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AUTHOR
April 2012: ECM will release the
double album Songs From The Alder Thicket. KB will play
solo piano in Gamle Logen, Oslo on 22 April. KB’s publishing
house Aschehoug will at the same time release the three novels
about Aksel Vinding in one volume. The music on the ECM-cd is
closely related to the books.
Winter 2012: KB writes on a new,
contemporary novel.
November 2011: Release of KB’s book
Belonging about the famous Jarrett/Garbarek/Danielsson/Christensen-album
from 1974 (ECM). The book is also a very personal document and a
tribute to Manfred Eicher, the musicians, the studio and ECM. In
Dagsavisen, Mode Steinkjær writes that
these
"very personal reflections" could be even better than KB’s
fiction, and he asks him to write more about contemporary
persons and matters. In Aftenposten (February 2012), Vidar
Kvalshaug writes that this little book is KB’s strongest text in
years.
October 2011: KB gets significant
recognition for his book Drømmemesteren on the Norwegian
painter Bendik Riis (1911-1988). During a seminar in
Litteraturhuset, Oslo, KB discusses the Norwegian psychiatric
institution Gaustad Sykehus about its right to put Bendik Riis
in prison for six years, with the prominent psychiatrist Ellen
Hagemo, a.o. In Morgenbladet, Tommy Olsson writes: “My respect
for your (KB’s) work is virtually limitless ... One will hardly
remain unaffected when one enters into this (book) ... It works
in a trance-like manner.” And in Vårt Land, the Cultural Editor
Olav Egil Aune writes: “Bjørnstad takes a white-hot
confrontation with Gaustad Hospital’s treatment of the painter
Bendik Riis ...Glory, honour and many thanks for a warm book
about the cold.”
1. October
2011: KB plays outdoor solo piano for more than 12.000 people at
the Jarasum Int. Jazzfestival outside Seoul, Korea. He also
records a solo piano live-concert for Korean television.
Autumn
2011/Winter 2012: KB on tour: Nyksund Brygge 6 August (solo
piano), Fredrikstad 1 September (solo piano), Asker 18 September
(with Tore Brunborg & Jon Christensen), Trondheim 22 September
(solo piano), Korea 30 September-1 October (Television concert
and Jarasum International Jazzfestival – solo piano), Köln 11
October (with Svante Henryson), Haugesund 27 October (solo
piano), Neuwied (with Terje Rypdal) 4 November, Karmøy (with Ole
Paus) 6 november, Mjøndalen 10 November (solo piano) Oslo 12
November (First performance of Soloppgang in Universitetets
Aula, under the “The Sun”-picture of Edvard Munch), Gjøvik 16
November (solo piano), Oslo (with Kari Bremnes) 22 November,
Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Frankfurt 23-27 November (Lesung-tour).
2012: Kongsberg 18 January (solo piano), Oslo, Torshov 19 & 26
January (solo piano), Langenau 11 February (solo piano), Oslo 16
March (First performance of A Passion for John Donne, with Håkon
Kornstad (sax), Birger Mistereggen (percussion) and Oslo
Kammerkor, conducted by Håkon Nystedt – Oslo Int. Church Music
Festival), Lørenskog 12 April (with Kari Bremnes), Oslo 22 April
(Release-concert for the ECM-double-album Songs From The Alder
Thicket), Oslo 5 May (with Ole Paus at the National Library),
Rosendal Barony 21 July (solo piano), Arendal 25 July (with Kari
Bremnes).
NEWS Mai 2011
April 2011: In
a huge review in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the author
Peter Henning gives KB exceptional praise for his
Vinding-trilogy. He writes that the trilogy is impressive. “A
painful inner journey marked by the limits of love ... The story
is told over more than eleven hundred pages in sentences and
images of great poetry and, sometimes, of icy beauty.” Henning
writes that “Bjørnstad’s extensive self-portrait is completed as
a great narrative of a utopia that remains unfulfilled.” And he
concludes that KB “succeeds with a grand undertaking: portraying
the futility of trying to hold on to happiness.”
February 2011: Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel “De
Udødelige” hits the Norwegian bestseller list and sparks a
debate, partly due to the controversial subject of the book: a
man who feels overwhelmed by the care needs of both his elderly
parents and his grown-up children. Anne-Grete Strøm Erichsen,
Norwegian Minister of Health and Care Services, meets Bjørnstad
to discuss the issues raised by the book on Norwegian radio and
TV, and says that the book addresses an important theme. In
Dagsavisen Turid Larsen writes that it is “a novel you don’t
want to put down”, and that the book is “a penetrating and
well-defined picture of comfortable Norwegian reality at the
beginning of the 21st century”. In Oppland
Arbeiderblad Liv Romsås Bekkelund writes that the book
“grabbed this reader from the first page, and maintained its
grip until the final full stop”. Jan Askelund of Stavanger
Aftenblad writes that Bjørnstad “deserves both gratitude and
praise”. And in Aftenposten Vidar Kvalshaug writes that
Bjørnstad at his best has lived up to his ideal of writing “the
great European novel of ideas”. He also writes that the book has
a lot to offer to “Bjørnstad fans”.
