| Benny Anderssons orkester | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 28 June 2001 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 2001 | |||
| Studio | Atlantis Studio, Stockholm | |||
| Genre | Instrumental, folk | |||
| Length | 47:28 | |||
| Label | Mono Music (MMCD 017) | |||
| Producer | Benny Andersson | |||
| Benny Anderssons orkester chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Benny Anderssons orkester | ||||
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Benny Anderssons orkester is the first album by Benny Anderssons orkester, released in June 2001. [1]
Benny Anderssons orkester, a folk music group founded in 2001 by former ABBA member Benny Andersson, follows the style of Andersson's two solo albums from the 1980s, Klinga mina klockor and November 1989 . The album combines traditional Swedish folk music with classical, pop und jazz influences. Out of the 14 tracks on the album, 12 are instrumentals and two ("Vår sista dans" and "Lätt som en sommarfjäril") feature vocals by Helen Sjöholm, who played the role of Kristina in the musical Kristina från Duvemåla , written by Andersson and former ABBA colleague Björn Ulvaeus. Ulvaeus is credited on this album as well, writing the lyrics for the two aforementioned tracks. All music is composed by Benny Andersson, who also produced the album.
The album was recorded on two weekends in the spring of 2001 at Atlantis Studio in Stockholm. This studio, formerly known as Metronome Studio, was the location of many recording sessions for ABBA up until 1976. According to Andersson (the "Kapellmästaren", as he calls himself in the booklet), the recording of the album was "live", which means that all the instruments (including Helen Sjöholm's vocals) were recorded at the same time, in one session. Only slight changes were made afterwards, when the album was finally mixed at Andersson's Mono Music Studios. [2]
Various recordings from this album have also been included on film soundtracks. The film Sånger från andra våningen by Roy Andersson includes "Sång från andra våningen", "Laureen" and "Tösabiten", and the film Nu är pappa trött igen by Marie-Louise Ekman features "Cirkus finemang" and "P.S.".
The song "Briggens blåögda blonda kapten" is a tribute to Görel Hanser (the "blue-eyed, blonde captain", as the title puts it), who has worked together with Andersson and ABBA since the 1970s. To this day, she is responsible for the business aspects of many of Andersson's productions. One of the largest, "Briggenteater Produktion", [3] is responsible for Andersson and Ulvaeus's three musical theatre projects Kristina från Duvemåla, Chess and Mamma Mia! .
The album's opening track, "Hardangervidda", is named after the famous Hardangervidda mountain plateau in Norway.
Both vocal tracks on the album were later re-recorded with English lyrics. Benny Anderssons orkester themselves released an English version of their 2001 hit "Vår sista dans" in 2009 on their compilation album Story of a Heart , entitled "(If This Is) Our Last Dance" ("our last dance" being the literal translation of "vårs sista dans"). As on the original version, Helen Sjöholm contributed the vocals. The other song, "Lätt som en sommarfjäril", was recorded by Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and released in 2006 on her album I Let the Music Speak , her tribute to the compositions of Benny Andersson. The lyrics for both English-language versions were again written by Björn Ulvaeus.
| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Aftonbladet |  link |
Upon its release in the end of June 2001, Benny Anderssons Orkester immediately entered the Swedish Albums Chart, peaking at number 30 in the middle of July before dropping out of the chart again two weeks later. [4] Due to some promotional appearances, amongst others performing on the TV series Allsång på Skansen , and the release of "Vår sista dans" on single, the album managed to return to the charts in August, eventually even topping them on September 19. Benny Anderssons Orkester stayed on the albums chart for a total of 55 weeks and received a gold and a platinum disc for selling more than 80,000 copies. [5]
All music is composed by Benny Andersson.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hardangervidda" | 4:09 |
| 2. | "Snedseglarn" | 2:46 |
| 3. | "Cirkus finemang" | 4:19 |
| 4. | "Vår sista dans" (lyrics by Björn Ulvaeus; vocals by Helen Sjöholm) | 4:49 |
| 5. | "Briggens blåögda blonda kapten" | 3:52 |
| 6. | "Knasluvan" | 1:57 |
| 7. | "Anitas polska" | 3:17 |
| 8. | "Schottis i tyrolen" | 2:56 |
| 9. | "Sång från andra våningen" | 3:46 |
| 10. | "Laureen" | 4:28 |
| 11. | "Tösabiten" | 3:08 |
| 12. | "Nya månvalsen" | 3:06 |
| 13. | "Lätt som en sommarfjäril" (lyrics by Björn Ulvaeus; vocals by Helen Sjöholm) | 3:43 |
| 14. | "P.S." | 1:04 |
| Total length: | 47:28 | |
The following musicians contributed to Benny Anderssons Orkester: [6]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! He co-produced the films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. He is the oldest member of the group.
