsing’s latest album release FIRE RITUAL is featuring Oscar and Grammy winning composer Tan Dun and the Oslo Philharmonic, in a premiere recording of violin concerto “Fire Ritual – A music Ritual for Victims of war“
A splendid combination of purity and sweeping, Heifetz-like intensity
The Strad | By Julian Haylock, 16. November 2018
Dvořák’s sole Violin Concerto is not among his most free-flowingly spontaneous scores. It took him four years (on and off) to complete, by which time the intended dedicatee Joseph Joachim had grown tired of the project and, despite having already advised on several changes, was still unhappy about what he considered the terse bridge between the first and second movements and over-repetitious finale.
Only comparatively recently has it become virtually standard repertoire, yet is remains a problematic work requiring sensitive and impassioned advocacy to sound its best. This it receives in spades from Eldbjørg Hemsing, who sustains high standards of intonational purity and beguiling tonal lustre throughout even most awkward of passages. She also shapes phrases with a chamber-scale dynamic suppleness, in contrast to the majority of recorded players, whose tendency towards special pleading often leads to over-projection.
However, the star turn here is the Suk Fantasy, which sounds (no bad thing) like an evacuee soundtrack from the Golden Age of Hollywood, with Hemsing hurling herself into the fray with an almost Heifetz-like intensity and swashbuckling bravado. Alan Buribayev and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra provide sterling support and the commendably natural recording opens out seductively when the SACD-surround track is activated.
Eckhard Weber | Concerti | 8. November 2018
She practically grew up with this work, she says. Indeed, young violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing feels noticeably at home in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. The way she makes her instrument sing with an amazingly nuanced and beguiling tone full of vibrancy has compelling intensity. Nothing sounds laboured here, everything seems to happen spontaneously in this music. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under Alan Buribayev is extremely present and sensitive in this interaction and unfolds a tremendously broad spectrum of colours. The folkloristically inspired finale of the Violin Concerto impresses with light-footed verve and shimmering airiness. A new benchmark recording has been achieved here in every respect. The longingly agitated modernity of the fantasy of Dvořák’s pupil and son-in-law Josef Suk with its subtle shades and surprising changes additionally shows the great potential of Hemsing and her colllaborators.
On May 23, 2018 Radio France has featured the debut album of Eldbjørg Hemsing, giving the top rating for this release.
The broadcast also featured the entire 1st movement of the Borgström violin concerto.
Please click here for the audio stream with the review starting at 40min21sec.
Katherine Cooper | Presto Classical | 14th May 2018
For her debut solo recording (out now on BIS), the Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing pairs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with a very different (and far less familiar) work: the lush 1914 Violin Concerto by composer and music-journalist Hjalmar Borgstrøm, who initially studied in Oslo with his compatriot Johan Svendsen but went on to pursue a consciously Germanic style after spending time in Leipzig and Berlin.
I spoke to her recently about why this attractively lyrical work has fallen off the radar, where it sits in relation to other early twentieth-century concertos, and her immediate plans for further recordings…
The Borgstrøm concerto is a real curiosity – how did you come across it in the first place?
It was a bit of a chance encounter, really: a family friend sent a pile of sheet-music to my home in London which included the score, and I set it to one side for a while but when I started to go through it in detail I was really intrigued because it’s just so beautiful. It had only ever been performed twice (in Norway), so essentially it was completely forgotten: no-one knew about this piece, and I think it’s a great discovery!
Do you have any theories as to why his music never really entered the repertoire?
There are several factors, I think. First of all it’s because Borgstrøm was a little bit behind the curve in many ways: his timing was not the best! He was composing in this late Romantic style at a time when people were already branching out and moving away from that; of course there had been Grieg, who spent a lot of time travelling around and using folk-music in a very different way from Borgstrøm, who was much more interested in Romantic ideals. He spent a total of fifteen years in Germany, initially studying in Leipzig and then living in Berlin for many years – but by the time this concerto was premiered in 1914, World War One had broken out and in Norway it was considered almost improper to continue in this very German musical tradition. He also composed quite a few symphonic poems, an opera and some piano music, but I haven’t been able to find out very much about them because there aren’t that many studies in print!
You pair the Borgstrøm with Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto – what was the thought-process behind the coupling?
