Unravel Tradition Tone Kummervold

• Eva Holm Foosnæs (b. 1983): Indian Love Songs:
• 1 Foosnæs: Indian Love Songs: I. Indian Love Songs 05:08
• 2 Foosnæs: Indian Love Songs: II. In the Bazaar of Hyderabad 04:13
• 3 Foosnæs: Indian Love Songs: III. Song of a dream 04:23
• John Ireland (1879 - 1962): Earth’s Call (A Sylvan Rhapsody):
• 4 Ireland: Earth’s Call (A Sylvan Rhapsody) 05:01
• Alf Hurum (1882- 1972): Blonde nætter:
• 5 Hurum: Blonde nætter 03:47
• Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936): Il Tramonto:
• 6 Respighi: Il Tramonto 14:54
• Missy Mazzoli (b. 1980): Angela’s Confessional from The Listeners:
• 7 Mazzoli: Angela’s Confessional from The Listeners 04:07
• Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950): I’m a stranger here myself:
• 8 Weill: I’m a stranger here myself 03:27
• Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959): Xangô:
• 9 Villa-Lobos: Xangô 01:16
• Total Runtime 46:16

Info for Unravel Tradition

Acclaimed Norwegian mezzo-soprano Tone Kummervold, whose talent has captured audiences on the international stage releases her highly anticipated debut album.

Known for her unforgettable performances at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, her dynamic collaborations with the Oslo Philharmonic, and standout appearances with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Prague State Opera, Kummervold's debut album offers a compelling showcase of her artistic versatility. A true highlight of the album is a world premiere composition written specifically for her by Eva Holm Foosnaes, recorded with the renowned Vertavo String Quartet.

The newly composed song cycle Indian Love Songs by the Norwegian composer Eva Holm Foosnaes is set to poetry by Indian poet and political activist Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949).

Another significant composition on the album is Angela's Confessional, an aria from the opera The Listeners, composed by Grammy-nominated Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek. The aria was created in a rush of creativity just three weeks before the opera's world premiere at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in 2022, tailored specifically for Kummervold's voice. This piece, along with the album's other selections, weaves a vibrant tapestry of classical vocal music and showcases Tone's dedication to exploring and experimenting within a dynamic musical landscape.

Tone Kummervold, Mezzosopran
Erik Jensen, Klavier
Vertavo String Quartet

Tone Kummervold
made her debut at the Norwegian National Opera in 2009 and became a permanent member of the soloist ensemble in the 2012/2013 season. Here she has sung the title roles in Carmen and La Cenerentola, and a number of other major roles such as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Olga in Eugene Onegin, Mary in The Flying Dutchman, Niklausse in The Tales of Hoffmann, Flora in La Traviata, Varvara in Katia Kabanova, Sonetka in Lady Macbeth from Mtsensk, Polina/Daphne in The Queen of Spades, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Clothilde in Norma, The Abbess in Suor Angelica and Mother in Hansel and Gretel.

Her latest roles include the 1st maid in Elektra, Maddalena in Rigoletto, and Angela in Missy Mazzoli's newly written work The Listeners, which premiered at the Oslo Operahouse in the autumn of 2022. About the latter, Hild Borchgrevink wrote in Dagsavisen: «The orchestra suddenly has to listen and follow, and that opens up both the music, the performance and the role of the psychiatrist's partner Angela.»

For her performance as Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, she received the following acclaim from NRK's ​​reviewer: "Mezzo-soprano Tone Kummervold, on the other hand, owns the stage from the first note in the role of the scary fortune-teller Ulrica. She convinces with a punch in the deep register and effortless top notes.»

She has also excelled in recent works, such as Le Grand Macabre, Knut Vaage's opera Khairos, Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin, Synne Skouen's opera Ballerina, and Wozzeck.

In 2022, she made her debut at the State Opera in Prague as La Morte in the critically acclaimed opera Flammen by Erwin Schulhoff.

Kummervold sang in the Norwegian National Opera's concert version of Irgens-Jensen's Heimferd, was a vocal soloist with the Opera Orchestra in Mahler's 3rd Symphony and in the collaboration of DNO&B and the Oslo Philharmonic on Mahler's 8th Symphony.

After Verdi's Requiem with the Oslo Philharmonic, Aksel Dalmo Tollåli wrote in Aftenposten: "Mezzo-soprano Tone Kummervold sings the great aria 'Liber scriptus' with Old Testament authority and lots of power in the entire register. She recently made a big impression as the fortune teller Ulrica in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera in the Norwegian National Opera, and continues to impress as a Verdi mezzo."

She has done several other opera roles at home and abroad. Her warm, unique sound has also led her to concert engagements with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Broadcasting Orchestra and the Filarmonica Romana in Italy. In 2021 she made her debut in Paris with the Philharmonique de Radio France in Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

«A warm, unique sound» – this is how Tone Kummervold's voice is described by her former teacher and one of Norway's best-known opera singers, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz.

This album contains no booklet.