Jonas Nordberg

What’s up

2023

JANUARY
1 Händel Judas Maccabaeus w Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rias Kammerchor & Justin Doyle Berliner Philharmonie
2-6 RECORDING Händel Judas Maccabaeus Teldex Studio, Berlin
15 Händel, Purcell, Rameau et al w Peter Spissky & friends Örebro Kammarmusikförening

FEBRUARY
2 Music by Marais & de Visée w Liam Byrne Private venue, Berlin
4 VESPERS & DREAMS. Music by Claudio Monteverdi & Missy Mazzol w ensemble CONTINUUM Villa Elisabeth, Berlin
5 VESPERS & DREAMS w ensemble CONTINUUM Villa Elisabeth, Berlin
23 Alexander’s Feast HWV75 by G.F Händel w London Handel Players & Laurence Cummings London Handel Festival, St George’s, Hanover Square
28 WORLD PREMIERE In the Realms of Sorrow, 4 Händel cantatas and new music by Héloïse Werner, staged by Adele Thomas London Handel Festival, Stone Nest, London

MARCH
1 In the Realms of Sorrow, 4 Händel cantatas and new music by Héloïse Werner, staged by Adele Thomas London Handel Festival, Stone Nest, London
2 In the Realms of Sorrow, 4 Händel cantatas and new music by Héloïse Werner, staged by Adele Thomas London Handel Festival, Stone Nest, London
3 In the Realms of Sorrow, 4 Händel cantatas and new music by Héloïse Werner, staged by Adele Thomas London Handel Festival, Stone Nest, London
17 PEACEMAKERS, music by Telemann, Corelli, Couperin, Muffat & Fux w Orfeus Barockensemble Sibelius Museum, Turkku, FI
19 PEACEMAKERS, music by Telemann, Corelli, Couperin, Muffat & Fux w Orfeus Barockensemble Sibelius Academy, Helsinki
23 Nathalie Stutzmann, Bach & friends Atlanta Symphony Hall, USA
25 Nathalie Stutzmann, Bach & friends Atlanta Symphony Hall, USA
25 Nathalie Stutzmann, Bach & friends Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, University of Georgia
30 J.S Bach St. Matthew Passion w Nathalie Stutzmann, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Atlanta Symphony Hall, USA

APRIL
1 J.S Bach St. Matthew Passion w Nathalie Stutzmann, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Atlanta Symphony Hall, USA
2 J.S Bach St. Matthew Passion w Nathalie Stutzmann, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Atlanta Symphony Hall, USA
5 J.S Bach St. John Passion w Stefan Parkman, Aalborg Symfoniorkester & Chorus Musikkens Hus, Aalborg, Denmark
20 BBC Radio3 lunchtime concert w Liam Byrne, music by Kapsperger, Ortiz, Marais et al. LSO St Lukes, London

MAY
4 IL POLIFEMO by N. Porpora w Armonia Atenea & George Petrou Theater an der Wien
6 IL POLIFEMO by N. Porpora w Armonia Atenea & George Petrou Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
14 HÉR0S w Cyril Auvity & El Gran Teatro del Mundo Basilica Pontificia de San Miguel, Madrid
21 Vivaldi et al. w Daniel Pioro & friends Southbank Centre, London
27 IL POLIFEMO by N. Porpora w Armonia Atenea & George Petrou Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, DE

JUNE
7-13 Tour w El Gran Teatro del Mundo Venues tbc
20-23 RECORDING Recital album w Ruby Hughes for BIS Records Länna church, Sweden
29 Music by Vivaldi w AKAMUS & Carlo Vistoli Residenzschloss Ludwigsburg, Germany
30 Båstad Chamber Music Festival w B.O Volungholen & friends Båstad, SE


JULY

1 Båstad Chamber Music Festival w B.O Volungholen & friends Båstad, SE
7-10 RECORDING w AKAMUS & Carlo Vistoli Berlin
19 SOLO RECITAL Gripsholms slott, Sweden

