Blu-ray Audio

Jan Gunnar Hoff – LIVING (2013) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 12.4 GB / 2L-092]

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Album title: Living
Performer: Jan Gunnar Hoff, piano
Genre: Jazz, Piano
Label: 2L, Lindberg Lyd
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Release date: April 2013
Recording date: August 2012
Original source: DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 0:59:58 + 0:06:09 (bonus music video)
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 942 kbps 1920*1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 12178 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

LIVING is Jan Gunnar Hoff’s first solo piano album. His personal blend of different styles and influences is presented in its purest form – simply music. Some of Hoff’s pieces are meditative and expressive, while others have a strong rhythmic nerve, creating contrast and variation in the programme.

Jan Gunnar Hoff has worked extensively as a bandleader and jazz artist since 1992, developing a distinctive musical style. His band with a.o. Audun Kleive and Bjørn Kjellemyr had its breakthrough at Vossa Jazz 1995 and later played at the London Jazzfestival, Molde Int. Jazzfestival and several major festivals and venues in Scandinavia.

Hoff’s jazzcompositions have been performed in collaborations with Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Alex Acuña, Maria João, Mathias Eick and many others. He has made a number of albums in his own name and has composed 180 works for different ensembles. Hoff is also teaching as a professor at the Universities of Tromsø and Kristiansand.

As a sideman Hoff has contributed to numerous recordings in different genres. He was the arranger and ensemble leader of Quiet Winter Night, Grammy-nominated for Best Surround Sound in 2013, an album where he successfully merges elements of jazz, folk and popular music.

Hoff’s collaboration with 2L and Morten Lindberg is continued on LIVING. This is a solo piano journey that carries Hoff’s artistic identity further into his own musical terrain, enhanced by the crystal clear recording from Sofienberg Church in Oslo.

“Hoff’s writing and playing possesses an almost pop-like clarity and concision, but with a far richer vernacular.” John Kelman, AllAboutJazz.com (more…)

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Blu-ray Audio

TrondheimSolistene – SOUVENIR (2012) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 24.3 GB / 2L-090]

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Composer: Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Carl Nielsen
Album title: SOUVENIR
Performer: TrondheimSolistene; Øyvind Gimse, artistic director; Geir Inge Lotsberg, leader
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Selbu Church, Norway
Release date: February, May and August 2012
Recording date: May and October 2011
Original Quality: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 01:25:16
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 950 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: Auro-3D 9.1 / 96 kHz / 24-bit (Track 01-05 Only)
Audio#2: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 13251 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#3: DTS-HD MA 7.1 / 96 kHz / 9493 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#4: LPCM Audio / 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

How do we listen to music? Indeed, how do we listen to anything? What we as listeners encounter here is sheer auditory bliss. TrondheimSolistene take a new step towards bridging the gap between themselves and their audience. It is not the gap between the live performance and the recording which they attempt to close. It is the gap between the recording and the living, ever open human ear.

“Through its dynamic co-operation TrondheimSolistene (the Trondheim Soloists) and 2L has always sort to stretch the boundaries of what is possible to convey to the listener, aiming for the ultimate recorded listening experience. With the Serenade the team has taken things one step further with the TrondheimSolistene truly justifying their name. By placing each individual next to someone from a different voice rather than sitting in conventional sections we are working at the very outer limits of what is possible and creating chamber music at the highest level” – Øyvind Gimse, 2012.

We allocated two weeks in 2011 to record this new album. Artistic director Øyvind Gimse and his associate Geir Inge Lotsberg initially chose two pieces that represent, in their estimation, “the most beautiful music ever composer for the string orchestra”: Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence and his Serenade for Strings. Aiming for a 90 minutes program left 30 more minutes to record. So the orchestra and 2L logged on to Facebook and asked the listeners worldwide what they’d like to hear. And the audience responded: Nielsen’s Suite Opus 1. A little gem that would exploit the Trondheim Soloists’ singular way with Nordic repertoire.

Inspired by Morten Lindberg’s extensive work with choral music, the Tchaikovsky’s SERENADE was recorded with the ensemble placed in mixed voices, meaning no one is sitting beside anyone playing the same part, creating a totally new soundscape to the music. Carl Nielsen’s SUITE opus 1 is recorded in a more “traditional” way in these sessions.

What we recorded in May 2011 was published exclusively as high resolution audio files, by streaming and on vinyl. Then our recordings from October will add up to a full release on Pure Audio Blu-ray in August 2012.

TrondheimSolistene (The Trondheim Soloists) are regarded as one of the top chamber orchestras in the world. Their DIVERTIMENTI and FOLK STYLE were both nominated for a total of five American GRAMMY Awards in categories “Best Small Ensemble”, “Best Engineered Album” and “Best Surround Sound Album”.

The music captured by 2L features Norwegian composers and performers, and an international repertoire reflected in the Nordic atmosphere. The surround sound recordings of Lindberg Lyd not only transforms the entire listening experience, more radically, these innovative recordings overturn some very basic concepts regarding how music is played and even composed. 2L emphasizes surround sound with Pure Audio Blu-ray and HiRes file distribution, and have garnered no less than 12 American GRAMMY nominations over the past six years.

ormed in 1987 by musicians from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. The current members of the quartet are Åsta Jørgensen and Hilary Foster (violins), Helga Steen (viola), and Walter Heim (cello).

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Blu-ray Audio

Hansakvartetten – Fartein Valen string quartets (2013) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 10.4 GB / 2L-089]

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Composer: Fartein Valen (1887-1952)
Album title: Fartein Valen string quartets
Performer: Hansakvartetten; Hilde Haraldsen Sveen, soprano
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L, Lindberg Lyd
Location: Storetveit Church, Norway
Release date: January 2013
Recording date: February 2011
Original source: DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 00:55:35
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps 1920*1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 13934 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

“If Valen (1887-1952) had not been such a shy, self-effacing person, he would have won fame throughout Europe.” So said Issay Dobrowen, a prominent conductor in the inter-war period, and chief conductor from 1927 to 1931 of Oslo’s Filharmonisk Selskaps Orkester (predecessor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra). The path to fame was indeed uphill for Norway’s leading modernist. However, Valen’s diffidence was not the only reason for this – another was his chosen musical language, which grew out of the twelve-tone method of composition associated with Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg and Anton Webern. By writing this sort of music, albeit with his own highly personal stamp, he was asking for trouble in the conservative world of Norwegian music.

The beauty and profundity of Valen’s subdued but expressive music is being discovered by more and more listeners. Valen’s reputation as one of Norway’s foremost composers and as a pioneer of new music in the 20th century is now secure. The legendary pianist Glenn Gould recognized the importance of Valen’s music, saying “For the first time in many years I have found a looming personality in the 20th century’s music”

Hansakvartetten (The Hansa Quartet) was formed in 1987 by musicians from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. The current members of the quartet are Åsta Jørgensen and Hilary Foster (violins), Helga Steen (viola), and Walter Heim (cello).

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Blu-ray Audio

Gorset & friends – NODEBOG (2013) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 9.3 GB / 2L-088]

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Album title: Nodebog: Popular music in 18th century Norway
Performer: Hans Olav Gorset & friends
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Jar Church, Norway
Release date: February 2013
Recording date: February 2012
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 00:52:59
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 941 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 12254 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

NODEBOG presents musical pleasures and “divertissements” from 18th century Norway. The melodies are found in hand-written music books containing both international “hits” well known throughout Europe and local favourites – Halling dances and Pols dances are featured alongside minuets, marches and English country dances. These rediscovered treasures from the past can only be recreated through living performance today, here by flautist Hans Olav Gorset and his fellow musicians. These melodies may not seem important to the music historian, but to the listener they certainly are – being international “hits” of yesterday – and, who knows, perhaps becoming the hits of today!

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Blu-ray Audio

Hoff Ensemble – Quiet Winter Night: An Acoustic Jazz Project (2011) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 9.48 GB / 2L-087]

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Album title: Quiet Winter Night – An Acoustic Jazz Project
Performer: Hoff Ensemble
Genre: jazz fusion
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Release date: February 2012
Recording date: August 2011
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 0:48:08
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 13346 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

HOFF ENSEMBLE consists of some of Norway’s finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble’s basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. Hoff has performed with his own group since 1993, collaborating with such artists as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria Joao and Alex Acuna. This time in this great Norwegian band he mixes flavours in a “cross-over” setting. Eick, with whom Hoff has worked on earlier projects, was the obvious first choice for QUIET WINTER NIGHT, along with Andersen and the rest of the band, complemented by Rune Arnesen (ex N.P.Molvær) on percussion and Børge Petersen-Øverleir, Norway’s leading session guitarist.

Brilliant fiddle player Annbjørg Lien is an exciting addition to the HOFF ENSEMBLE, giving QUIET WINTER NIGHT a sound that is definitely Nordic with elements of jazz, folk and beyond, making this an interesting and original journey. On some of the instrumental tracks, like “Blågutten”, Eick and Petersen-Øverleir create an overall jazz/fusion sound, while the trio setting of “Redd Mamma” is reminiscent of the work of Sweden’s Jan Johansson. “Hva skal hende nå” bears comparison with Metheny’s ballad form, yet with a more rock-influenced guitar sound. This tune also includes a great bass solo by Andersen.

The music is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway’s top names (and Universal artists) in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.