When the offer came to make my first recording I knew I wanted to include the Shostakovich – I studied the piece from a very young age and have performed it a great deal. It’s painfully emotional and really dark: you’re really pushed to the limit of what you can express as a human being, and I thought that with a piece like that you need something that’s very much a contrast. I wanted something that was the complete opposite, something much more lyrical and ‘white’ in sound, something Romantic…and the Borgstrøm seemed to fit the bill perfectly, particularly because people don’t know it!
Are there any other Norwegian concertos that you’d like to bring back to life – Sinding, for instance?
I used to believe that if something wasn’t performed very often there was probably a reason for it (ie that that quality wasn’t good enough!) but I have to say that since discovering Borgstrøm I’ve actually become very curious about what there is out there, so I definitely would like to go on a journey to see what else I might find…!
Given that many listeners will be new to this work, could you point us in the direction of one or two personal highlights in the piece?
I think there’s a particularly special moment in the first movement: there’s quite a long introduction before you come to the first melody, which initially comes in the strings, and it’s very pure and lyrical and tender. And the second movement is my favourite in many ways – it’s like an operatic aria, and it reminds me of something but I can’t quite put my finger on what…It’s very familiar in a sense, but at the same time it has its own very individual sound.
Do you see any parallels with other violin concertos which were written at around the same time? I hear echoes of the Sibelius concerto here and there…
Yes, there’s definitely something similar about both the melodies and the chords – the Sibelius concerto was written 10 years prior to this, so it’s not unlikely that Borgstrøm knew it! But there’s also an operatic quality to the work that reminds me of Wagner in places…
What are your immediate plans on the recording front?
I’m about to start recording with the Oslo Philharmonic and Tan Dun, whom I first met eight years ago. We’ve done a lot of projects together, and this one includes one brand-new concerto and some other smaller pieces.
And the two of you share a passionate interest in the folk music of your respective countries…
Indeed. I started playing the violin when I was very young and I also studied the Hardanger fiddle alongside it, because the area where I come from is very rich in folk-music; I’ve continued to play both instruments and I try to make sure that every year I do some projects which include folk music because I think it’s very important to keep it fresh and alive.
“…an outstanding artist with a warm tone, accurate and precise playing… Eldbjørg Hemsing gives the second movement, the Scherzo, a bewitching and hypnotic interpretation, unforgettable. The other three movements, in the pure style of the Russian musician, place this perfectly controlled version at the level of the greatest recordings. The Vienna Symphony, conducted by the rigorous and experienced Estonian Olari Elts (born in 1971), shares the outstanding merits and contributes to making this recording a subject of legitimate lust and curiosity.”
Jean-Luc Caron | ResMusica | 1 May 2018
Three decades separate the Borgström and Shostakovich concertos for violin and orchestra, representatives of two irreconcilable, if not contradictory, worlds admirably defended on the BIS label.
Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing (born 1990), an outstanding artist with a warm tone, accurate and precise playing, has a very honorable career. Her subtle understanding of music is regularly emphasized. This recording, if necessary, furnishes us with a new proof.
The concerto for violin in G major by his compatriot Hjalmar Borgström (1864-1925), a contemporary of Carl Nielsen, returns to the light. He deserves it amply. The fame of this pupil from Leipzig (where he traveled in 1887), who was an ardent defender of German orchestral music and program music, was eclipsed by the eruption of the new modernity emerging around the First World War. His lack of enthusiasm for Norwegian musical nationalism and its icon Edvard Grieg surely contributed to his marginalization. However, the Kristiania Concerto, which was premiered in 1914, was well received because of its rich and abundant melodic writing, passionate, lyrical, rhapsodic, and some splendidly orchestrated passages. In the Adagio there are a few repetitive steps that are strikingly reminiscent of a section of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto (1941)!
Shostakovich’s Concerto for Violin No. 1 in A minor (1948, revised in 1955), written for David Oistrakh and valiantly defended by him (and recorded twice), transports us to another world, fascinating, exuberant and dark, alternately marked by harshness, caricatural dancing and insistent hammering, a concealed confession of the true state of mind of a rebellious and wounded creator. Eldbjørg Hemsing gives the second movement, the Scherzo, a bewitching and hypnotic interpretation, unforgettable. The other three movements, in the pure style of the Russian musician, place this perfectly controlled version at the level of the greatest recordings (David Oistrach, Maxime Shostakovich, EMI, 1972, Lydia Mordkovich, Neeme Jarvi, Chandos, 1989, Yefim Bronfman, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sony, 2003).
