Kleiberg: David and Bathsheba Trondheim Symphony Orchestra

• Ståle Kleiberg (1958- ): Act I:
• 1 Introduction 03:05
• 2 Psalm 8 06:21
• 3 Scene 1 My Lord, your servant Uriah the Hittite 01:38
• 4 Scene 2a Who is this that looks out like the dawn? 05:11
• 5 Scene 2b Who is she? 02:40
• 6 Scene 2c Come to me Bathsheba 02:06
• 7 Scene 2d It is the Lord who gave you your authority 02:29
• 8 Scene 3 Uriah! Have you not a young wife? 01:42
• 9 Scene 4 He would not come, my Lord 02:42
• 10 Scene 5 O Husband you are lost to me 06:26
• 11 Scene 6a Eat! Drink! 04:41
• 12 Scene 6b Down with the poor and honest man! 04:19
• Act II:
• 13 Scene 1a You are welcome Nathan 02:08
• 14 Scene 1b There are two men in your city 04:40
• 15 Scene 1c Psalm 51 07:33
• 16 Scene 2a You are come to tell me my son is dead 02:49
• 17 Scene 2b Why has the fruit of my orchard failed? 04:29
• 18 Scene 3a Where are the robes you have torn? 06:28
• 19 Scene 3b The breath in our nostrils 03:48
• Total Runtime 01:15:15

Info for Kleiberg: David and Bathsheba

The Biblical story of David and Bathsheba has a lot of present-day relevance. In this story, individual emotions interact with political actions and their consequences. Fundamental ethical questions are thus being raised, on the macro- as well as the microlevel. And not least, the story illustrates how these two levels may be connected.

This is certainly also the case in Ståle Kleiberg's opera-oratorio 'David and Bathsheba', where form and content embody the multi-layered complexity that makes up a great work of art. Yet the music is highly communicative, speaking to a broad audience in a direct and immediate way.

From the opening bars, Kleiberg's music establishes a very particular orchestral and harmonic colour, one effect of which is to ’place’ the events beyond our reach. It would be trivial to describe this distancing of the action as a mode of exoticism, but there is nonetheless a whiff of the East about the tone of the work, evocative of the time and a distant place. This is anything but a retreat into some oneiric fantasy world, removed from our contemporary reality. Rather the remoteness of the setting, together with Kleiberg's non-naturalistic approach to the drama, gives the work something of the character of myth. This enables it to speak to us as all myths speak to us, of deeper truths.

The present recording is a successor of 2L's Grammy-nominated release from 2009, Treble and Bass: Concertos by Ståle Kleiberg. Like the previous disc, the present one has been made in close cooperation with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, this time conducted by Estonian maestro Tõnu Kaljuste.

Trondheim Symphony Orchestra
Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor
Anna Einarsson, mezzo soprano
Johannes Weisser, baritone
Nils Harald Sødal, tenor
Fredrik Akselberg, tenor
Lars Johansson Brissman, bass
Trondheim Symphony Vocal Ensemble

Recorded August 2011 at Frikirken, Trondheim, Norway
Recording Engineers: Morten Lindberg, Beatrice Johannessen
Editing Jørn Simenstad
Mix and Mastering Morten Lindberg
Original source: DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)

Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1909, takes its place in the extensive musical heritage of the city of Trondheim. Before the nineteenth century Trondheim was the main focal point for sacred music in Scandinavia. This encouraged many significant musicians of the time to settle there. The growth and expansion of European music culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was also mirrored within the city. This period saw the foundation of several music societies. The development of the orchestra gained impetus with the jubilee of St Olav in 1930. In more recent times the orchestra has established a solid position in local musical life and that of Norway as a whole. Recent successful tours in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and China has enhanced the orchestra’s international reputation. From 2009 the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra has continued its development through closer cooperation with the Trondheim Soloists, resulting in an increased complement of ninety musicians.

Booklet for Kleiberg: David and Bathsheba