2L Recordings' Christianialiv on Blu-ray Audio and CD/SACD

It seems like every January I apologize for not blogging enough. I won't do it this year. The truth is, CES keeps getting bigger and bigger for us, and every year I get a little older. That means additional time is required for recovery. It's during this quiet time of the year, however, in the middle of my second Colorado winter, that I really seem to appreciate what Morten Lindberg's been doing for not only the Norwegian recording industry but the entire world. Going beyond all those technical innovations and novel approaches in the studio, Morten chooses music that seems to highlight wintry emotions. These selections aren't stereotypically Scandinavian, all ice and snow and cold, but sturdy and confident and a bit pragmatic--in a good way. It's an underlying attitude of a people who take nothing for granted.

What's utterly amazing is that this subterranean thread of stoicism appears in such a wide range of musical styles. On the latest 2L Recordings release, for example, Morten enlists (pun intended) the help of the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces, something he's done once or twice before. In each case, this wind orchestra defies expectations for fighting the temptation to be constantly dynamic and startling. The sounds of the band are remarkable in the way they coalesce and expand with the flow of the music; it's more about passion and less about punctuation. That also seems to reinforce the idea that the music of Norway is more about substance than about thrills.

Christianialiv is a simple, unadorned celebration of the "Golden Age of Norwegian Music," a time during the late 19th and early 20th century when the country's prosperity opened the door to a new period of unlimited artistic expression. The fascinating part of the story is that earlier incarnations of the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces actually played an important role in popularizing these pieces after the were first written. These specific pieces, by Norwegian composers such as Johan Svendsen, Adolf Hansen, Ole Olsen and Alfred Evensen, were actually championed by the SBNAF back in the day--and that's the reason why they are included here.

As with 2L's first two recordings with the SBNAF, the magic element here is to surprise the listener by showing uncommon depth and emotion in the context of a wind orchestra/marching band. There's still that urge to pick out the individual musicians and follow them throughout the piece--the soundstage and imaging, of course, are that spectacular--but the true beauty of this album is found in the way these instruments join together in the air and create a new harmonic tone all their own. There are points in time, especially in the opening Symfoni Nr. 2 by Svendsen and the final two Evensen dances, where it seems preternatural that the band's sounds are created so naturally.

So if your opinion of wind orchestras and marching bands are somewhat colored by those boom/smash/bang audiophile titles from a couple of decades ago, Christianialiv might change your perceptions. Intriguing, fluid and almost cosmic in its reach, this is one of the best-sounding releases yet from 2L.

Ja, Vi Elsker on 2L Recordings' Blu-ray Audio and CD/SACD

Ja, vi elsker dette landet, if you don't already know, is the name of the Norwegian national anthem. The phrase itself means "Yes, I love this country," which seems slightly odd in the context of most national anthem titles since it seems to be answering a question, or extrapolating on an observation like "I know the winters are long and harsh here, but..." It's an engaging phrase in the most literal sense because it's seemingly part of a conversation, one that ultimately addresses the most adamantine demonstrations of national pride.

That exuberant attitude can be found everywhere in this new release from 2L Recordings, which is performed with almost infinite gusto by the Schola Cantorum choir as well as the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces, which we've heard before on last year's La Voie Triomphale (which I reviewed here.) The purpose of this recording is to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, so it's a gift to the Norwegian people, so to speak. (Norway, in particular, is a country that has chosen to tell much of its history through music.) In the passionate liner notes, Erik Fasnes Hansen describes how this music was a part of every Norwegian's childhood, big music played by big bands, and that this "is the true sound of Norway." But as I suggested in my review of La Voie, we're not talking about John Philip Sousa here. We're talking about expressive music that can shift through an amazing variety of moods and images.

Once again producer Morten Lindberg has chosen a huge Norwegian church with warm, expansive acoustics for this recording. Both the choir and the military band need that space to let this dynamic, complex music blossom, and it does. Recorded in DXD 24-bit/352.8 kHz, Ja, Vi Elsker is a stunning example of how a large musical ensemble can deliver an intimate performance through careful attention to all of the sonic details. This recording should be a convincing argument to everyone who questions the validity of the latest digital technologies and their ability to deliver a sound that's relaxed and natural and pleasing to your brain.

There's something I've neglected to discuss concerning all of these 2L Recordings. Sure, I've done comparisons between the CD/SACD hybrid discs and the Blu-ray audio discs, which are both usually included in 2L releases. But these last few recordings also use some of the latest surround sound technologies as well--this one features 5.1 DTS HD MA 24/192 and 2.0 LPCM 24/192 technologies--and I don't have a surround-sound system to truly explore Morten's efforts. It's not quite the same thing as buying a Blu-ray audio player...I'll need a whole new system. But I have noticed that a few trade show exhibitors have been demonstrating the 2L recordings in their full surround sound glory, and intend to spend some time listening to these formats in the upcoming months.