My old pedagogue Nadia Boulanger once said: “The geniouses were great musicians. Without knowing it. But posterity knows that they also touched the mysterious”. This is how I regard the non-material in our existence, says Kvandal on the occasion of his 70th Anniversary.
Father and son on the same CD
On their new record, Håvard Gimse and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra perform piano concerts by David Monrad Johansen (1888-1974) and Johan Kvandal (1919-1999). The two were father and son, but colliding personality types.
The mysterious Johan Kvandal
– Why do I think ‘Mysteries’ is suitable as an opera? Well, this distinct cast of carachters lends itself brilliantly to the stage! Johan Nilsen Nagen – ” in an eccentric yellow suit and with a wide velvet hat”, Dagny Kielland – “with a thick blonde braid down her back”, Martha Gude – “her hair is white; her eye hair is terribly black, and appear to make the eyes smolder”, and Minutten – “his walk was so troublesome it was conspicuous; and yet he moved so quickly around”.