OUT NOW | Ssens Trio Releases Newest Album, "Ricercare"

Lawo Classics has announced Ssens Trio's newest album, Ricercare, marking the ensemble's third CD release on the label.

Ssens Trio spotlights four works for string trio that they believe deserve to be integrated into the international string trio repertoire. These include Johan Kvandal’s String Trio, Op. 12, Finn Mortensen’s Trio, Op. 3, Edvard Fliflet Braein’s Trio, Op 15, and Ricercare for String Trio by Bertil Palmar Johanses after which the album is named. "Ricercare" — which means to search or seek out — is explored in the music, where one or more themes are developed through melodic imitation.

Made possible with support from Arts Council Norway, The Audio and Visual Fund, and the Norwegian Society of Composers, the album is available to purchase and listen to here.

“Being three Norwegian musicians we felt it interesting to look for works from our own environment," the trio said of their inspiration. "As we have recorded one Beethoven (op.3 and op.8) and one Mozart CD (Divertimento 563 ++) it was inspiring to look for less familiar repertoire for our third release. The fact that these works (to our knowledge) have not been recorded before made this an extra rewarding project for us!”

“We hope that listeners indulge in the music with an open mind and maybe even find an interest in investigating some (maybe) unfamiliar Norwegian composers further," they told us.

Pronounced "Essence," the Ssens Trio formed in 2014 by violinist Sølve Sigerland, violist Henninge Landaas, and cellist Ellen Margrete Flesjø. The trio has appeared in concert with Geir Inge Lotsberg, Eivind Ringstad, Håvard Gimse and Leif Ove Andsnes, among others.

Their first recording, Beethoven: String Trios Op. 3 & 8 received Pizzicato Magazine’s “Supersonic Award” and a prestigious ICMA Awards nomination in 2018. In 2019, Ssens Trio released "Mozart: Divertimento, Preludes and Fugues" (LWC1170). This recording received high praise in Classica (France), Fanfare Magazine and Pizzicato Magazine, among others, and was nominated for the Opus Klassik Award in Germany and the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) in 2020 and currently has over 3
million streams on Spotify.