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Ketil Bjørnstad & Anneli Drecker- A Suite of Poems [24-96] [ECM2440] 2018 Hi-Res

Norwegian-Danish author Lars Saabye Christensen is one of Scandinavia most widely-praised and prolific contemporary writers.  For many years now, in the course of his travels around the globe, he has been sending “hotel poems” to his friend Ketil Bjørnstad, inviting him to make music out of them.  These literary postcards explore a range of moods.  Bjørnstad says: “I feel very connected to the lonely, existential perspective of these poems, made in different hotel rooms.” For this recording, Ketil worked closely with singer and actress Anneli Drecker, former lead vocalist of pop group Bel Canto. Settings of poetry form a special category in Norwegian pianist-composer Bjørnstad’s discography and A Suite of Poems is a song cycle to put alongside such projects as A Passion for John Donne, Sunrise, and The Light.