Norwegian-Danish author Lars Saabye Christensen is one of Scandinavia most widely-praised and prolific contemporary writers. For many years now, in the course of his travels around the globe, he has been sending “hotel poems” to his friend Ketil Bjørnstad, inviting him to make music out of them. These literary postcards explore a range of moods. Bjørnstad says: “I feel very connected to the lonely, existential perspective of these poems, made in different hotel rooms.” For this recording, Ketil worked closely with singer and actress Anneli Drecker, former lead vocalist of pop group Bel Canto. Settings of poetry form a special category in Norwegian pianist-composer Bjørnstad’s discography and A Suite of Poems is a song cycle to put alongside such projects as A Passion for John Donne, Sunrise, and The Light.
1 MAYFLOWER, NEW YORK (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:26
2 DUXTON, MELBOURNE (Ketil Bjørnstad) 05:11
3 KEMPINSKI, BERLIN (Ketil Bjørnstad) 04:56
4 L’HOTEL, PARIS (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:48
5 PALACE, COPENHAGEN (Ketil Bjørnstad) 05:09
6 ASTOR CROWNE, NEW ORLEANS (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:12
7 THE GRAND, KRAKOW (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:49
8 PALAZZO LONDRA, VENICE (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:58
9 VIER JAHRESZEITEN, HAMBURG (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:22
10 SAVOY, LISBON (Ketil Bjørnstad) 05:06
11 MAYDAY INN, HONG KONG (Ketil Bjørnstad) 05:11
12 LUTETIA, PARIS (Ketil Bjørnstad) 04:09
13 SCHLOSS ELMAU (Ketil Bjørnstad) 03:26
Ketil Bjørnstad Piano
Anneli Drecker Voice
