Nya Wermlands-Tidningen 181220
By: LINNEA ERIKSSON
CONCERT
Helen Sjöholm & Anna Stadling
Karlstad Cathedral, Karlstad
Audience: Filled up (about 700)
Contributing musicians: Jesper Nordenström, Roger Gustavsson, Andreas Young & Pecka Hammarstedt
Rating: YYYYY
In Helen Sjöholm and Anna Stadling’s Christmas concert life is full of light and darkness, peaks and valleys. Seriousness, love, melancholy and joy. The two singers have known each other since their childhood and have long dreamed of making a Christmas concert together. The result is brilliant.
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On the tour, Helen Sjöholm and Anna Stadling have four eminent musicians – Jesper Nordenström on the keyboard, Roger Gustavsson on guitar, Andreas Young on bass and Pecka Hammarstedt on guitar and many. Together they create a delicious and delicate comp. It is airy and mellow at the same time, swinging and moving.
The two beautiful and strong front figures, Helen Sjöholm and Anna Stadling, meet the expectations and deliver the perfect song. The interplay between them is relaxed and their voices are woven beautifully together in vocal song, clear as bell-ringing.
Their voices are similar to each other, creating a safe foundation that is decorated with their respective features. Helen Sjöholm with the heartfelt and solemn, Anna Stadling with the swift that leads your thoughts to America.
The repertoire consists of a handful of own songs, some Christmas classics and some new songs with Christmas theme. Among other things, Bo Kasper Orchestra’s “Önskar dig en stilla natt” (Wishes you a quiet night) and “Snö” (Snow) by Eva Dahlgren. An audience favorite is, not completely unexpected, “Gabriella’s song”, which gets long and hearty applause. Another highlight is “Gläns över sjö och strand”, where memories are woven together with song strings to a quiet piano companion. A beautiful nostalgia that goes over in “Det är en ros utsprungen”. When everyone is present on the stage hummar melody at the end of the song, Christmas atmosphere is a fact.
If you only chose one concert in Karlstad this fall and the lot fell on this Christmas concert – then you can be satisfied with your choice.
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(The entire review is not reproduced for copyright reasons)