— There is no need to beat around the bush. This new performance by Ssens is the best I’ve ever heard, period. Every note is laid bare, every nuance of phrasing and dynamic fluctuation exposed, and it’s all perfect and incredibly beautiful.

(Fanfare Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020 — Jerry Dubins)

Ssens Trio 

Sølve Sigerland, violin 
Henninge Landaas, viola 
Ellen Margrete Flesjø, cello 

Ssens Trio (pronounced ‘Essence’) was established in 2014 by three musicians with a wealth of experience in the international music scene. The trio has appeared in concert with Geir Inge Lotsberg, Eivind Ringstad, Håvard Gimse and Leif Ove Andsnes, among others. Their first CD, Beethoven: String Trios Op. 3 & 8 (LAWO Classics), received Pizzicato Magazine’s “Supersonic Award” and a prestigious ICMA Awards nomination in 2018.

Fanfare Magazine wrote: “With absolutely no hesitation I will say that it goes right to the top of my Beethoven String Trios list.” (Jerry Dubins). And the following from a review in Pizzicato Magazine under the heading ‘Beethoven With A Communicative Joy of Music Making’: “Their performance is brimming with the joy of playing together. An outstanding ‘trialogue’, with each performer fully sensing the other. Through this interactive music making, which in the Adagio and Minuet movements invokes a remarkably intimate mood, Beethoven’s works gain in depth and sensuousness. And when one combines the sensitive playing with a wonderfully eloquent virtuosity, the way is clear for pure listening pleasure.” (Alain Steffen).

In 2019, Ssens Trio released a CD on the LAWO Classics label with music of W. A. Mozart. This recording received glowing reviews in Classica (France), Fanfare Magazine and Pizzicato Magazine, among others, and it was nominated for the Opus Klassik Award in Germany and the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) in 2020.

The latter recording has had over 4 million streams on digital platforms and has regularly over 15,000 unique listeners each month.

The CD "Ricercare," (LWC1238) featuring music by Johan Kvandal, Finn Mortensen, Edvard Fliflet Bræin, and Bertil Palmar Johansen, was released in 2022. It has received glowing reviews in Gramophone, The Strad, Pizzicato Magazine (where it received the Supersonic Award), Sonograma in Spain, and leading journals in the Netherlands. In Norway, it has been very positively received in Dag og Tid, KlassiskMusikk, and Ballade. "Ricercare" was nominated for the ICMA Awards and Opus Klassik in 2023.

Ssens Trio is supported by the Norwegian Arts Council and the Bergesen Foundation.

Sølve Sigerland has devoted the greater part of his career to chamber music, while appearing as soloist with leading Scandinavian orchestras conducted by Andrew Litton, Daniel Harding and Walter Weller, among others. In 1993 Sigerland represented Norway at the Nordic Soloist Biennial in Stockholm, and later he won two prizes at the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland. As a member of the Grieg Trio, he has performed in Europe, the USA and Asia and received prizes for both performances and recordings. Sølve Sigerland has served as a jury member in competitions such as the ARD Competition in Munich, the Trondheim TICC, and the Schubert and Modern Music competition in Graz, Austria.

Henninge Landaas was alternating principal violist in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra for 18 years and a member of the internationally renowned Vertavo String Quartet, with which she performed in concert halls the world over. The ensemble’s critically acclaimed recordings include works by Carl Nielsen, Brahms, Bartok, Grieg and Debussy, among others. With the quartet she shared the Norwegian Music Critics’ Prize, Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy), and the prestigious French award, Diapason d’Or. Henninge Landaas has released several CDs on the LAWO Classics label, among them, Johannes Brahms: Sonatas for Viola & Piano, Op. 120 and The Golden Hindemith. She plays a G.B. Guadagnini viola on loan from Dextra Musica.

Ellen Margrete Flesjø was a founding member of the Grieg Trio in 1987. With this ensemble she has performed in Europe, the USA and Asia and has released critically acclaimed recordings on EMI, Virgin and Simax Classics labels. Prizes she has received include the Parkhouse Award, First Prize and two additional prizes at the Colmar International Chamber Music Competition (Colmar, France), the Norwegian Music Critics’ Prize, and Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy). She has performed as a soloist with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and has served as section leader in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. From 2004 to 2009, Ellen Margrete Flesjø was co-artistic director of the Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival, together with her colleagues in the Grieg Trio.

