Storyteller Secret Garden

• 1 The Pilot 04:04
• 2 Beyond The Blue 03:42
• 3 Beautiful 03:51
• 4 Flow 03:29
• 5 Song To A Child 03:33
• 6 Nostalgia 04:24
• 7 Open Doors 03:20
• 8 Sunshine 04:18
• 9 One More Chance 03:33
• 10 Fantasia 04:40
• 11 The Voyage 04:24
• 12 Strength 04:11
• 13 End Of A Journey 04:18
• Total Runtime 51:47

Info for Storyteller

Blühendes Leben – Auf dem Album “Storyteller” präsentiert Secret Garden eine inspirierende Palette von Klangfarben.

Das preisgekrönte irisch-norwegische Duo “Secret Garden” begeistert seine Fans seit vielen Jahren mit seiner einzigartigen musikalischen Mischung aus New Age, Cross-Over Pop und Klassik. Der internationale Durchbruch gelang dem Pianisten Rolf Løvland und der Geigerin Fionnuala Sherry bereits 1995 mit dem Titel “Nocturne”, mit dem die beiden Künstler den Eurovision Song Contest für sich entscheiden konnten. Ihr darauf folgendes Debütalbum “Songs from a Secret Garden” wurde ein weltweiter Erfolg: Barbra Streisand ließ das Stück “Heartstrings” bei ihrer Hochzeit spielen und machte daraus ihren Hit “I’ve Dreamed Of You”, der Song “You Raise Me Up” wurde bis heute hundertfach gecovert und die neun bisher erschienenen Alben haben sich bereits über fünf Millionen Mal verkauft.

Für das zehnte gemeinsame Album, das den Titel “Storyteller” trägt, haben die beiden Musiker nach ihrem intimen reinen Duoalbum “Just the two of us” vom letzten Jahr nun wieder eine ganze Riege sensationeller Kollegen um sich herum versammelt, um gemeinsam eine faszinierende musikalische Welt zu kreieren, die vor Phantasie und Klangschönheit nur so strotzt. Man darf sich in den 13 Kompositionen über vielfältige Eindrücke und musikalische Farben freuen. Beispielsweise haben Rolf Løvland und Fionnuala Sherry gemeinsam mit den Sängern Espen Grjotheim, Brian Kennedy und der Sängerin Cathrine Iversen drei brandneue Songs eingespielt, in denen die instrumentale Strahlkraft um vokale Nuancen bereichert wird, die harmonisch den Horizont noch einmal erweitern.

Aber auch ohne Worte entfaltet die instrumentale Klangwelt von Secret Garden eine immense Intensität. Fionnuala Sherry erzählt als brillante und sensible Virtuosin mit ihrer Geige Geschichten. Das Czech National Symphony Orchestra bringt alle Stücke mit symphonischer Wucht zum Leuchten. Und ein ganz besonderes Highlight sind die musikalischen Eindrücke aus dem Musical “The Pilot”, an dem Rolf Løvland während der Entstehungszeit des Albums gerade geschrieben hat, so dass die Melodien des Musicals unmittelbar mit dem kreativen Fluss von “Storyteller” verknüpft sind und sich deshalb mit ihrer magischen Ausdruckskraft wunderbar in den Kontext des Albums einfügen.

“Storyteller” vereint überirdisch schöne Melodien, nostalgische musikalische Seelenschmeichler voll von leiser Melancholie und strahlende symphonische Klangabenteuer. Rolf Løvland und Fionnuala Sherry zeigen mit ihrem zehnten Album einmal mehr, dass Secret Garden völlig zurecht eines der erfolgreichsten Projekte der vielseitigen Crossover-Szene ist.

Rolf Løvland, Klavier, Keyboards
Fionnuala Sherry, Violine
Espen Grjotheim, Gesang
Czech National Symphony Orchestra

Fionnuala Sherry
grew up and went to school in Naas in County Kildare, Ireland – surrounded by a musical family that ignited her passion for music at an early age. She started to play the violin at the age of eight, and at fifteen she moved to Dublin to study music. She graduated with honours from Trinity College in Dublin, and the College of Music, and was later employed by the RTE Concert Orchestra, where she was a member for ten years.

In addition to the classical symphonic and operatic repertoire, Fionnuala possessed a much wider musical interest. This is evident in the eclectic body of artists and projects she has been involved with, including The Chieftains, Sinead O’Connor, Van Morrison, Chris de Burgh, Bono and Wet Wet Wet. With the Irish Film Orchestra she’s also recorded several Hollywood film scores, such as “The River Runs Wild”, “A Room With a View” and “The Mask”.

That same wide interest in music led her to conceive, write and present her own music series for children on Irish national TV – all this leading up to her fated meeting with Rolf Lovland and the founding of Secret Garden in 1994.

Onstage, she enchants audiences throughout the world, through her musical intensity and soulful performances. In Secret Garden’s music, her unique violin virtuosity provides the heartstrings, voice and wings for Lovland’s compositions.

She performs on an English John Edward Betts violin from 1790, with a Hill bow, both on stage and in the studio.

Rolf Løvland
was born in Kristiansand, in southern Norway, in 1955. His first brush with composing came at the early age of nine when he formed his first band. From then on, and throughout his youth, music came to be his constant companion and focus in life. He later studied music at the Music Conservatory in Kristiansand – and continued his Masters Degree studies in music at the Norwegian Institute of Music in Oslo.

By the time he’d unveiled his “Secret Garden” to the world, Rolf had already earned himself a Norwegian Grammy Award and the reputation as Norway’s most successful popular songwriter – topping the national radio charts (Norsktoppen) more than 60 times. For two consecutive years, his songs had won the National radio chart “Song of the Year-award”.

Rolf was also a two-time winner of the international Eurovision Song Contest final – in 1985 with “La det swinge”, and in 1995 with “Nocturne”. He is also a four-time winner of Norway’s national Eurovision Song Contest finals. In 2007 he received the coveted Achievement Award at the Norwegian Grammies where his international achievements were recognized. Among his most successful songs are “You Raise Me Up” recorded by over 1000 artists (among them are Josh Groban and Westlife and Il Divo) and “I’ve Dreamed of You” recorded by Barbra Streisand.

The founding of Secret Garden has given Rolf the freedom to explore (and for us to experience) deeper emotional dimension and wider musical landscape than the earlier phase of his career had allowed. It has also proven the composer, Rolf Lovland, to be a musical force of considerable stature.

This album contains no booklet.