Tchaikovsky: Variations On A Rococo Theme, Original Version, Dvorak: Concerto For Cello And Orchestra In B Minor, Op.104 B.191

Description

Sandra Lied Haga's album debut with Tchaikovsky and Dvorak is recorded in the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. Supported by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov' and conductor Terje Mikkelsen, Sandra Lied Haga emerges as one of the strongest musical voices in recent years.

The two most iconic romantic works for cello and orchestra are united by Sandra for her debut album. For Tchaikovsky's famous Rococo Variations, it was a matter of course for Sandra to record the composer's original version of the piece, which was revived as late as 1941. Dvorak's Cello Concerto was one of the few pieces the composer wrote while staying in New York, clearly showing the composer longing for his homeland in the thematic material.

Sandra Lied Haga is a daring and deeply involved performer in these masterworks, with both sparklingly virtuosic passagework and a unique singing tone as part of her musical DNA. Sandra's rich, beautiful sound and prodigious talent has already caught attention internationally by protagonists like Daniel Barenboim and Anne-Sophie Mutter. She regularly plays chamber music concerts together with Mutter and the scholars in Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and Mutter's Virtuosi. Sandra has participated at festivals including the Salzburg Festspiele, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Utrecht Festival, Bergen International Festival and Verbier Festival, with chamber music partners including Janine Jansen, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Lewis and Leif Ove Andsnes.

Sandra started playing cello at the age of 3. After her debut in Wigmore Hall aged 12, she studied at the Razumovsky Academy in London. For six years she worked with Truls Mørk, and at present she is finishing her studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Torleif Thedeen. Sandra Lied Haga has won four international First Prizes, Tallinn Young Musician, Heran International Cello Competition, Padova International Competition and Chance International Competition, and more that 8 first prizes in Scandinavian competitions. In 2017 she was awarded 'The Lindeman Prize of the Young', and recently she was given the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award. Sandra plays a Joannes Florenus Gudantus cello (Bologna 1730) supported by Dextra Musica.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"There is a new contender in the world of the cello: a 25-year-old Norwegian called Sandra Lied Haga...The two works on this new CD allow her ample scope to deploy her warm and passionate sound." Michael Church, The Independent, 5 STARS

"Sandra Lied Haga's wonderfully rich tone suits the long, lyrical lines of Dvorak's concerto to a tee. The Rococo Variations move along with a lively swagger too. An enjoyable coupling." BBC Music Magazine