TRIO

Johann Sebastian Bach  
«Goldberg Variations» BWV. 988 (arr. Dmitri Sitkovetsky)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Trio in Eflat–major op.3
Serenade in D–major op.8
Trio in G–major op.9 nr.1
Trio in D–major op.9 nr.2
Trio in c–minor op.9 nr.3

Anna Berg
“Earthward, Ever Circling” (2023)

Edvard Fliflet Bræin
String Trio op.15 (1963)

Ernö Dohnányi
Serenade in C–major op.10

Hafliði Hallgrímsson
”Lebensfries” (for Ssens Trio, 2022)

Joseph Haydn
Trio in G-major op.53 nr.1
Trio in Bflat-major op.53 nr.2
Trio in D-major op.53 nr.3

Bertil Palmar Johansen
“Ricercare” for String Trio (1996)

Gideon Klein
String Trio (1944)

Zoltán Kodály
Intermezzo (1905)

Johan Kvandal
String Trio op.12 (1950)

György Kurtág
«Signs, Games and Messages» (1989-)

Bohuslav Martinů
Trio nr. 2 (1934)

Finn Mortensen
Trio op.3 (1951)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Divertimento in Eflat–major KV.563
Preludes and Fugues KV.404a

Krzysztof Penderecki
Trio (1991)

Alfred Schnittke
Trio (1985)

Franz Schubert
Trio in Bflat–major D.471
Trio in Bflat–major D.581

Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Trio op.48 (1950)

DUO

Händel/Halvorsen
Passacaglia for violin and viola/cello

Zoltan Kodaly
Duo for violin and cello op.7

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Duo in G-major KV.423 for violin and viola

Maurice Ravel
Sonata for violin and cello (1920/22)

QUARTET

Johannes Brahms
Piano Quartet in g–minor op.25
Piano Quartet in A–major op.26
Piano Quartet in c–minor op.60

Edvard Fliflet Bræin
“The Merry Musicians” op.1 for Clarinet and String Trio (1946)
Divertimento for Clarinet and String Trio (1962)

Antonin Dvorak
Piano Quartet in D–major op.23
Piano Quartet in Eflat–major op.87

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute Quartet in D–major KV.285
Piano Quartet in g–minor KV.478
Piano Quartet in Eflat–major KV.493

Marcus Paus
“Sonnets from Moabit” for Voice and String Trio (for Ssens Trio, 2022)

QUINTET

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quintet in Bflat–major KV.174
String Quintet in c–minor KV.406
String Quintet in C–major KV.515
String Quintet in g–minor KV.516
String Quintet in A–major KV.581
String Quintet in Eflat–major KV.614

Franz Schubert
Piano Quintet in A–major “The Trout” D.667

Reviews

“This showcase of modern Norwegian music for string trio features music that is consistently well written, varied in emotional signature and very accessible. The Ssens Trio (pronounce it “essence”) plays with powerful virtuosity and unmistakable devotion to this program. This is relatively obscure music, but it is of very high quality, and I would highly recommend this disc for those looking for something new and refreshing.” 

(Fanfare Magazine, Jan/ Feb 2023 — Peter Burwasser)
(“Ricercare” String Trios by Kvandal, Mortensen, Bræin and Palmar Johansen / Lawo Classics LWC 1238)

“Each piece on this meticulously played album helps illuminate its companions.”

(Gramophone, August 2022 — Andrew Mellor)
(“Ricercare” String Trios by Kvandal, Mortensen, Bræin and Palmar Johansen / Lawo Classics LWC 1238)

“Beautifully balanced readings of a quartet of Norwegian trios”

“The Ssens Trio (pronounced ‘essence’) makes a good case for these four string trios by Norwegian composers active in the postwar years. Recorded in a supportive but not over-resonant church acoustic, these are all very well-judged performances that bring out the individual characteristics of each composer. Texturally, the three players sound evenly balanced and their individual focus and technical acuity all come across in the punchiness and crispness of attack while at the same time giving voice to the expressive lyricism shared by all four pieces.“

(The Strad, August 2022 — Matthew Rye)
(“Ricercare” String Trios by Kvandal, Mortensen, Bræin and Palmar Johansen / Lawo Classics LWC 1238)

“The Ssens Trio once again offers an hour of music as exciting as it is skillfully presented. After the previous CDs with big names like Beethoven and Mozart, they now present music from their homeland. And they succeed in doing so with the same degree of charm and verve as in the two previous recordings.”

