Reviews

Gramophone Magazine August 2014 (Editor's Choice)

Guro Kleven Hagen, at 20 years old, already plays with great assurance and true artistry. Her account of the Prokofiev stresses its romantic side, the first movement giving the impression of organic unity, fostered by well-managed transitions and well-engineered orchestral balance. This is very different from Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s recent recording, where we’re made vividly aware of all the music’s unusual, even eccentric juxtaposition of ideas. In the following Andante Hagen produces a warm, sweet tone from the start; Kopatchinskaja’s fragility, enhanced by the spare accompanying arpeggios, only gradually gives way to a more overtly expressive manner. It’s not that Hagen’s performance is lacking in variety but the contrasts occur within a narrower tonal spectrum. In the finale, she plays with irresistible vigour and momentum. A convincing, persuasive performance.

It seems to me that performances of the Bruch have become slower as violinists strive to extract every ounce of expression from the unforgettable melodies. Hagen, however, achieves similar timings to those of Fritz Kreisler in 1924 25, and without any expressive deficit. For the first movement’s second subject, the tempo only slackens significantly at the point where Bruch writes un poco più lento, creating a touching effect of reluctance to relinquish a beautiful moment. And in the Adagio the melodies flow easily, clearly distinguished from the more decorative passages. Hagen’s finale breathes youthful vitality, the chords of the main theme accomplished smoothly and effortlessly. She’s an outstanding musician and I eagerly await her next recording.

Duncan Druce

Classical Net, 2014

The Prokofiev Second and Bruch First Violin Concertos make a fine coupling, especially in performances as compelling as these from young Norwegian violinist Guro Kleven Hagen (b. 1994). She was nineteen at the time she made this recording and is obviously a talent to watch: she has technique to burn and the interpretive skills to capture the essence of each of these colorful, lyrical and very different works by Prokofiev and Bruch. She infuses the rich post-Romantic music in the first two movements of the Prokofiev Second with both warmth and passion, and delivers the propulsive finale with a scorching, driven manner that calls to mind performances by Heifetz and Perlman.

Hagen plays up the more sumptuous and Romantic lyricism of Bruch with just the right mixture of lushness and darkness, seeming to show the work as heralding the violin concertos of both Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. Her performance of the beautiful first and second movements is as good as any I know of, and her finale is brilliant and brimming with energy and sunlight.

[...]

Indeed, Guro Kleven Hagen, who was awarded Norway's Young Musician of the Year in 2008 and won prizes in several major international competitions, possesses the talent to become one of her generation's greatest violinists. This is her first recording and it is a major achievement.

Robert Cummings

Pizzicato, 2014 (Germany)

Der knapp zwanzigjährigen Violinistin Guro Kleven Hagen gelingt mit ihrer Debüt-CD sofort ein musikalischer Paukenschlag. So frisch, dynamisch und virtuos hat man Prokofievs Zweites Violinkonzert und Bruchs Erstes lange nicht mehr auf CD gehört.

Die interessante, wenn auch ungewöhnliche Kombination setzt vor allem Guro Kleven Hagens herausragendes Talent bestens in Szene. Mit Prokofiev zeigt die junge Solistin faszinierend, was Klanggestaltung und Expressivität sind. Es ist eine wahre Freude für den Hörer, diesem Spiel zuzuhören. Es gibt keinen Leerlauf in dieser einerseits sehr schlicht, andererseits aber sehr intensiv gestalteten Auseinandersetzung, so dass jeder Bogenstrich den Hörer in eine wunderbare musikalische Welt entführt.

Ebenso spannend gelingt Guro Kleven Hagen das vielgespielte Konzert von Max Bruch, das hier einmal nicht als Zwillingsbruder von Mendelssohns Konzert, sondern als eigenständiges, dramatisches und wunderschönes Werk gespielt und interpretiert wird. Überhaupt kann man der Violinistin nur hoch anrechnen, dass sie sich zur Schönheit der Musik bekennt und sich nicht von modischen Zwängen beeinflussen lässt. Und Schönheit ist hier nicht nur äußere oder klangliche Schönheit, sondern sie umfasst auf entwaffnend offene und ehrliche Weise diese ganze unbeschreibliche Welt, die man Kunst nennt. Bjarte Engeset ist ein idealer Begleiter und vor allem ein kongenialer Mitgestalter, der es versteht, die Solistin und das hervorragende ‘Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’ zu einer Einheit zusammenzuschweißen. Diese CD ist dank Guro Kleven Hagen ein absolutes Must!

Alain Steffen

Dagsavisen (Norway) - "Kanonbra debut fra Guro Kleven Hagen"

"Det som gjør aller mest inntrykk på undertegnede, er hennes vidunderlige tone. En tone som skinner i alle nyanser i alle registre. Hennes faste bueføring og herlige sans for de lange linjer er som skapt for denne lidenskapelige musikken".

Kjell Hillveg