JAKOB BANGSØ
Discography
Guitar Concertos
(Orchid Classics)
Release date: September 2020
"Bangsø tackles [Corigliano's] blend of nostalgic reverie and jauntily surreal, quasi-medieval episodes with just the right kind of understated verve."
- BBC Music Magazine
Corigliano / Caravassilis / Siegel: GUITAR CONCERTOS
Jakob Bangsø presents three contemporary guitar concertos: John Corigliano's Troubadours, alongside world-premiere recordings of works inspired by Corigliano's piece and written for Bangsø: the Saudade by Constantine Caravassilis and Wayne Siegel's Chaconne.
American composer John Corigliano's Troubadours was partly inspired by medieval musicians, and incorporates a theme by the La Comtessa, Beatritz de Dia, into its evocative material. Canadian composer Constantine Caravassilis uses Greek folk-music as part of his Saudade, a title that comes from a Portuguese word suggestive of bittersweet memories, while Danish-American Wayne Siegel also draws upon earlier precedents in his Chaconne, collaborating with Jakob Bangsø to create a piece that slowly unfolds and evolves.
FEATURED REVIEWS:
"Bangsø is more guide than lone poet; or, better, a true collaborator, even when in declamatory mode, his playing is equal to that of the superb Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the ever-sensitive Kaisa Roose." - Gramophone
"Bangsø's impeccable pointillist technique lands each idea with admirable clarity..." - Musical America
"A record as original as it is successful, far from the Latin spheres in which the guitar is too often confined." - Fabienne Bouvet, Classica Magazine (FR) ★★★★★
"Indeed, without waiting, we find ourselves caught up and taken on board by the sumptuous interpretation during which the orchestra thus advances according to the notes, like a majestic flagship, whose omnipotence is sublimated by the splendor and flamboyance of Jakob Bangsø as a figurehead." - Pascal Proust, Guitare Classique
"I can't get enough of Saudade's mysterious, wistful beauty, with iridescent touches punctuated by deep bass and fascinating percussion. (...) Thanks to the superb partnership between Bangsø and conductor Kaisa Roose, as well as excellent editing and mixing by a team of engineers, balances are ideal, with a natural-sounding guitar placed in front of an orchestra whose percussive ventures are captured well." - Jason Serinus, Stereophile Magazine ★★★★☆
This is a superb program of three very different contemporary guitar concertos (...) with a standout Danish soloist. (...) Mr Bangsø's technique and musicality know no limits in every piece presented here. He is one with the excellent Tallinn Chamber Orchestra from Estonia, admirably conducted by Kaisa Roose." - Jim McCutcheon, American Record Guide
"Three modern guitar concertos which could hardly be more beautiful, nostalgic and «interconnected», presented by a fantastic young Danish guitarist and a most delicately playing Baltic orchestra.." - Burkhard Schäfer, Musik & Theater (Switzerland)
"...a fascinating exploration of the theme of nostalgia and memory." - ArtMuseLondon
Featurette video: Jakob Bangsø meets John Corigliano
By: Zac Nicholson
CONNECT
(Dacapo)
Release date: June 2018
CONNECT - electronic works for guitar
The five composers behind these world premiere recordings, written for Jakob Bangsø, all share a keen interest in the field of electroacoustic music. Through live electronics, sound-transforming algorithms and interactive systems, CONNECT explores captivating soundscapes in the borderlands between the acoustic and the digital, the raw and the processed, the heard and the reheard – guitar and electronics are equal partners.
FEATURED REVIEWS:
"Det er musik, der leger sig ind i et fremmed univers, men på en måde hvor man er med, ikke mindst fordi pulsen er lav, og tiden får lov til at snige sig af sted. På samme måde som en togrejse kan være bedre for sjælen end en flyvetur, er Jakob Bangsøs guitar-guirlander en omsorgsfuld omfavnelse af lytteren, hvis man vil lande." - Claus Berthelsen, DR P2 anbefaler (July 13, 2018):
"Ein sehr schöner Ausklang dieser Suite und damit auch dieser CD" - Horst-Dieter Radke, Glarean Magazine (CH). (FULL REVIEW)
"Excellent album" - Carme Miró, Sonograma Magazine
"Connect is a great release. The recording is well done, with a good balance between the electronic sounds and the guitar." - Mathias Monrad Møller, SEISMOGRAF
Maestro Series: Guitar
(Samsong Productions)
Release date: April 2016
Maestro Series: Guitar
* * First Prize Winner - Guitar Festival Nordhorn Competition 2014 * *
Tracklist:
Joaquín Rodrigo: Tres Piezas Españolas
Sérgio Assad: Aquarelle
Alberto Ginastera: Sonata for Guitar
Annette Kruisbrink: Toccata (written for Jakob Bangsø)
"...eine Debüt-CD gelungen, die wirklich vielversprechend ist..." - Peter Päffgen, Gitarre & Laute (DE)
"All in all, I hear a guitarist on this recording who plays flawlessly and perfectly finished and, in Aquarelle in particular, communicates the message well." - Mark de Gooijer, DOS Amigos (NL)