Göran BrorBennyAndersson is a Swedish singer, musician, composer, producer, member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! For the 2008 film version of Mamma Mia! and its 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, he worked also as an executive producer. Since 2001, he has been active with his own band Benny Anderssons orkester.
Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role as Anatoly/"The Russian" in the musical Chess. He played the role on the 1984 concept album, and on stage in the 1986 world première West End production in London, as well as several times since.
Marie Helen Sjöholm is a Swedish singer, actress and musical theatre performer who lives in Gamla Enskede in Stockholm. She grew up in Sundsvall and started to sing in choirs at an early age, working, among others, with Swedish conductor Kjell Lönnå. By the end of the 1980s she toured with the group "Just for Fun".
Kristina från Duvemåla("Kristina from Duvemåla") is a Swedish musical written by former ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus (lyrics) and Benny Andersson (music). It is based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg detailing a family's poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century: The Emigrants (1949), Unto a Good Land (1952), The Settlers (1956), and The Last Letter Home (1959).
BAO! is the second studio album by Benny Anderssons orkester, released in June 2004 on Benny's own Mono Music label. Recording for the album took place in the first half of 2004 at Polar Studios and Sveriges Radio Studio 4, Stockholm.
Jon Anders Ekborg is a Swedish actor and singer who has performed the roles of Karl Oskar in Kristina från Duvemåla and Freddie Trumper in Chess, two musicals that were written by former ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. He has also acted in many Swedish-language versions of musicals, such as Jekyll and Hyde, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar. He has been married to the actress Lia Boysen.
Benny Anderssons orkester is a Swedish band, with Benny Andersson as musical leader and composer. The band was formed in mid-2001 by 16 people, some from Orsa Spelmän, and Helen Sjöholm and since 2004 Tommy Körberg as singers. The name literally means "Benny Andersson's orchestra".
BAO på turné is the first live album by Benny Anderssons Orkester, released in spring 2006.
BAO 3 is a studio album by Swedish folk group Benny Anderssons Orkester, released on 24 October 2007. It is the group's third studio album and their fourth release in total.
"You Are My Man" is a song performed by Benny Anderssons orkester and Helen Sjöholm on the 2009 album Story of a Heart. The song is an English version of the Swedish song "Du är min man", also performed by Benny Anderssons Orkester and Helen Sjöholm but on the 2004 album BAO!. The music was composed by Benny Andersson and both the Swedish and the English versions are written by Björn Ulvaeus.
Mono Music is a Swedish record label, established in 1987 by former ABBA member Benny Andersson.
Story of a Heart is a compilation album by Swedish group Benny Andersson Band, released in July 2009.
O klang och jubeltid is the fourth studio album by Swedish folk-group Benny Anderssons orkester, released in June 2011.
Benny Andersson has been active as a recording artist since 1964, when he joined Swedish rock-band The Hep Stars. With them, and more recently as a member of ABBA and Benny Anderssons Orkester, he became one of the most successful Swedish composers and artists. He also wrote the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla and Mamma Mia!.
Swedish singer, musical-star and actress Helen Sjöholm made her first major recording in 1995/1996, when she played the role in Benny Andersson's and Björn Ulvaeus's epic musical Kristina från Duvemåla. Since then, she has contributed to many album recordings. However, only two solo-albums under her own name have been released in 2002 and 2010.
Euforia – Helen Sjöholm sjunger Billy Joel is an album by Swedish singer and actor Helen Sjöholm, released in November 2010. The album features 11 compositions by American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer Billy Joel, performed by Sjöholm. All songs are performed in Swedish, with lyrics written by Tomas Andersson Wij.
"You Have to Be There" is a song from the 1995 musical Kristina från Duvemåla, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, originally performed by Helen Sjöholm. The lyrics are sung by the lead character Kristina, where she doubts her faith in God after her miscarriage.
I Let The Music Speak is a compilation album by Swedish singer Anne Sofie von Otter.
"Story of a Heart" is a song co-written by Swedish musicians Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and recorded by Benny Andersson's Band for their first compilation album of the same name (2009); it features vocals from Swedish singer Helen Sjöholm. British group Steps covered the song for their fifth studio album, Tears on the Dancefloor (2017). It was released as the second single from the album in the form of a remix EP on 12 May 2017, with a radio release slated for 16 June.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Retrieved on 3 June 2011.