Kraggerud: The Complete Equinox Odyssey

The world premiere recording the complete Equinox Odyssey by Jostein Gaarder and Henning Kraggerud, a captivating story in music and words performed by violinist Henning Kraggerud, the Arctic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and narrated by Simon Callow.

Alongside a distinguished career as a soloist with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, Norwegian star violinist Henning Kraggerud is also a composer. Together with Jostein Gaarder, author of ‘Sophie’s World’, he has created the magical world of Equinox. The renowned actor, author and director Simon Callow narrates the Complete Equinox Odyssey. Well known from movies including ‘Amadeus’, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, ‘Shakespeare in Love’, music is Callow’s great passion. Callow has made many appearances with the LPO, the LSO and the London Mozart Players.

The story of Equinox starts London, where our protagonist finds himself in a difficult situation‚ awaiting a neurological diagnose. He stumbles out into Greenwich Park, where he is catapulted on a kaleidoscopic journey to all 24 time zones, one for each fifteen degrees. The journey follows the circle of fifths from C major through the flat keys, and when the geographical odyssey crosses the date line, we move musically from 6 flats to 6 sharps.

In the footsteps of great masters of the violin, such as Fritz Kreisler and Eugène Ysaÿe, Henning’s approach enables performative and creative processes to develop hand in hand. In Equinox, Kraggerud has written beautiful, mournful, bubbly and heart-breaking music.

Reviews for Equinox:

“Violinist-composer Henning Kraggerud’s booklet biography describes him as ‘an artist of exquisite musicianship’ and that’s not hyperbole. Hearing him play as a Prom encore the tenth of his 24 ‘Postludes in All Keys’ … opened a window on a magical world … [the music] is endlessly resourceful and surprising … from meditation to lopsided dance, it is extraordinary. I can’t wait to hear the whole thing in action.” 5 stars, David Nice / BBC Music Magazine

“Henning Kraggerud… shows in a masterly way the universality of the language of music… These short compositions create the perfect connection between contemporary musical language and a classical artistic form and concept…. We are presented with a great work, rich in different stylistic and artistic aspects, but at the same time containing very diverse emotional layers.” -5 stars, Muzyka 21

“Kraggerud sticks firmly to a lush, late-Romantic idiom and delivers a beautifully clean, superbly articulated performance of his self-composed solo line throughout, full of character and wit.” -David Kettle / The Strad