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.
CD
1
Mayflower, New York
03:26
2
Duxton, Melbourne
05:11
3
Kempinski, Berlin
04:56
4
L’Hotel, Paris
03:48
5
Palace, Copenhagen
05:09
6
Astor Crowne, New Orleans
03:12
7
The Grand, Krakow
03:49
8
Palazzo Londra, Venice
03:58
9
Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg
03:22
10
Savoy, Lisbon
05:06
11
Mayday Inn, Hong Kong
05:11
12
Lutetia, Paris
04:09
13
Schloss Elmau
03:26