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CD No: HCD7197 by Unni Løvlid called Vita. Released: 2005

Short description:

The Review: Unni Løvlid is back with a new recording! VITA is released by Grappa Musikkforlag, and the recording was made by Helge Sten at the Emanuel Vigeland mausoleum. VITA is a beautiful and atmospheric release, based entirely on Unni Løvlid's voice, and her presence and intensity as a performer. The recording venue is a room with fabulous acoustics, ambience and resonance. The material consists of thirteen religious folk songs, each of which Unni has a particular relationship to. Her great-grandfather Samuel Pederson Lødemel (1866-1959) wrote in his day a tune and his own version of Niels O. Svee's text Om Verdens Skabelse og Menneskets Fald ("On the Creation of the World and the Fall of Man "). This has been recorded under the title O at Skue ("Oh! To Behold"), the opening track of the CD.

Emanuel Vigeland
The recording was made in what has been called one of Oslo's best kept secrets: Emanuel Vigeland's Mausoleum at Slemdal. Vigeland erected the building himself in 1926 intending it to be a museum for his paintings and sculptures, but subsequently decided that it would make a suitable mausoleum. All the windows were bricked up, and Vigeland's ashes were placed in an urn above the door. The dark room is covered with frescoes forming a single huge painting entitled VITA, depicting dramatic scenes from human birth to death. In keeping with the Italian tradition Emanuel Vigeland called his building "Tomba Emmanuelle".

"I have dreamed of singing in this building for many years," says folk singer Unni Løvlid to Ballade. And now it has finally happened. "I have chosen music that needs time," says Unni Løvlid, "this music requires space and silence.

Unni Løvlid is from Hornindal in the county of Sogn og Fjordane in west Norway. She has been an active folk musician for some time, and has learned her music from many different sources in Hornindal, including Marta Seljeset Frøland. According to the classification system of the national folk music competition Unni belongs in the top category of folk musicians, something which provided her with a fundament for her masters degree at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Her wide-ranging musical activities include concerts and tours in Norway and abroad, and teaching engagements at the Norwegian Academy of Music, the Ole Bull Academy, and the State Theatre Academy. Unni has received a number of awards for her contributions to folk singing. She released her first solo recording So ro liten tull in 1999 on her own label, Løvlyd; the recording was subsequently released in book form by Lyche Musikkforlag. Unni participated on Listen - the Art of Arne Nordheim, Aurora 2002, and has contributed to a number of other recordings for Honndalstausene, Frie former 2000, NRK, Radio France, and Karl Seglem, among others. In addition to her career as a solo performer Unni is a member of the trios RUSK 8with Frode Haltli and Vegar Vårdal), and FJØGL (with Liv Merete Kroken and Sigrid Moldestad). Unni is not afraid to do something in which she believes, and is continually involved in new productions and events. She is known for her collaboration on contemporary music projects as well as in folk music; in 2003 she performed in the premiere of Maja Ratkje's opera No Title Performance and Sparkling Water during the Ultima Festival. At an event hosted by Ballade at Mono in 2004 Unni performed in a noise duo together with horn player and Fe-mail member Hild Sofie Tafjord. One of her examen concerts at the Music Academy was a performance of Arnold Schönberg's 1912 masterpiece Pierrot Lunaire together with the Academy's contemporary music ensemble. Unni has collaborated on several occasions with percussionist Terje Isungset, and in April she performs the part of Ophelia in Hamlet.

Helge Sten has been instrumental in the development of the Norwegian noise scene over the past 10-15 years. He was one of the first students at the Art Academy in Trondheim to work with sound as his medium. Sten graduated from the Academy in 1996, and under the pseudonym Deathprod he has perfected his Audiovirus concept.

Folk singing the way Unni Løvlid presents it is not an every day affair. She invokes a whole spectrum of moods with her supple voice, from the barely audible to virtual screaming [Mona Levin, Aftenposten, 2004]

Unni Løvlid has a great voice, fantastic presentation and a wonderful charisma. Her love for the songs she sings shines through, and is impossible to resist. [Katrine Sele, Firda, 2003]

Løvlid's ability to sing with strength or finesse, whichever is called for, is distinctive. [Jennifer Hanson, Rambles, cultural arts magazine 2003]

Løvlid's voice is pure and direct, completely at ease with all the changing moods. [Fiona Talkington, Songlines, 2003] Key words:

The Band: Unni Løvlid Norway

Band members:
193 Unni Løvlid (Vocals) 125


CD Tracks: 1. O at skue
2. Jeg har så lun en hytte
3. Når eg står her på dei høge nutar
4. Den fyrste song
5. Glemmer Gud smaa Ravneunger
6. Sov no små bonnj
7. Saa glad som jeg til Senge gaa
8. Læ mig, o skov, at visne glad
9. Gud Fader mig saa underlig
10. Nu Dagens Lys sig sniger hen
11. O Verden, hav da gode Nat
12. Ned i vester soli glader
13. Fra Anders til Karen