Review in Spelemannsbladet nr. 2 / 1991

Syngande strenger Singing strings (Heilo/Grappa HCD 7062) Arne M. Sølvberg, fiddle and hardingfiddle Øyvind Lyslo, classical guitar

The CD "Syngande strenger" with the fiddler Arne M. Sølvberg and the guitarist Øyvind Lyslo is pure delight for the ears. On track after track, you'll listen to brilliant fiddle playing together with a sparkling accompaniment on classical guitar. And how nice it is to avoid an overload of technical equipment and still get the good natural sound and marked rhythms. Here, the acoustic sound rules and fills the listener with tranquility.

We know already that Arne M. Sølvberg is a distinguished fiddle player. And on this production he really uses his rich potential as a performer, both on normal fiddle and hardanger fiddle. Øyvind Lyslo is a classically trained guitarist, a skill he uses to the fullest extension, achieving a most exciting, tasteful and rhythmical accompaniment.

The tunes are well selected and most varied. Sølvberg also shows his qualities as a competent composer of folk music. In addition to the well-known "King's tune", he has several nice pieces of music to his credit, not to mention "Kølahallingen", a piece composed to "Landskappleiken" (the national folk music competition), a competition he won by playing this piece.

Lyslo is also represented as a composer. The title piece "Syngande strenger" is indeed a pearl.

Speaking of the selection of tunes on this CD - of course the guitar solo "Sommernatt ved fjorden" (Summer night by the fjord) from "Leve Patagonia" by Ketil Bjørnstad represents another musical direction than you'd expect on a folk music production. But what does it matter, when the piece is so heavenly beautifully played, in addition to its unique melodic qualities?

This production is also marked by an incredibly good quality as far as overall sound is concerned, well engineered by Tom Sætre at LydDesign. The Henie-Onstad Art Centre at Høvikodden must be a very well suited place for recordings.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this quality production was one of the nominees to the Norwegian Music Awards.

Trond Ole Haug