(Pizzicato Magazine, (given SUPERSONIC AWARD) 20.06.2022. Uwe Krusch)
(“Ricercare” String Trios by Kvandal, Mortensen, Bræin and Palmar Johansen/ Lawo LWC 1238)

“This is quite simply one of the finest, and one of the finest played, albums of chamber music that I have encountered all year. The Ssens Trio are at their best in this marvellous new piece (Ricercare by Palmar Johansen)—well, it is only 26 years old!—as they are in the other pieces. Lawo’s sound is magnificent, too, the recordings made in the wonderful acoustic of Sofienberg Church, Oslo, between May 2020 and March 2021. Strongly recommended.”

(KlassiskMusikk.com, 18.07.2022 — Guy Rickards)
(“Ricercare” String Trios by Kvandal, Mortensen, Bræin and Palmar Johansen/ Lawo LWC 1238)

“There is no need to beat around the bush. This new performance by Ssens is the best I’ve ever heard, period. Talk about each instrument being primus inter pares, about every note counting and making a significant contribution to spiritual and sensuous fulfillment, that’s what you have in the Ssens’s reading. — Every note is laid bare, every nuance of phrasing and dynamic fluctuation exposed, and it’s all perfect and incredibly beautiful.”

(Fanfare Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020. Jerry Dubins)
(Mozart Divertimento K. 563 and Preludes and Fugues K 404a / Lawo Classics LWC 1170)

“In comparison with Trio Zimmermann’s clear phrasing and articulated lines (BIS) and Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian and Yo-Yo Ma’s brilliant, soloistic inspirations (Sony Classical) Ssens Trio stands out with egal articulation, meticulous timbre and transparent, homogeneous textures. What a balance!”

(Classica Magazine, Sept/ Oct 2019 — Fabienne Bouvet)
(Mozart Divertimento K. 563 and Preludes and Fugues K 404a / Lawo Classics LWC 1170)

“The intense performances are characterized by a very fine communication between the musicians. Their feeling for the musical expression makes this recording definitely worth listening.”

(Pizzicato Magazine, 19.05.2019 — Uwe Krusch)
(Mozart Divertimento K. 563 and Preludes and Fugues K 404a / Lawo Classics LWC 1170)

“This is the players’ debut album; and with absolutely no hesitation I will say that it goes right to the top of my Beethoven string trios list. The beauty of tone, nuanced dynamics, sensitivity to the subtleties of phrasing, and rhythmic lift are really quite spellbinding. When the performance history of this period is written, the chapter on string playing will be titled “The Golden Age.” Do not wait for the companion disc with the three op. 9 Trios on it to arrive, as I’m sure it will in due time. This is an imperative purchase.”

(Fanfare Magazine, Jan/Feb 2018. Jerry Dubins)
(Beethoven String Trio op.3 and Serenade op.8 / Lawo LWC 1122)

”Beethoven With a Communicative Joy of Music Making.”

“Their performance is brimming with the joy of playing together. An outstanding “trialogue”, with each performer fully sensing the other. Through this interactive music making, which in the Adagio and Minuet movements invokes a remarkably intimate mood, Beethoven`s works gain in depth and sensuousness. And when one combines the sensitive playing with a wonderfully eloquent virtuosity, the way is clear for pure listening pleasure.”

(Pizzicato Magazine (given SUPERSONIC AWARD), 30.09.2017 — Alain Steffen)
(Beethoven String Trio op.3 and Serenade op.8 / Lawo Classics LWC 1122)

CONTACT

Europe:

Granvig Artists

Marianne Granvig
Pantheonsgade 12 st, DK—5000 Odense C, Denmark

P: +45 2829 7927
M: mg@granvigartists.dk

CVR—nr: 38 18 64 93

PR:

Vanderholst Arts Management

Floor van der Holst
M: floorvanderholst@vamartists.com

Ssens Trio:

ellenflesjoe@live.no
henninge@lawo.no
solve@ssenstrio.com