February 2011:
KBs new novel De Udødelige (The Immortal) is published by
Aschehoug Forlag, Norway. It is already sold to Suhrkamp/Insel
Verlag, Germany. Bokklubben nye Bøker will present the novel as
their Book-of-the month in March 2011.
Autumn 2010: KB on tour: Berlin 6 September
(presenting the German version of Damen i Dalen – Die Frau im
Tal). Nordhausen 7 September (Lesung), Köln 8 September
(solo piano. St. Mauritius Kirche). Sortland 15, Lørenskog 16,
Ørsta 17 Stryn 18 and Sandvika 25 September (all with Lill
Lindfors.) Tønsberg 25 September (Lecture about Oda Krohg).
Madrid 27 September (presenting the Spanish version of To
Music). Kvinesdal 29 September (solo piano). Frankfurt
Book-Fair, 6-8 October (presenting Die Frau im Tal).
Eidsvoll 16. October (solo piano). Moster 24 October (solo
piano). Notodden 26 October (solo piano). Neuwied 29 October
(solo Piano).
July 2010: In a huge review in Le Monde,
Nils C. Ahl gives KB exceptional praise for his novel The
River (L’appel de la rivière). He writes that the novel is
an excellent sequel of To Music (La Société des Jeunes
Pianists) and concludes that it is a novel that makes you
feel you don’t miss anything. In Libération, Claire
Devarrieux praises the novels beautiful parts, and France TV 2
concludes that it is a strong and beautiful novel about love,
elevated by music.
Lillehammer
Litteraturfestival 27 May (with Kari Bremnes)
March 2010: KB's novel
To Music (Til Musikken)
is longlisted
for
The Independent Foreign
Fiction Prize 2010.
Other nominees are Boris Akunin,
Jonathan Littell & Philippe Claudel. The book is translated by
Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik.
January 2010: In
The Times,
Paul
Binding praises
To Music
and writes that it is "a powerful novel" ... "a demonstration of
the price society demands for the recognition of all outstanding
gifts."
Winter 2009/2010: Remarkable attention for KB’s novel To
Music (Til Musikken) in England. In The Independent,
Tone Sutterud writes: “This is an enchanting tale of love and
death, desire and loss, about how parents and mentors manipulate
and ultimately fail the young people entrusted to them. Above
all, it’s a story of music written by a master in the field.” In
the Financial Times, the author Henry Hitchings writes:
“Bjørnstad diligently maps out a plot that’s charged with Gothic
intensity, as the creepy adults repeatedly forsake their
sensitive dependants. The main strength of the novel is its
evocation of the pathology of adolescent rivalry ... there are
moments of wiry drama and of psychological acuity.”
Summer 2009: More remarkable attention for KB's novel Der Fluss
in Germany: In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Anja Hirsch
writes that “Vindings Spiel was exciting, full of atmosphere and
instructive… In Der Fluss, KB consequently gives attention to
the deepest conflicts … And telling about the close connection
between sorrow and desire, he is also this time able to seduce
his reader.” In Kölner Stadtanzeiger, the author Peter Henning
writes that Der Fluss is “a great and upsetting novel.” And in
Sachsische Zeitung, Ulrich Steinmetzger writes that Der Fluss is
a novel about deep passion, and that it is KB's achievement to
find the right words for it.”
17 March 2009. Elke Heidenreich talks for the third
time about one of KBs books in her famous Lesen!-program
(litColony.de). She presents Bjørnstads novel Der
Fluss (Elven) and says it is “a
brilliant, quiet, intense and profound melancholic
story.”
17 March 2009. Elke Heidenreich talks for the third time about
one of KBs books in her famous Lesen!-program (litColony.de).
She presents Bjørnstads novel Der Fluss (Elven)
and says it is “a brilliant, quiet, intense and profound
melancholic story.”
March/April 2009. KBs novel Damen I Dalen is reviewed in
Norways major newspapers. Jan Askelund of Stavanger Aftenblad
says that the novel is “thrilling Ketil Bjørnstad at his very
best. His best book ever.” Svein Johs Ottesen of Aftenposten
writes that the book is “a reading experience on the highest
level” and that “KB writes about music in a way that few other
authors are able to do.” Ole Jacob Hoel of Adresseavisen calls
the novel “a very good read”. In VG, Sindre Hovdenak praise the
book as “a full-blooded artist novel”. And in Dagbladet,
Cathrine Krøger says that “KB is professional. He knows how to
create a story.”