The Vienna Symphony, conducted by the rigorous and experienced Estonian Olari Elts (born in 1971), shares the outstanding merits and contributes to making this recording a subject of legitimate lust and curiosity.
“…with her supreme violinistic ease, sprightly personality and wonderfully clear and pure lyrical tone (2nd movement), the violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing transforms this repertoire rarity into a worthwhile rediscovery or new discovery. Hemsing’s mastery of the entire Shostakovich spectrum, from gloomy bitterness to grotesquely-virtuosic agility, is then demonstrated in her collaboration with the highly committed Wiener Symphoniker.“
Rondo | Guido Fischer | 3 Mar 2018:
Der Name Hjalmar Borgström war bis vor kurzem noch dieser typische Fall von „Kenne ich nicht“. Auf dem Cover der Solo-Debüt-CD der aufstrebenden norwegischen Geigerin Eldbjørg Hemsing steht er immerhin über dem von Dmitri Schostakowitsch. Was sofort die Vermutung nährt, dass es sich bei dem No-Name um einen skandinavischen Zeitgenossen des Russen handeln könnte – wenn nicht vielleicht gar um einen wahrscheinlich zu unrecht nie so richtig zum Zug gekommenen Neue Musik-Komponisten. Was die Lebenslinien von Borgström und Schostakowitsch angeht, gab es immerhin Berührungspunkte. Als der Norweger 1925 im Alter von gerade 61 Jahren verstarb, war der russische Kollege mit seinen 19 Jahren schon auf dem Karrieresprung. Ein Mann der zu dieser Zeit bereits mächtig an den Grundfesten rüttelnden Moderne war Borgström aber so gar nicht. Zu diesem Schluss bringt einen sein dreisätziges Violinkonzert G-Dur op. 25, das Hemsing zusammen mit dem 1. Violinkonzert von Schostakowitsch aufgenommen hat.
Das 1914 anlässlich der 100-Jahr-Feier der norwegischen Verfassung entstandene Konzert ist pure Hoch- bis Spätromantik, die ihre Wurzeln nicht etwa in der nordischen Volksmusik hat, sondern in der Tradition Mendelssohns, Schumanns und Brahms‘. Der Grund: Borgström hatte ab 1887 während seines Studiums das Musikleben in Leipzig in vollen Zügen genossen. Dementsprechend begegnet man in seinem Violinkonzert vielen alten Bekannten, zahlreichen Einflüssen und geläufigen Trivialitäten. Doch überraschender Weise kommt dabei keine Sekunde Langeweile auf! Nicht nur, weil sich Borgström hier als fantasievoller Handwerker entpuppt, der die musikalisch scheinbar aus der Zeit gefallenen Ingredienzien äußerst reizvoll recycelt. Auch die Geigerin Eldbjørg Hemsing kann mit ihrer geigerischen Souveränität, ihrem anspringenden Temperament und einem wunderbar klaren und schlackenfreien Kantilenenton (2. Satz) diese Repertoire-Rarität in eine lohnenswerte Wieder- bzw. Neuentdeckung verwandeln. Dass Hemsing aber eben auch das gesamte Schostakowitsch-Spektrum von düsterer Bitternis bis grotesk-virtuoser Gelenkigkeit grandios beherrscht, stellt sie anschließend gemeinsam mit den höchst engagierten Wiener Symphonikern unter Beweis.
“…jointly with Wiener Symphoniker and Conductor Olari Elts, Eldbjørg Hemsing presents an interpretation which is convincing, rich of colors and personal. With consistently brilliant sound and flexible expression, Eldbjørg Hemsing makes this album absolutely worth listening to.”
Crescendo | Sina Kleinedler | 20 February 2018
Zwei Entdeckungen auf einem Album: Die norwegische Violinistin Eldbjørg Hemsing und das Violinkonzert ihres Landsmannes Hjalmar Borgström (1864–1925). Borgström war zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts als Kritiker und Komponist bekannt. In Vergessenheit geriet seine Musik höchstwahrscheinlich dadurch, dass er sich weigerte, eine typisch skandinavische Klangsprache zu adaptieren – wie Grieg es getan hatte. Dennoch zog das 1914 geschriebenes Violinkonzert Hemsing sofort in seinen Bann, auch weil dessen Klangsprache sie an ihre Heimat erinnerte. Im Kontrast zu Borgströms romantischem Werk steht Dmitri Shostakovichs erstes Violinkonzert. Seine Klangsprache ist weniger pastoral, eher dramatisch und schmerzerfüllt, doch auch hier schafft Hemsing es gemeinsam mit den Wiener Symphonikern und Olari Elts eine überzeugende, farbenreiche und persönliche Interpretation zu präsentieren. Mit durchweg brillierendem Klang und flexiblem Ausdruck macht Eldbjørg Hemsing dieses Album absolut hörenswert.
