The Stockholm String Ensemble was formed in 1998 by freelance musicians who had worked together earlier in music projects of a more temporary nature. Their goal is to play primarily Swedish music with emphasis placed on the music of our times, preferably in close collaboration with the composers. Many pieces have been given their world premieres by flutist Kinga Práda. She has also recorded a CD solely consisting of contemporary Swedish music for flute, together with the percussionist Markus Leoson, Ilona Jánky Práda and Filarmonica de Cluj, on nosag CD 029, and also together with Ilona Jánky Práda nosag CD 082 with virtuoso flute pieces from 19th and early 20th centuries. Nils-Erik Sparf, violin, is highly regarded as a soloist and chamber musician around the world and has made award-winning records with Anne-Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg. He appears on several nosag CDs. The conductor Sven H Åberg is at the moment a teacher in flute and conducting at the music institute on the island of Åland. He is also active as a chamber musician and soloist, recording for the Swedish Radio and nosag records. For the past five years he has conducted the Stockholm String Ensemble. On this very intense concert CD these great artists perform new concertos - Nukonserter - by Csaba Deák, Johan Hammerth, Ingvar Karkoff and Martin Larson.

You need Real Audio to listen to this file: Martin Larson: Lucifer, probleme die lügerin Listen to all nosag CDs on the air: "YESS music" with the whole CD-catalogue of nosag records

THE CRITICS: www.musicweb-international.com: "Nukonserter is Swedish and could be translated “Concertos Now". As can be seen from the heading, most of the music is fairly new. Csaba Deák’s Concerto was written as recently as last year. Stylistically they are however very different. They are not cast in the same mould as might have been the case some decades ago, when modern music quite frequently was of the kind “If you’ve heard one you’ve heard them all”. The doyen among the four represented here, Csaba Deák, has written a “traditional” concerto in three separate movements (without titles) according to the pattern fast – slow – fast. Within each movement there are myriads of things happening all the time: rhythmically, melodically. (---) The flute is balanced fairly backwardly, thus sounding integrated in the orchestra but there is still a lot of virtuosity in this eminently listenable music. (---) Martin Larson’s short Lucifer … is another virtuoso piece, this time for piccolo. A scherzo about … ? I have to admit to not being much enlightened by Larson’s cryptic description in the inlay but it is a fresh and invigorating piece – and superbly played! I have had reason to praise Kinga Práda and Nils-Erik Sparf on earlier occasions and this disc further reinforces that opinion. The Stockholm String Ensemble was made up in 1998, focusing mainly on new music. This was my first encounter with them and I look forward to hearing them again. There is power and precision in their playing. (---)... a clear recommendation for anyone interested in “Concertos Now”." www.musicalpointers.co.uk: "The Stockholm String Ensemble, conductor Sven H Åberg, was formed in 1998, and aims to play primarily Swedish music with emphasis on the music of our times, in close collaboration with the composers. Many world premieres have been given by the soloists here, flutist Kinga Práda and violinist Nils-Erik Sparf. The music is well worth exploring. "

CONTENTS: