Carsten Sindvald: The Paganini Sessions (2020)

THE PAGANINI SESSIONS – 24 CAPRICES OP. 1 (PART ONE – ORCHESTRATIONS)
THE PAGANINI SESSIONS – 24 CAPRICES OP. 1 (PART TWO – SOLOS)

I first came across saxophonist Carsten Sindvald when he was collaborating with Robin Taylor, and it was through my reviews that he sought me out and I wrote about a couple of his solo albums, ‘Moonscape’ and ‘The King’s Chamber’. Now he is back with two albums which have been released together, ‘The Paganini Sessions’. The ‘24 Caprices for Solo Violin’ were written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817 and have been arranged in multiple different ways since then. Here we see Sindvald not only changing the lead instrument from violin to saxophone, but he has all produced the music in two different ways, so the first volume sees him as the lead musician on 12 of the numbers which have been orchestrated by Martin Zaulich, Dave Hennessy and Nicky Bendix, while the second set is Sindvald performing in a solo capacity on the other 12. Performing music in this style is nothing new to Sindvald, who graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music as a classical saxophonist, and he is as happy performing with an orchestra as he is with a jazz group. In “Caprice 3 (Zaulich)” he transforms the number into a belting jazz classic before taking it back down into something more subdued. To my ears it is somewhat unusual to hear a saxophone in this style of music as I generally think of it being much more of a jazz instrument as opposed to classical. We even get something of a cinematic feel at the beginning of “Caprice 8 (Hennessy) which certainly adds to this being more of a soundscape.

But of the two albums, it is actually the second which I have been playing most. There is something about a solo instrument which captures the ear, as there literally is nowhere for the musician to hide and they put everything on the line when recorded with nothing else. Here we have some slight reverb, but apart from that it is all about one man and his saxophone, bringing classical music to a new audience while still being faithful to music written more than 200 years ago. He has a deft touch and the wonderful breath control one would expect from a professionally trained musician who has been perfecting his art for most of his life, and he combines these technical skills with a great love and understanding of the music in front of him to create something which is very special indeed. I may not listen to a great deal of classical music, but this is dramatic, exciting, and a real joy.

Rating: 8/10