AUGUST
5 PREMIERE The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell w Francesco Corti & Drottningholmsteaterns orkester Drottningholms Slottsteater, Stockholm, SE
7 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
9 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
10 Duo recital w Martin Vanberg Confidencen, Stockholm
11 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
12 Duo recital w Francesco Corti Drottningholms Slottsteater
13 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
16 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
17 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
19 The Fairy Queen Drottningholms Slottsteater
26 Venetian motets w Francesco Corti & Drottningholmsteaterns orkester Innsbruck, Austria

SEPTEMBER
7 Vespers & Dreams Monteverdi/Mazzoli w CONTINUUM Düsseldorf Festival
30 SOLO RECITAL Dowland, Kapsperger, de Visée Lidköping Chamber music association

OCTOBER
15 Monteverdi Vespro della beata Vergine Katarina kyrka, Stockholm
29 ‘I allt hon någonsin rört vid’ w choreographer/dancer Satoshi Kudo & soprano Christina Larsson Malmberg. Music by Tarrodi, Purcell, Santes, Dowland et al. Berga Teater, Åkersberga

NOVEMBER
3 ‘I allt hon någonsin rört vid’ w choreographer/dancer Satoshi Kudo & soprano Christina Larsson Malmberg. Music by Tarrodi, Purcell, Santes, Dowland et al. Essinge kyrka, Stockholm
6 ‘NÄR DU GICK BLEV NATTEN DUBBELT SVART’ chamber music/electronic music/video performance w Göran Fröst, Maria Rostotsky, Rikard Borggård & Lena Rammi Teater Giljotin, Stockholm
12 ‘NÄR DU GICK BLEV NATTEN DUBBELT SVART’ chamber music/electronic music/video performance w Göran Fröst, Maria Rostotsky, Rikard Borggård & Lena Rammi. Teater Giljotin, Stockholm
22 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Station House Theatre (Clifden Arts Society), Galway
23 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin
25 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Tullynally Castle (Derravargh Music Association), Castlepollard, Westmeath
26 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Regional Cultural Centre, Donegal
28 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne 1WML (Windmill Quarter), Dublin
29 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Rothe House (Music In Kilkenny), Kilkenny
30 Music by Purcell, Dowland, Lambert, Lanier, Monteverdi, Coonan et al. w Anna Dennis & Liam Byrne Edmund Rice Chapel, Mount Sion, Barrack Street, Waterford (Waterford Music)

DECEMBER
16 Bach Weihnachtsoratorium/Charpentier Te Deum w Le Chardon Orchestra St Urbanus, Gelsenkirchen, DE
17 Bach Weihnachtsoratorium/Charpentier Te Deum w Le Chardon Orchestra Essener Dom, Essen, DE
20 Private solo recital Swedish Parliament, Stockholm

2024

JANUARY
1 Händel Israel in Egypt w Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rias Kammerchor & Justin Doyle Berliner Philharmonie
2-6 RECORDING Händel Händel Israel in Egypt w Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Rias Kammerchor & Justin Doyle Berlin
8-12 RECORDING Ensemble Inalto & Lambert Colson Sint Truiden, Belgium
23 Rameau & Air de cours w Anders Dahlin Göteborgsoperan, SE

FEBRUARY
2 DUO RECITAL ‘Emotional Archaeology’ Marais, de Visée, Sainte-Colombe, Couperin et al w Liam Byrne AMUZ, Antwerp, Belgium
7 DUO RECITAL ‘Amidst the shades’ Dowland, Purcell, Wallen, Danyel, Johnson et al w Ruby Hughes BBC Radio3 Belfast, Northern Ireland
18 ‘La Discussione’ Vivaldi, Marcello, Fasch & Johnsen w Sergio Azzolini & Orfeus Barockensemble Konserthuset Stockholm
20-23 RECORDING Vivaldi w Daniel Pioro & Manchester Camerata Manchester, UK

MARCH
9 PREMIERE ‘Sieg der Schönheit, opera by G. Ph. Telemann with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Michael Hofstetter, stage direction Kai Anne Schuhmacher Theater Magdeburg, DE
10 ‘Sieg der Schönheit, opera by G. Ph. Telemann with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Michael Hofstetter Theater Magdeburg, DE
16 ‘Sieg der Schönheit, opera by G. Ph. Telemann with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin & Michael Hofstetter Theater Magdeburg, DE

Previous dates 201720182019202020212022

About

Jonas Nordberg is a lutenist mastering a wide range of plucked instruments from the 16th to 19th centuries. A graduate of the Mozarteum University Salzburg and the Royal College of Music Stockholm, he has an active schedule in more than 25 countries, performing solo concerts, chamber music, staged performances and large ensemble work.

