Lindberg: The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt - Golijov: The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind Emil Jonason

• Christian Lindberg (1958- ): Clarinet Concerto "The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt":
• 1 I. The Mirror of Saturn 02:28
• 2 II. Mr. Grönstedt Dresses for the Spring Ball 02:56
• 3 III. Lisa and the Magic Cape 04:56
• 4 IV. Grönstedt Looks for Treasures on a Rubbish Heap 02:23
• 5 V. Cadenza: The World of Euphoric Dreams 01:49
• 6 VI. The Dream of Venus 10:36
• Osvaldo Golijov (1960- ): The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind:
• 7 I. Prelude: Calmo, sospeso 03:19
• 8 II. Prelude: Calmo, sospeso: Agitato-con fucco - Maestoso - Senza misura oscillante 08:28
• 9 III. Prelude: Calmo, sospeso: Agitato-con fucco - Maestoso - Senza misura oscillante: Teneramente - Ruvido - Presto 10:27
• 10 IV. Calmo: Sospeso - Allegro pesante 09:12
• 11 Postlude: Lento, liberamente 02:34
• Total Runtime 59:08

Info for Lindberg: The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt - Golijov: The Dreams & Prayers of Isaac the Blind

Selected by ECHO (the European Concert Hall Organisation) as one of its ‘Rising Stars’ of the 2009/10 season, the Swedish clarinettist Emil Jonason has become increasingly visible on the international music scene. For his first release on the BIS label he has chosen to record a concerto written for him by his compatriot Christian Lindberg, composer, conductor and legendary trombonist. As Lindberg remarks in his own note on the work, the soloist was involved at all stages of the compositional process. But the Erratic Dreams are the composer’s own – as is the figure of Mr Grönstedt, the main character of those dreams, and of the six movements that make up the colourful score. In his teens, Emil Jonason was attracted by klezmer music, and played in various klezmer bands. It was therefore a natural choice to combine Lindberg’s concerto with the Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov’s work The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. In contrast to Lindberg, Golijov found inspiration in a historic figure, the medieval rabbi Isaac the Blind, and his lifelong dedication to the ideas of the Kabbalah. Golijov describes the movements of his work being written in three of the different languages spoken by the Jewish people throughout its history: Aramaic, Yiddish (‘the rich and fragile language of a long exile’) and Hebrew. The work includes references to Jewish prayers as well as to klezmer tunes and the clarinettist is specifically requested by the composer to acquaint himself with the idiom of klezmer music.

Emil Jonason, clarinet
Vamlingbo Quartet
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra
Christian Lindberg, conductor

Emil Jonason
a long time connoisseur of the stranger side of music, has been described in the press as ‘lifting the bar for what to expect from the clarinet’, ‘having the aura of a Rock Star’ and being ‘a magician who uses his instrument as a silver bullet exceeding classical norms’.

With a father who is an amateur clarinetist and a traditional jazz enthusiastic, Emil grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Kenny Davern and especially the notorious Spike Jones and his City Slickers.

At the age of ten he started playing the clarinet – his mother called the local music school and asked for the instrument with the shortest waiting list – and was soon playing everything from wind bands to jazz, klezmer and more. He truly discovered the classical world at the age of 16 (at a time when he was touring with several Klezmer bands to Krakow, Prague and festivals in Sweden) and he was accepted to the Royal College Of Music when he was 17.

Then his musical world exploded. He won the Solofoni Prize, played the Nielsen Concerto with Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra at the age of 21, and performed John Corigliano’s tremendous clarinet concerto with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at his Diploma Concert in 2007.

He was nominated Rising Star by the European Concert Hall Organization in 2009, and was invited to Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Laieszhalle, Barcelona L’Auditori, Cité de la Musique in Paris and several other prestigious scenes through-out Europe.

In 2012 he became known to the world when he performed again as a soloist at the Nobel Prize Ceremony with the RSPO, and in 2013 he made his US debut when invited by Marin Alsop to play at the legendary Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Later the same year he premiered Christian Lindberg’s clarinet concerto ‘The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt’ with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and a new era of clarinet music was born.

He currently enjoys a diverse career as a touring soloist, teaching at The Royal College of Music and The College of Music in Västerås, and enjoying life with his children and wife, composer / violinist / nurse Emmy, at his home outside Stockholm.

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