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Blu-ray Audio

La Voie Triomphale – The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces (2012) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 14.2 GB / 2L-086]

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Album title: La Voie Triomphale
Performer: The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces / Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor
Genre: Classical
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Location: Jar Church, Norway
Release date: November 2012
Recording date: November 2011
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 01:21:14
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 12227 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

The years before, during and after the French Revolution were a turning-point for wind ensembles throughout the world. They developed from being small ensembles, with each instrument represented in pairs, to being something much larger. At the same time, the repertoire moved rapidly from the chamber music for wind instruments of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven to much larger works of almost orchestral dimensions by a new generation of composers.

The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces has on this recording chosen music by composers who all made significant contributions to the evolvement of the wind orchestra and to the literature for wind orchestra that we know today. The music is an exquisite selection of French drama, romance and epic tone poems composed at times of considerable political turbulence. It could be precisely this political backdrop, combined with the wind orchestra’s hitherto unexplored potential, that goes some way towards explaining why composers like Berlioz, Bozza, Saint-Saëns, Tomasi, Dukas and Milhaud chose to write large-scale works for the wind orchestra – works that are still considered an important part of the standard wind ensemble repertoire today, a repertoire the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces performs with the elegance, virtuosity and energy the music demands; The Triumphal Way!

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Blu-ray Audio

Ola Gjeilo – PIANO IMPROVISATIONS (2012) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 12.9 GB / 2L-082]

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Artist: Ola Gjeilo
Title: PIANO IMPROVISATIONS – Evocative, lyrical music for 1, 2 & 3 pianos
Genre: modern classical, instrumental, piano improvisations
Label: 2L (Lindberg Lyd)
Release date: May 2012
Recording date: August 2011
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Original source: DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Duration: 01:09:02
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 3000 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 192 kHz / 11691 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

While my first piano album on the 2L record label, Stone Rose (2007), was all pre-composed or outlined, I wanted this 2012 sequel to be completely spontaneous.

Although many of the pieces on this album are free improvisations recorded in one take, the first three tracks are fantasies around three of my own choral works; Ubi Caritas, Tota Pulchra Es and Prelude. Recordings of the original choral versions can be found on Phoenix Chorale’s 2012 album, Northern Lights (Chandos Records).

Producer Morten Lindberg suggested recording a few tracks where I would play layers of two or three pianos, which I thought was a great way to really exploit the surround sound potential on a solo album. We moved the piano between each take, eventually constituting a triangle, and the listener is sitting in the middle in a surround system setup.

As a pianist, improvisation is where my heart is. With this recording I wanted to express and share my passion for that art form.

– Ola Gjeilo, 2012

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Blu-ray Audio

Jørgen Larsen – Thomas D.A. Tellefsen complete piano works (2012) [Blu-ray Audio / BDMV / 24.3 GB / 2L-080]

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Album title: Thomas D.A. Tellefsen (1823-1874) – complete piano works
Performer: Jørgen Larsen
Genre: Classical, piano
Label: 2L, Lindberg Lyd
Location: Ringve Museum, Norway
Release date: April 2012
Recording date: May 2010 and February 2011
Original source: Mastering in DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 03:18:36
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 950 kbps / 1080i / 29,970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio#1: DTS-HD MA 5.1 / 96 kHz / 5660 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Audio#2: LPCM 2.0 / 192 kHz / 9216 kbps / 24-bit

The story of Thomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen (1823-1874) has a special place in the history of 19th century Norwegian music. In his own lifetime he earned an international reputation as a composer, piano virtuoso and teacher, enjoying a close relationship to Chopin both as a pupil and a friend. The connection to Chopin is reflected in several ways in Tellefsen’s music, both in terms of choice of style and genre and by the fact that the majority of his works are for solo piano.

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SACD

Bob Dylan – Love And Theft (2001) [SACD 2003] [SACD / Columbia – CH 90340]

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Bob Dylan - Love And Theft (2001) [SACD 2003]

Title: Bob Dylan – Love And Theft (2001) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: MCH SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

“Love And Theft” (generally referred to as Love and Theft) is the thirty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 11, 2001 by Columbia Records. It featured backing by his touring band of the time, with keyboardist Augie Meyers added for the sessions. It peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified with a gold album by the RIAA.A limited edition release included two bonus tracks on a separate disc recorded in the early 1960s, and two years later, on September 16, 2003, this album was one of fifteen Dylan titles reissued and remastered for SACD hybrid playback.

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SACD

Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy (1989) [SACD 2003] [SACD / Columbia – CH 90316]

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Bob Dylan - Oh Mercy (1989) [SACD 2003]

Title: Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy (1989) [SACD 2003]
Genre: Rock
Format: SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

Oh Mercy is the twenty-sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 18, 1989 by Columbia Records. Produced by Daniel Lanois, it was hailed by critics as a triumph for Dylan, after a string of poorly-reviewed albums. Oh Mercy gave Dylan his best chart showing in years, reaching #30 on the Billboard charts in the United States and #6 in the UK.

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