She takes her concert public by storm all over the world with her 265-year old violin. The lauded musician Eldbjørg Hemsing from Valdres often expresses the sounds of the raw and beautiful Norwegian nature.
“Eldbjørg is famous in China. We call her ‘The Princess of Norway’.”
The bold words belong to Tan Dun, who is among the world’s leading composers. The Chinese has collaborated with the Norwegian violinist for years and has even dedicated a specially written musical work to her.
Eldbjørg Hemsing started playing the violin when she was a four-year-old growing up in a picturesque village in Valdres in Eastern Norway. Now, people sit quiet and listen every time Eldbjørg lets the bow hit the strings on her G. B. Guadagnini from 1754.
236 years separate Eldbjørg and her musical tool, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a more close-knit duo.
She plays all over the world, in cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Valencia, Frankfurt, Koblenz, Leipzig, Berlin, Cologne, Abu Dhabi, Oslo – and in her home town of Aurdal. In March 2018, she released a record with music written by Norwegian composer Hjalmar Borgstrøm.
“When I hear Borgstrøm’s compositions, I think of fjords and mountains and the feeling of moving through nature.”
What sounds did you grow up with in Valdres?
“I remember that the silence intensified all sounds, like the trickling of the water in a mountain stream, the summer breeze through the valley, or the gust of the wind in the tree branches. My mother was a music educationalist and my father worked as a mountain supervisor, so I grew up in a harmonious mixture of music and nature. I often went with my father to work in the mountains to check out the danger of an avalanche or measure fish stocks and water depths. I learned things like building a campfire for preparing meals”, Eldbjørg says.
Valdres is known for traditional folk music that is often mixed with new genres, and it was important to Eldbjørg’s mother that rehearsing should be fun. She could even get 15 minutes of rehearsal in before the children’s television programme started in the evenings.
And now you have played on the rare instrument you have on loan from a foundation for nearly ten years?
“The violin is very personal to me. The sound coming out of its body feels like my own voice. It has a heartfelt depth and warmth, and a wide array of colours. The first Hardanger fiddles are said to be from the 1600s. It’s incredible to think about how much my instrument has been through.”
Growing up, Eldbjørg took time off from the school in Valdres every Friday to travel about three hours to Oslo and the Barratt Due Institute of Music. Her first trip abroad went to the Czech Republic when she was eight. Later, she took lessons in the USA, and from then on concerts all over the world have filled up her calendar.
In March 2018, Eldbjørg released her debut album, including her discovery of the forgotten Violin Concerto in G major signed by Norwegian composer Hjalmar Borgstrøm (1864–1925), who was inspired by German Romanticism. She wanted to share her own enthusiasm about the work with her audience.
You draw a connection between Borgstrøm’s work and Norwegian nature experiences?
“Yes, I perceive his music as a very physical piece – complex and craftsmanlike. When I hear Borgstrøm’s compositions, I think of fjords and mountains and the feeling of moving through nature. The tones can resemble a smell or bring out memories of other encounters with nature.”
Chefs, like the one at Maaemo in Oslo, also say that they serve memories from Norwegian nature?
“Yes, and that is what is so strong about music – it can call forth a personal, but very distinct feeling.”
What is the most enjoyable thing about being a violinist?
“To resurrect a several hundred years old violin, and to breathe new life into old compositions so that both new and traditional audiences get to appreciate how great they are. I am not that interested in interpreting and renewing historical pieces of music, but rather in emphasizing their original strengths.”
Was classical music the rock ’n’ roll of that time?
“You might say that, and classical music is just as cool and relevant still. My line of work has much in common with elite sports. When I perform, I have one chance to deliver my absolute best. I set off with maximum tempo and concentration and don’t stop until I’m finished.”
In 2013, Eldbjørg and her sister Ragnhild started a yearly chamber music festival in their home town of Aurdal in Valdres. The sisters invite top-level musicians, many of whom have become their good friends. And even though the Hemsing Festival has grown bigger every year – in 2018, about 30 international artists performed for 12,000 people, and the festival was broadcasted on national television – the sisters want to keep the intimate feeling the acclaimed musicians get at this stunning place in Eastern Norway.
