The recording takes place at Sofienberg Church in Oslo, Norway and at times producer Morten Lindberg layers the piano. The new rendition is a beauty and the performance immaculate. Here we are exposed to completely different renditions, the most significant departure being “Ubi Caritas” that has more in common with Gjeilo’s jazzy Stone Rose album than the choral arrangement. However, the recordings for “Ubi Caritas”, “Tota Pulchra Es” and “Prelude” were all previously geared to a choral arrangement and in its original form did not even feature Ola.
The improvisation label is not in the complete pure sense of the word as Ola begins the album by borrowing from Northern Lights courtesy of the first three tracks.
And the response is a resounding equivocal yes as both production and performance is an outstanding mesmerizing match. Needless to say, if this creation was going to be successful, Gjeilo’s performance had to meet this challenge with an impeccable performance. Recorded in surround sound and on blu-ray disc, the production quality is impeccable. Released on the impeccable Norwegian label 2L who are developing a stellar reputation in the quality of their recordings, Piano Improvisations only adds to that credence. The choral work of Northern Lights was very impressive and challenging and much the same can be said for Piano Improvisations but for different reasons. Ola Gjeilo has been very busy this year with two extremely different releases.
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