As a recording artist, 2015 saw his solo debut album for Eudora Records, ‘Music by de Visée, Weiss & Dufaut’ was released to critical acclaim worldwide. In 2017 ‘Heroines of love and loss’ was released on BIS Records featuring music by female composers and fictive heroines together with Ruby Hughes, soprano and Mime Yamahiro-Brinkmann, baroque cello, receiving a Diapason d’Or award. From 2018 onwards he records solo work exclusively for BIS Records, releasing Intavolatura di Chitarone featuring music by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (Gramophone Editor’s Choice) as his initial album in 2019. 2022 saw the release of ‘Lessons’ with solo lute works by John Dowland.

His solo recital programs include the music of John Dowland, music for theorbo by Robert de Visée, French lute music juxtaposed with works by Silvius Leopold Weiss as well as the wizardry Italian Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger. Often these programs are mixed up with works by contemporary composers, creating a varied sound scape and a big range of expressions.

Together with soprano Ruby Hughes he performs all lute song repertoire, with a special focus on the Elizabethan Era and Italian monody. With viol player Liam Byrne he explores the music of Marin Marais and other French composers mixed with contemporary music for theorbo/viol & electronics. In a chamber ensemble setting he works regularly with El Gran Teatro del Mundo (ES), CONTINUUM (DE) & Orfeus Barockensemble (SE).

Venues in recent seasons include BAM New York, Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Palau de la Musica Barcelona, National Sawdust NYC, Kioi Hall Tokyo, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Royal Opera House London, King’s Place London, Concertgebouw Brügge, Opera Comédie Montpellier, Grand Théatre Luxembourg, Mozarteum Salzburg, Drottningholms Slottsteater, Confidencen, Malmö Opera, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern Stockholm, Helsinki City Theatre, Salzburger Landestheater, Gothenburg Concert Hall, Stockholm Concert Hall etc.

He performs with period ensembles such as Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Handel Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, Orfeo 55, Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Armonia Athenea, Insula Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Camerata Øresund, Les Accents & Rebaroque. He also works with modern orchestras Aurora Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Swedish Wind Ensemble, Ensemble 1B1, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra & Gävle Symphony Orchestra.

He has an extensive collaboration with choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström, resulting in six large scale stage works in recent years. The meeting between baroque music and contemporary dance gives the music a new dimension, a visual chamber music partner for the solo pieces and a way to communicate through physical gestures and impulses. In their most performed work, sofa(r), Nordberg and Kvarnström teamed up for a critically acclaimed duet combining elements of dance, baroque music for lute and theorbo, electronic music and speech in a dark world exploring death. This also marked his debut as a dancer.

He also works extensively with Swedish chamber ensemble Operabyrån, co-creating chamber operas and semi-staged performances featuring forgotten female composers.

Recordings

 

img_1444-1.jpg LESSONS

In English Renaissance collections of music, the term ‘lessons’ is often used to describe instrumental pieces, even though they aren’t pedagogical exercises as such. But as Jonas Nordberg writes in an introduction to his new disc ‘there remains much in them to be studied’. John Dowland is one of the composers whose music was a driving force of the Early Music revival already at the beginning of the 20th century. He has also played a central role in the rediscovery of the lute itself, an ongoing process which began more than a hundred years ago.

Like many other musicians, Jonas Nordberg is continuously exploring the intimate relationship between a score and the instrument it was written for: ‘The pieces by Dowland on this album contain an entire musical universe, in which I have spent many years, discovering new layers of meaning. In that way these lessons – in combination with the instrument on which I play them – have also been my teachers. So it is a great pleasure to invite you to share them with me, and to explore for yourselves the rich combination of melancholy, joy and beauty to be found in these works.’

