The latest release by Michala Petri, masterminded by Lars Hannibal, is in many ways her best. An extraordinary selection of Nordic commissions, each one is completely riveting in its unique way.
Praulins' nightingale decorates a Hans Christian Andersen tale about two nightingales, the real one (Michala) eclipsing the monotonous repetitions of an artificial one. Börtz's Nemesis divina treats a quite extraordinary text by the botanist/thereotician Linnaeus; broken up in such a way that the text is essential to follow it. Likewise for Rasmussen's modernist "I", in which "A man and a woman and a blackbird (Michala) are one". Finally, the younger Peter Bruun's G M Hopkins settings involve the "breathy, human tessitura of the tenor recorder" as the poet's Caged Nightingale.
Tremendous texts and marvellous music for each one. Lavishly produced in a fully illustrated glossy booklet.
Peter Grahame Woolf