Programme notes:

Rosell chose the poems himself for the Naket liv (Naked Life) songs, picking from Artur Lundkvist collections ranging from 1929 to 19175. But the idea came in part from the singer we hear on the CD, Mikael Axelsson. He had received the Solna City Cultural Stipend and wanted a new work for his concert. The solution was a commission from Solna Municipality, in part because Lundkvist had lived in Solna for many decades. Rosell responded to the singer's initiative by composing this suite, one which Mikael Axelsson thinks embodies the poetry already in the poems in a superb manner. As interpreter, he is fascinated by the elegant interplay between song and speech, as well as by the secure manner in which Rosell uses the entire baritone range. The two got to know each other while working on Rosell's chamber opera The Illusionist, based on Thomas Mann's short story titled Mario and the Magician. And Lise-Lotte Axelsson explains how much she appreciates the pianistically sensitive shaping of the keyboard voice and the sometimes sharply orchestral flavour. Hans-Gunnar Peterson (from PSCD 119) Translation: Sven Borei