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img_1444-1.jpg Intavolatura di chitarone

At the end of the 16th century, the pursuit of greater, more vivid expressivity dominated music-making all across Italy, taking madrigals and other vocal ensemble forms as its starting point but soon going on to explore the possibilities offered by solo singing. For some decades the theorbo (or chitarone, as it was also called) was regarded as the ideal instrument for accompanying singers, but as a leading exponent of the instrument Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger soon also established it as a solo instrument in its own right. Of German descent, Kapsperger published his first book of solo pieces for the theorbo in 1604 and went on to enjoy a successful career in Rome, contributing to the monumental cultural programme of Pope Urban VIII. There he moved in intellectual circles, particularly that of the scientist Galileo Galilei.

During the 1630s things became quiet for Kapsperger, possibly a side effect of Galilei’s conviction for heresy in 1633. Not until 1640 did his last known volume of theorbo pieces appear, the number four in its title indicating that two books have been lost. A particularly attractive aspect of Kapsperger’s music for the theorbo is the marked contrasts between dramatic and impetuous toccatas, straightforward, ‘no-nonsense’ passacaglias and rhythmically refined but simply constructed dance movements such as galliards. These are here all made to sound under the fingers of Jonas Nordberg, sought-after as soloist as well as ensemble musician, performing on a wide range of plucked instruments including the lute, guitar and theorbo. On BIS he has previously appeared on the acclaimed album Heroines with soprano Ruby Hughes and in chamber works with recorder player Dan Laurin.

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Jonas Nordbergde Visée, Weiss & Dufaut

For his début solo recording, Swedish lutenist Jonas Nordberg presents a delightful selection of works for Baroque lute and theorbo; the grandeur and elevated spirit of the French Baroque music of Dufaut and de Visée alternate with the refinement and extraordinary originality of the works of Silvius Leopold Weiss, who was regarded as the finest lutenist of his time. Jonas Nordberg, who has recorded three albums for BIS with recorder virtuoso Dan Laurin, gives personal and intense performances of these pieces, recorded in the gorgeous acoustic of the 13th Century Spanish church of San Francisco, in Ávila.
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Heroines-cover Heroines of love and loss

The women appearing before our ears throughout this programme range from the Virgin Mary and Dido, queen of Carthage, to Shakespeare’s Desdemona and the unfortunate Anne Boleyn, waiting for her execution in the Tower of London in 1536. But the disc also features four other heroines – the Italian composers Claudia Sessa, Francesca Caccini, Lucrezia Vizzana and Barbara Strozzi. All active between 1590 – 1675, they will have required great courage to rise above the social conventions of the time, but this surprisingly productive period for female composers also offered an opportunity that would disappear in later centuries: the all-female environment provided by the convent. More than half of the women who published music before 1700 were nuns, including Sessa and Vizzana, who are here represented by brief meditations on the suffering and death of Christ. Caccini and Strozzi, on the other hand, lived very much in the secular world – Caccini at the Florentine court and Strozzi as a free-lance musician and composer in Venice. Unhindered by the restrictions imposed by the church on sacred music they both adhered to the new stile moderno championed by Claudio Monteverdi. Celebrated for their singing, they composed vocal music which makes ‘the words the mistress of the harmony and not the servant’, to quote Monteverdi’s brother Giulio Cesare. The soprano Ruby Hughes has already made her name for herself in a wide-ranging repertoire, but has a special love for the constellation of lute, cello and voice. With Jonas Nordberg and Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann – who also contribute instrumental solos – she here revels in the dramatic and expressive potential offered by the combination, and by the music by these female composers and their English colleagues Henry Purcell and John Bennet.
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RomanJ. H. Roman – The 12 Flute Sonatas vol. 1 (sonatas I-V)

