The music on the album was written by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, former guest professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and has been nominated in the category Best Classical Compendium. The conductor was Frenchman Clément Mao-Takacs, and the album was released by BIS Records.
Grammy nomination for Herresthal
Violin professor Peter Herresthal is a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on a Grammy-nominated album.
Several awards
Herresthal has won the Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy) four times, has received the Norwegian Music Critics Award and has been named Performer of the Year. He is known for his collaborations with contemporary composers and his interpretations of modern violin concertos.
The album has already been named Record of the Month in BBC Magazine and Gramophone.
“But this was the icing on the cake,” says Herresthal. He has been collaborating with Saariaho for many years, and a new version of one of the pieces on the album was written especially for him.
The violin professor explains that he asked the composer if he could practise the aria “Vers toi es si loin” from her opera L’Amour de loin, which was staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
“A few weeks later a version for violin and orchestra suddenly appeared in the mail. I think that was one of the best presents I have ever received!”
“A few weeks later a version for violin and orchestra suddenly appeared in the mail. I think that was one of the best presents I have ever received!”
Grammy-nominated violinist and professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
A String of Releases
The album is part of Herresthal’s long-term project at the Norwegian Academy of Music, A String of Releases. So far he has recorded nearly 20 violin concertos.
“I’ve lost count, but I think I’m somewhere between 17 and 19 now,” says the busy violinist.
The Grammys will be awarded in Los Angeles on 31 January 2021.
