Dan Laurin, Anna Paradiso, Mats Olofsson
Biography Dan Laurin, Anna Paradiso, Mats Olofsson
Dan Laurin
In recent years the recorder virtuose Dan Laurin has performed in most parts of the world. Tours to the USA, Japan, Korea, India and Australia as well as appearances in the major European musical centres have confirmed his reputation as one of the most interesting – and sometimes controversial – performers on his instrument. His efforts to rediscover the sound possibilities of the recorder have resulted in a technical facility and a style of playing that have won him numerous awards including a Grammy, the Society of Swedish Composers‘ prize for the best interpretation of contemporary Swedish music and the Performer’s Prize from The Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
A lengthy collaboration with the Australian instrument maker Frederick Morgan resulted in a succession of reconstructions of instruments from earlier rimes, and this has greatly enriched the world of recorder music. Special mention should be made here of the instrument that was designed specifically for Dan Laurin’s recording of Jacob van Eyck ‘s monumental Der Fluyten Lust-hof, the largest work ever written for a wind instrument.
Besides working with early music. Dan Laurin has also premiéred numerous works by Swedish composers. His efforts to broaden the repertoire and to gain for the recorder the status of a concert instrument together with a large orchestra has resulted in several concertos that are already considered classics. Dan Laurin is professor of the recorder and teaches at Trinity College and Stockholm’s Royal College of Music. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music In 2001 he received the medal ‘Litteris et Artibus’ from the King of Sweden.
Mats Olofsson
is one of the leading Swedish cello players of his generation, appreciated for his versatile approach to all styles of music. He holds the position of principal cellist in the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, and is also a very active chamber musician. His extensive repertoire includes works ranging from jazz and folk music to baroque music and contemporary works with interactive media.
Mats Olofsson has toured as chamber musician all over the world; recent performances in USA, Canada, Japan, China, India have further established his reputation as one of the most interesting and versatile players around. He studied baroque cello in Boston and his interest in baroque music has lead to collaborations with leading performers such as Phoebe Carrai, Lars-Ulrik Mortensen, Dan Laurin and Richard Lester. He is also member of the ‘Stenhammar Quartet’, as well as of the baroque ensemble Paradiso Musicale and his stable members Dan Laurin, recorder, Anna Paradiso, harpsichord, Jonas Nordberg lute. With both ensembles he records regularly for BIS. He plays also with the ensemble ‘Pearls for Swines’, which has gained a lot of attention for his non-conventional performances in the field of contemporary music, and has received many prizes, such as the ‘Nordiska Komponistrådets Pris’. “Pearls for Swines” has commissioned more than 200 works and has recorded for Caprice and Phono Svecia.
Anna Paradiso
Born in Bari, Italy, Anna Paradiso moved to Sweden in 2006 and is today one of the most prominent harpsichord players in her adoptive country, with concerts as soloist and continuo player at home, as well as in the rest of Europe, the USA, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Lebanon. Her previous ten recordings for BIS have received enthusiastic reviews. They include solo music by J. H. Roman, J. S. Bach and the contemporary composer Vito Palumbo, as well as baroque and modern chamber music with recorder player Dan Laurin and various ensembles. She studied harpsichord with Gordon Murray.
Parallel to her solo diplomas in piano and in harpsichord, she has had an academic career as Doctor of Philosophy in classical philology. Since 2009 she has dedicated herself completely to music. In recent years she has particularly distinguished herself in rediscovering unknown Swedish music from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through her study of original sources on original fingerings and on performance of thorough-bass, she has developed a personal style praised by the critics. In 2019, the Swedish Royal Academy of Music awarded her the prestigious Bernadotte Scholarship for a project on Neapolitan baroque music.