In Stockholm during Johan Helmich Roman’s lifetime, the recorder was the most common wind instrument, used throughout the social spectrum including the Royal music establishment for which the composer was responsible. The transverse flute, on the other hand, was generally the preserve of the upper classes the nobility and bourgeosie. Possibly this higher status contributed to Roman’s choice of instrument for the set of XII Sonate a flauto traverso, violone e cembalo that he presented to Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Younger on her birthday in 1727. But that hasn’t stopped the celebrated recorder player Dan Laurin to take up his countrymans sonatas on his own instrument. In a text included in the CD booklet, Laurin explains his fascination with Roman’s music: ‘complex emotional contexts are contrasted with folk music forms such as the villanella or piva the music is asymmetrical, irregular and full of unexpected twists, sudden pauses and cadences.’ In it, Laurin hears the influence of the Italian musicians that Roman met in London during his stay there 1715-1721. Especially striking he finds Roman’s affinity with the music of Naples a music that challenged the stylistic ideals of the baroque. With his fellow musicians in Paradiso Musicale, Laurin therefore opts for an Italianate slant different continuo settings, ranging from harpsichord alone to the full complement including baroque guitar, provide great variety in realizations characterized by bold and striking harmonizations.

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image J.H Roman – The 12 Flute Sonatas vol. 2 (sonatas VI-XII)

With its ample playing time, the present disc completes Laurin’s survey of the sonatas, begun on BIS-2105 with Sonatas 1-5, a disc which received a recommendation on the web site Klassik-Heute.de and acclaim in Gramophone: ‘Dan Laurin brings all his customary verve and eloquence in pieces whose emotional content is as unpredictable as the sequence of movements.’ Together with the companion discs of Roman’s 12 keyboard sonatas recorded by Anna Paradiso, the set highlights the inquisitive mind and wide-ranging sensibilities of a composer who, although active in the far north of Europe showed a keen interest in what was happening on the continent.

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jonasvivaldi Antonio Vivaldi – Recorder Concertos, Dan Laurin/1B1

The Swedish recorder virtuoso Dan Laurin has demonstrated his remarkable versatility on some thirty recordings on BIS, ranging from a nine-disc set with 17th-century composer Jacob van Eyck’s complete Der Fluyten Lust-hof to the recent Rock that Flute, with music for recorder and strings written in 2013 by the Dutch composer Chiel Meijering. During a recording career that stretches over almost 30 years, Laurin keeps returning to one particular set of works, however: the concertos by Antonio Vivaldi. Three of the works (the Concertos RV 441, 443 and 444) included on his latest release he has recorded more than once before, with ensembles such as the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Bach Collegium Japan and Arte dei Suonatori. For his latest ‘take’ on these favourites Laurin has joined forces with the young and vibrant Norwegian string ensemble 1B1 (shorthand for Ensemble Bjergsted 1). As he explains in his own liner notes for the present disc, he was inspired by his work on transcribing and performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: ‘A close reading of RV441 and RV443–445 reveals great similarities between these works and The Four Seasons: sudden changes of moods, turbulent emotions, burlesque whims mixed with sublime beauty and elegance… My aim here is to explore the recorder concertos with the same freedom and spontaneity that characterize the modern-day approach to the Seasons.’ Laurin’s recording of the Seasons has been called ‘undoubtedly the best transcription to date’ (Diapason) and ‘never hackneyed, but instead invigoratingly fresh and vibrant’ (Clarino), verdicts which can only fuel the expectations concerning this his latest version of the recorder concertos.

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image Handel’s Last Prima Donna – Giulia Frasi in London

Excelling in Renaissance and baroque repertoire, the young British soprano Ruby Hughes pays tribute to Handel’s last prima donna, the Italian soprano Giulia Frasi. For her debut recording on Chandos she has chosen a selection of celebrated arias composed for Frasi by Handel, in his late oratorios Susanna, Solomon, Theodora, and Jephtha, and other composers of the era, whose works are now much less familiar, offering several modern premieres. Performed on period instruments by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Laurence Cummings, and recorded in surround-sound, this programme is unique of its kind.

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image Kristine West – Recorder

A thrilling debut album with a unique blend of baroque music, minimalism and folk music, with a wide spectrum of musical colourfulness. With her roots in the Swedish folk music, Kristine West takes on baroque music as well as contemporary music in a free and open minded way. Her playing is characterised by latitude and easiness, with the aim to create an experience of presence – with a conviction that what occurs in the musical moment is the only thing that exists. The interpretation can constantly change and be reconsidered – depending on fellow musicians, the acoustics and the audience. In this way the music is constantly alive, built on impulse, interplay and sense, free to reflect the mutual experience of the moment.