“International artist friends praise the clear light and clean air in Valdres. They say that it sharpens their senses. They get to taste local food like moose and wild fish, and we take them on skiing trips and other activities,” Eldbjørg says.
How much money is your violin from 1754 worth?
“I honestly don’t know, and that is fine with me. If I’d known, I would probably get the jitters.”
How do you preserve such an old instrument?
“It has to be looked after and cared for, because the wood is still alive even though it’s so old. The case has a humidifier and a hygrometer, and I go to a ‘violin doctor’ twice a year.”
Do you keep the violin as hand luggage when you fly, or do you check it?
“Always as hand luggage. No exceptions. I’d never let something that personal out of my sight.”
Are you ever longing back to Valdres?
“I know that I can always take a break there and find peace of mind. But it is important to emphasize that even though you come from a small and beautiful place, you can still travel and work wherever you want in the world.”
Article from visitnorway.com
Publisert 05.02.2018 | Ingvild Amdal Myklebust
Hovedscenen på Nationaltheatret i Oslo har aldri vært større enn den maidagen i 1996. På klakkende bunadsko inntar hun flomlyset sammen med storesøster Ragnhild på åtte. Bak seg aner hun konturene av det tunge sceneteppet og av moren som viser dem riktig neieteknikk. Foran dem venter et bekmørkt folkehav. Hun vet at kongefamilien sitter der ute. Og Wenche Foss som hun møtte i stad. Snart er de framme ved scenekanten. Da skal de løfte opp felene til haka og spille Briskjehauga slik de pleier. Bare en meter igjen nå.
“Forte” is the new feature film from David Donnelly(“Maestro“) on three strong, utmost remarkable and ouststanding women who are achieving unlikely success in classical music: Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, Argentinian composer and conductor Lucía Caruso and Russian-born violinist Tatiana Berman from the United States.
Story: Forte is the international story of three women who are challenging industry norms by making their own rules in a musical genre steeped in tradition. A young Norwegian soloist champions a rare, self-discovered composition and risks a promising career to bring it to life. A small-town girl, born and raised in the Russian Arctic, gives up an executive position at a top artist management corporation to create her own international maverick agency. An Argentinian composer gets the opportunity of a lifetime. And a cultural entrepreneur and mother of three struggles to balance her family and career. The one thing these bold, game-changing individuals have in common is: strength.
Direction/Production: Forte is written and directed by David Donnelly, founder of Culture Monster and director of the acclaimed hit documentary Maestro. It is produced by David Donnelly and Anastasia Boudanoque, founder of Primavera Consulting. Executive Producer is Roland Göhde of the Göhde Foundation.
Filming Locations: Sintra, Portugal; Cincinnati, Ohio; Paris, France; London, England; New York, New York; Rhinecliff, NY; Mendoza, Argentina; Aurdal/Oslo, Norway; Berlin, Germany; Moscow, Russia
> Forte website
> Forte on Facebook
The first official trailer of “Forte” is out now:
“Moments of ethereal beauty as the violin’s melody intertwined with those of the woodwinds” – Reviewed at National Concert Hall, Dublin on 3 November 2017
“Dvořák’s Violin Concerto in A minor is at times an elusive concerto to pull off: true to violin concertos of this era, it is not short on virtuosic bravura passages yet its subtle, restless character is a much harder selling point. This was the focus of the soloist, Norwegian rising star Eldbjørg Hemsing as she eloquently meditated on the more wistful writing of the first movement. At times, as high up on the G string in the recapitulation of the opening Allegro, she overindulged in vibrato which obscured the tender lyricism but there were moments of ethereal beauty as the violin’s melody intertwined with those of the woodwinds. The octaves and double stops glowed with passion while the scales and arpeggio were executed with laser-like precision. Her luminous tone added lustre to the ruminative lyricism of the second movement while the NSO responded with a warm and sensitive accompaniment. It was in the mercurial finale that musician and music struck the most rewarding balance. The Slavic folk tune glistened with meticulous light-hearted good cheer, with sharp rhythmic delineations from the orchestra. Capturing the exquisite, ephemeral soundscape, Hemsing expertly handled the shifting cross rhythms and the fiendish octaves, bringing this concerto to an energetic and satisfying close.” > Video Excerpt from Concert of Eldbjørg Hemsing with RTE Symphony Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya
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