The Alehouse Sessions

Product Information

The rest – harmony, rhythm combination of instruments – is completely for us to reimagine, and it’s so liberating. There was the percussive backbone of Fredrik Bock on charango and the dancing of Steven Player, the equally rhythmic core of Buhre and Guthrie on their backing strings, the lively bassing of Johannes Lundberg, the rustic vivacity of viol(in)ist Milos Valent, and the harmonium of Hans Knut Sveen. Bjarte Eike’s Barokksolistene is an alchemical miracle of an ensemble, a collective of virtuosos whose instinctive, playful communication and delight in one another’s skill amplifies their individual performances, transforming them into pure musical gold.

These “Alehouse Sessions,” in both recorded and live form, are exemplary in their ability to melt the cages of censorship into tenderer weapons of humanity.In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. I want this band to resemble the mentality of a pop group; from my little black book, an extensive collection of songs and dance music – four hours of music – I only announce to the musicians half an hour before we go on stage which ones we are about to perform.

The Alehouse Sessions is produced by Dominic Best for AdLib Productions and the commissioning editor is Stephen James-Yeoman. In this exclusive video clip to The Strad, Norwegian violinist and the Barokksolistene perform Wallom Green from The Alehouse Sessions. One moment you’ll be swept away by Henry Purcell overtures, and the next bobbing along to sea shanties, all aiming to take guests back to this unsettled period of history. In what is by no means your typical classical music concert, guests will be able to move in and out of the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer to sip on a cold drink and experience the different layers to the evening.drawing its inspiration from the Shakespearian theatre where there was a direct communication between stage and hall", says Bjarte Eike. At the time, Puritans had closed theaters under cloak of moral guardianship, in the process displacing highly trained musicians into the alternate reality of the tavern, where they filled the air with intoxicating sounds as patrons intoxicated themselves. Hans Knut Sveen plays anything from harpsichord to harmonium; Frederik Bock plays any kind of continuo – guitar, lute, theorbo and any style up to blue grass; Johannes Lundberg’s roots are in jazz; Milos Valent is one of the greatest Slovak folk string players; Per Buhre is a countertenor and cider-maker extraordinaire; Helge Andreas Norbakken plays all sorts of percussion and drives steam locomotives; Tom Guthrie is a stage director and vocal entrepreneur; Steven Player is our unstoppable pony-tailed dancing Romeo; and I have found a new thrill in jumping out of aeroplanes and teaching yoga. Cut scene, and we move into the “back room” of the pub (which is really a stage at the Battersea Arts Centre), we’re on stage in front of a very enthusiastic, diverse audience who’s joining in singing, laughing and dancing. Eike and friends worked the stage like a knotted muscle into relaxation, proving at every turn that their brand of spontaneity could only be born of fierce training.