Jonas performs three Scottish pieces by Barsanti as well as a recorder concerto by Vivaldi on the critically acclaimed debut album by Swedish recorder virtuoso Kristine West

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Stage work

Ingjutet i mitt hjärta Bembo/de la Guerre/Petersson (2016)

Antonia Bembo (1640-1720) is one of the most fascinating composers in the history of music. And she’s forgotten. She fought for her rights and left a violent and unfaithful husband to pursue a career as a composer in France, at the court of the Sun King. But what did she sacrifice on her way there? What is one willing to do for the greatest love?

Drawing inspiration from Bembo’s music and life Operabyrån has created a new striking opera about passion. The passion for another human but also the passion for life and music. The music that never may be silenced. Bembo’s arias and music by Jacquet de la Guerre are brought together with new electro acoustic music by Mattias Petersson and a libretto by Emma Broström.

| Music Bembo, de la Guerre & Petersson | Direction Helena Röhr | Libretto Emma Broström | Costume & set design Bente Rolandsdotter | Musicians & performers Christina Larsson Malmberg, soprano Martin Vanberg, tenor Kate Hearne, baroque cello Catalina Langborn, baroque violin Jonas Nordberg, archlute & baroque guitar |

 

 

DOUBLEtake (2014)/ TAPE (2015) K. Kvarnström 

DOUBLEtake is a collaboration effort between three big Swedish institutions, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Skånes Dansteater and Malmö Opera. The piece is in two acts, Jonas performing all the music solo in act 1 together with K. Kvarnström & Co, and Malmö Opera orchestra performing the music in act two together with Skånes Dansteater. Jonas is the musical curator for the whole evening and has created various connections between the two acts. TAPE is a development of act one of DOUBLEtake into a full evening show. Duct tape and some singing was added.

| Choreography & set design Kenneth Kvarnström | Light design Jens Sethzman | Costume design Astrid Olsson | Music act 1 Weiss, Bach, de Visée, Poulenc, Couperin| Music act 2 Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, LindbergDancers act 1 Pär Andersson, Sophie Augot, Richard Cilli, Jyrki Kasper, Misa Lommi, Robert Malmborg | Dancers act 2 Skånes DansteaterMusicians first performance Jonas Nordberg, baroque lute, theorbo & romantic guitar Andrea Quinn, conductor Francisca Skoogh, piano Malmö Opera Orchestra | Photo Mats Bäcker

| Dancers TAPE Pär Andersson, Sophie Augot, Matthew Branham, Robert Malmborg, Erik Nyberg & Cecilia Olsen |

 

 

Valerie’s Voice C. Elgh (2015)

Valerie’s voice is based on the SCUM manifesto by Valerie Solanas! Valerie Solana’s texts are often met by aversion and suspicion. “Valerie’s Voice” focus on music as a universal vehicle to create preconditions to receive the texts on an emotional level as well as to complement and deepen the intellectual interpretation of the work.

| Music Christofer Elgh | Direction Helena Röhr | Costume design Åsa Gjerstad | Musicians & performers Mira Pyne, soprano/Valerie KROCK (Pascal Jardry, Daniel Röhr, Jesper Nielsen & Jonas Nordberg electric guitars |

 

 

All that dans K. Kvarnström (2014)

K. Kvarnström & Co meet actor Etienne Glaser on a journey to discover what dance is. Jonas plays a small role in performing some music by de Visée and Piccinini, as well as having a short conversation with Mr. Glaser.

| Choreography & set design Kenneth Kvarnström | Dancers Pär Andersson, Sophie Augot, Richard Cilli, Jyrki Kasper, Robert Malmborg Photo Petra Hellberg |

 

 

Heroines K. Kvarnström (2014)

 

The idea behind Heroines first came from Jonas and a wish to collaborate with two great colleagues, soprano Ruby Hughes and choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström. After an initial musical try out of part of the material at Kammermusik Lockenhaus research was done into finding brilliant music by forgotten female 17th century composers, our Heroines. Some male composers made it to the program too, depicting fictive Heroines in their lyrics. Together with K. Kvarnström & Co an evening combining concertized performance and contemporary dance was created.

| Choreography & set design Kenneth Kvarnström | Light design Markus Granqvist | Costume design Bente Rolandsdotter | Music Strozzi, Vizzana, Sessa, Marais, Dowland, Purcell | Dancers Pär Andersson, Sophie Augot, Richard Cilli, Jyrki Kasper, Misa Lommi, Robert Malmborg Musicians Ruby Hughes, soprano Jonas Nordberg, theorbo & archlute Christoph Urbanetz, viola da gamba | Photo Petra Hellberg |

 

 

Love and the Courtesan Strozzi (2013)

A poetic and colourful production by Operabyrån in collaboration with Vadstena Academy, inspired by the music, lyrics, and fate of Barbara Strozzi, but also by female artists throughout history who have been degraded and forgotten. Love and the Courtesan focuses on the Italian repertoire of the early 17th-century, where solo pieces and improvisations – from intimate, lamenting passacaglias to passionate dances – are blended together and contrasted with each other, incorporating music by composers such as Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Isabella Leonarda, and Pandolfo Mealli.

It was said that Barbara Strozzi was a courtesan. Perhaps she was; perhaps not. Perhaps the idea of a professional female musician and composer was simply so provocative that it was assumed that she was of ‘ill repute’. A certain degree of musicality elevated a woman’s status in baroque Italy. If a woman was too successful, however, she ran the risk of being classed a prostitute. Throughout time, labelling a woman as a prostitute has been a convenient way of removing a talented individual from the establishment.

| Music Strozzi, Caccini, Leonarda, Mealli & Kapsberger | Script Sigrid Herrault | Costume & set design Bente Rolandsdotter | Concept, choreography & dancer Karin Modigh | Concept, musicians & performers | Christina Larsson Malmberg, soprano Catalina Langborn, baroque violin Jonas Nordberg, theorbo & baroque guitar | Stage direction consultant Nils Spangenberg, Helena Röhr | Photo Carl Thorborg, Markus Gårder |

 

 

sofa(r) K. Kvarnström (2013)

Developed during a residency on the Swedish west coast, sofa(r) is a critically acclaimed duet with and by Kenneth Kvarnström and Jonas Nordberg. The two share stage dancing, playing music and having coffee table discussions on various casual aspects of death. The work takes inspiration from a set of Tombeaux, French baroque pieces for lute and theorbo that were written to commemorate lost fellow artists and composers. Music by Dufaut, Mouton, Weiss & de Visée, and when Jonas is dancing with Kenneth and alone, Murcof and Biosphere.

| Choreography, light, set design, concept & dance Kenneth Kvarnström | Concept, dance & music Jonas Nordberg, baroque lute & theorbo |

 

 

come back (to me) K. Kvarnström (2012)

Three dancers and two musicians meeting in a work ranging from deepest intimacy to raging frustration. Jonas joined forces with composer and guitarist Ola Hjelmberg switching between theorbo, baroque guitar, electric guitar and electric bass. Small steps out of the performers comfort zones involved Jonas first steps as a dancer. Baroque music by Piccinini, de Visée, Caccini & Sanz crashed and collided with the punk inspired grooves and soundscapes of Ola Hjelmberg where the two musicians got carried away in lengthy improvisations over eternal loops.

| Choreography Kenneth Kvarnström | Light, set design & photo Jens Sethzman | Music Hjelmberg, Piccinini, de Visée, Caccini & Sanz Dancers Kenneth Bruun Carlson, Janne Marja-aho, Cecilia Olsen | Musicians Ola Hjelmberg, electric guitar Jonas Nordberg, theorbo, electric guitar, bass & baroque guitar |

 

 

(play) K. Kvarnström (2011)

(play) is the first collaboration between Jonas and choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström. A large scale collaboration work involving 7 dancers, a string quartet from NorrlandsOperan, 3 costume designers & two soloists, me on the theorbo and pianist Asuka Nakamura. Discovering playfulness in various ways it involved Jonas performing solo music by B. Castaldi, Robert de Visée, G.G Kapsberger and a cello sonata by A. Vivaldi with Pelle Hansen.

