Recordings
Norwegian composer Ståle Kleiberg has succeded in writing a piece that is a fitting tribute to the victims of Holocaust; a piece that holds its head up high, without any over-sentimentalising of events which were so unspeakable they need nothing but a truthful telling. [...] I thoroughly and unreservedly recommend that you listen to it.
Steve Arloff, Classical Music Web
...this one moved me to the core and will remain one of the most vital and worthwhile artistic monuments to the victims of Nazi madness that I know.
KOOB, American Record Guide
If all contemporary violin concertos were as accessible as this, concert promoters would have an easier time of it. Catherine Nelson, The Strad
And speaking of artful, intelligent exploitation - the Double Bass concerto offers a masterful juxtaposition of the instrument’s more often used lower register with its almost cello-like upper range. absolutely no gimmick here. [...] This is great stuff! David Vernier, Classics Today
There’s never a dull moment in either of these eminently accessible works. Highly recommended.
Daniel Foley, Whole Note
One of the most satisfying and exciting symphonic releases in years. Those who bought Kleiberg’s Requiem on Simax last month have the appetizer; here is the main course!
Records International
The Bell Reef and its lesser companions lock into your memory like limpets, after just one or two hearings. This CD of warm-hearted, often briny orchestral sounds should sell by the shipload.
Paul Ingram, Fanfare
Kleiberg is at his best when pairing the emotional import of librettist Jessica Gordon's English text with gorgeously sinuous melodies and sleek, sumptuous arrangements, realized here with great aplomb by the Tõnu Kaljuste-led Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
...these elements are upstaged by the opera's natural effectiveness as a quintessential love-triangle.The sheer will of human nature and the undeniability of desire are the more vibrant forces both musically and dramatically, rather than any overt moral imperative representative of God's supremacy.
Daniel J. Kushner, OPERA NEWS
It is a beautiful score from beginning to end and there is an ethereal quality that envelops and exhilarates your ears. This opera-oratorio is good enough to gain traction in today’s performance halls and I hope that it does so that larger audiences can enjoy it. Lawrence D. Devoe, Blue-rayDefinition
...More than anything, the piece reminds me of Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder.
ESTEP, American record Guide
