Note to moderators: perhaps the title of the topic can be changed now
Aksel has succesfully ended his Kickstarter campaign and in fact his debut album is now released.
Yesterday, August 21st, was the first day the CD was sold. It was at the Oslo Kammermusikk festival where Aksel performed with the Trondheim Barokk orchestra. A memorable event!
The concert was held in a medieval castle called Akershus, in a room which looked like it was once a small chapel, with a big round stained glass window behind the performers. It was quite a big orchestra, about 20 people I think. Various instruments, strings, flutes, even percussion. And also a trumpet player for two arias - 'Let the Bright Seraphim' and 'Eternal source of light divine', both by Handel. Both were stunning. 'Let the Bright Seraphim' was the first aria he sung and it has some a cappella parts and many flourishes. After it was finished the audience burst into applause and cheering. Aksel even had to take a second bow! But he seemed to be too modest to take that second bow, the musical director really had to make a gesture of "come on!" He made sure Aksel received the recognition and appreciation that the audience was giving him. 'Eternal source of light divine' was also sung with great acclaim - it is almost entirely in a very high register and it was a joy to hear him sing it, and to witness his own joy in getting those high notes and singing them beautifully.
For myself, the aria 'Lascia ch'io pianga' was the most memorable. It is a very moving aria about sadness, and the melody evokes that very well. The way Aksel sang it, I felt very emotional. He communicated sadness so well. It was like I was engaged in the emotion of the song. It was a very special moment to sit so close (second row) to this performance and without any amplification, only natural sound.
The other arias he sang were more cheerful and in those arias he communicated those emotions very well too. I felt so happy and light
It truly was as if the room lit up with a special light or colour when Aksel sang.
After the concert there was a small line-up at the table where he was signing his CD and many people gave him compliments. He seemed very modest and down-to-earth and at the same time very professional, and that for a boy in his early teens. I believe he gets great support from the people around him and it will hopefully be a joy to watch him mature and develop his singing career through the years. I told him that his performance of 'Lascia ch'io pianga' had been very emotional for me and I said that I think it's great when someone is singing, you believe what they're singing. He agreed that it's very important, and I told him to keep that up
For those of you who are interested it's worth checking out his CD with arias by Bach, Handel and Mozart. He has a remarkable voice, with great control and range and like I said, a very believable performance. A joy to listen to!