| Choreography Kenneth Kvarnström |Light and set design Jens Sethzman | Costume design Martin Bergström, Helena Hörstedt, Erika Turunen | Dancers Kenneth Bruun Carlson, Sofia Karlsson, Kai Lähdesmäki, Janne Marja-aho, Cecilia Olsen, Valtteri Raekallio, Terhi Vaimala | Musicians Karin Eriksson violin, Pontus Björk violin, Pär Lindqvist viola, PelleHansen cello, Asuka Nakamura piano, Jonas Nordberg theorbo | Photo Sakari Viika |

 

Press

Album reviews

Gramophone on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019

Le Devoir on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in French)

Klassik.com on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in German)

Klassik Heute on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in German)

HRAudio.net on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019

Operaclick on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in Italian)

Opus on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in Swedish)

Fanfare on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019

France Musique on Intavolatura di Chitarone 2019 (in French)

Gramophone on Heroines of love and loss 2017

High-Res Audio on Heroines of love and loss 2017

Dagens Nyheter on Heroines of love and loss 2017 (in Swedish)

Gitarr & Luta on Heroines of love and loss 2017 (in Swedish)

Early Music Review on Heroines of love and loss 2017

Limelight Magazine on recital album 2016

Gitarre & Laute on recital album 2016 ( in German)

Dagens Nyheter on recital album 2015 (in Swedish)

High-Res Audio on recital album 2015 (two reviews)

Opus Klassiek on recital album 2015 (in Dutch)

Nerikes Allehanda on recital album 2015 (in Swedish)

Norran on recital album 2015 (in Swedish)

Dagens Nyheter records of the year list 2015 (in Swedish)

Pizzicato on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 2 (in German)

Classica on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 2 (in French)

Musicweb International on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 2

FONO Forum on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 2 

Fanfare Magazine on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 1

Klassik Heute on J.H Roman flute sonatas vol. 1

 

Performance reviews

“…a beautiful shift takes place between the organically pulsating pieces where Nordberg is playing and Kvarnström is dancing, and the passages where recorded electronica creates a more restricted movement pattern, where Nordberg leaves the instruments and fine duets become possible… Nordberg makes a strong dance performance, where the solo where he shapes the air around him with black shimmering confetti, or is it dust, becomes one of the moest beautiful moments of the performance…” – Västerbottens-kuriren, 2015

”…painfully beautiful. Sweetly alive art in a rare fine combination…” – Dagens Nyheter, 2014

”…astonishing music, seamlessly presented by Nordberg who plays it clearly, listening, strong…”– Expressen, 2014

“…the completely brilliant Jonas Nordberg on theorbo, lute and guitar…” – Dagens Nyheter, 2014

“The notes from the lute reach my heart when Nordberg is playing standing with his back towards the audience. His face against the light as if there was something beautiful beyond the darkness…” – Nummer, 2014

”…a passion wanting to explode in the chest, which finds its way into our senses with melancholic timbres which Jonas Nordberg and Christoph Urbanetz perceptively create from the lute, theorbo and viola da gamba.” – Svenska Dagblaget, 2014

”…the music glitters with melancholy and offers solitude to our senses…for some moments Nordberg leaves his instruments and dances, to deep bass sound and heavy electronica chords. In a strong solo Nordberg’s naked back is shimmering in the smoke filled light…” Svenska Dagbladet, 2013

“…Jonas Nordberg has an unusual physical expressivity in his handling of the theorbo and baroque lute. He treats the baroque chords emotionally, expressing rises and falls with his face almost as were it jazz improvisation. “ – Hallands Nyheter, 2013

”…Eva Fegers, superbly accompanied on the theorbo by Swedish lutenist and guitarist, Jonas Nordberg, a star in his own right…” – windcanal.de on Moeck Recorder Competition, 2011

“…Jonas Nordberg is a notable theorbist who ‘drove from the bass’ (as stressed importantly by Julia Bishop discussing continuo in the master class). His chosen strings (not gut) enhanced the power of an instrument which often looks better than it can be heard). We enjoyed his complete visibility, including a hunched posture reminiscent of the young Franz Bruggen playing the recorder!…” – musicalpointers.co.uk, 2011

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