7 March 2009 in Dagsavisen, Damen I Dalen
gets an excellent review by Kjell Olaf Jensen. He writes that
the last volume of the Vinding-trilogy is both “thrilling, vivid
and entertaining.” Jensen specially values Bjørnstad's attempt
to describe life, love and self-analysis through music. More
reviews of this novel are expected to come.
Friday 13 March 2009 KB will attend the
Leipzig Bookfair, in Blüthner Klavierschule. He will read from
the novel Der Fluss and also play solo piano. The day
before, he gives a solo-concert at Schloss Landestrost outside
Hannover. He is also performing with Anneli Drecker
and Lill Lindfors on different concerts in
Norway this spring. He will visit
Germany
and Austria
in April (Frankfurt 22, Oberursel 23,
together with Moritz Stoepel, and Innsbruck
25), playing solo-piano.
6 March 2009 the third novel about Aksel
Vinding, Damen I Dalen is published in
Norway
by Aschehoug. The publishing house also invites to a release
concert in Store Studio, NRK, with KORK (The Norwegian Radio
Orchestra) Friday 20 March, presenting music from the trilogy.
Jie Zhang will play Chopin and Ravel, Gunilla Süssmann will play
Debussy, Beethoven and Rachmaninov. Christian Eggen is the
conductor. He will also play Mozart. KB will read and tell from
the books. Both radio and television will record the concert.
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel The River (Aschehoug
2007) is currently being published in Denmark to glowing
reviews. The River was given a full-page review in
Politiken, one of Denmark’s major daily newspapers, 25
October 2008. Mette Winge writes, “It is not without good reason
that Ketil Bjørnstad has been awarded the Prix des Lecteurs for
To Music.” She calls The River “a worthy
successor”, and writes, “Like To Music, The River
is great literature – sombre and uplifting at the same time.”
Henriette Bacher Lind of Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s
largest-selling daily newspaper, writes: “As the musician he is,
Ketil Bjørnstad constructs his story very elegantly, like a
musical composition, repeating the same passages again and again
in new ways.” She concludes that the reader is “once again
captivated by Ketil Bjørnstad’s musical and expressive
language”. And Eva Pohl of Berlingske Tidende opens her
review by commenting, “Waves of drama sweep over the characters
in Ketil Bjørnstad’s compelling and psychologically insightful
novel The River.” The third volume of the trilogy about
Aksel Vinding, The Lady of the Valley, will be published
in Norwegian in February 2009.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has a very
favourable review of KB's "Oda" by Matthias Hannemann October
25. 2008. Hannemann writes that the novel is very elegantly
written, and that KB shows all his musical talent in his work
with the text. He also praises KB for being trustworthy with
all the biographical elements.
In
Norwegian Dagbladet, Tom Stalsberg writes that KB's
book "Kolbein Falkeid - Et nærbilde" is a wonderful book about
poetry, life and cosmos. Gro Jørstad Nilsen of Bergens
Tidende says that KB gives a brilliant portrait of a wise
poet.
23 September 2008,
Ketil Bjørnstad was announced as the winner of the prestigious
French readers’ award "Prix des Lecteurs" for his novel Til
Musikken (La Société des Jeunes Pianistes). This prize is
awarded by a large jury composed of readers all over France, who
have read four books each month for an entire year. They select
one candidate every month as a finalist, and then one of the
twelve finalists is chosen as the winner. Ketil Bjørnstad’s
novel Til Musikken, competing with novels by writers such
as Paul Auster and Truman Capote, was the favourite of the
French readers. Previous winners include Carlos Ruiz Zafón and
Isabel Allende.
KBs novel ”Oda” is getting great attention in German newspapers.
In his review for Züddeutsche Zeitung, Joseph Hanimann writes:
“We are happy to believe that this woman anticipated the liberal
masquerade between honesty and new pretence – a masquerade which
the author’s generation would enjoy to its fullest extent – by
almost a hundred years.” In Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Peter
Urban-Halle writes that KBs novel reminds him of the writing of
Per-Olov Enquist, but more sober, and without hysteria. In
Rheinischer Merkur, KB is praised by Ulrich Steinmetzger, who
writes that KBs novel is a sovereign piece of art.
August 2008
KB was given the honour of writing the prologue for
Bjørnsonfestivalen – The Norwegian festival of international
literature – in Molde,
KB has delivered the third part of his trilogy about Axel
Vinding, starting with “Til Musikken” (2004) and “Elven” (2007)
to his publishing house Aschehoug. The novel, “Damen i dalen”,
will be published in Spring 2009.
21
September 2008.
Bokklubben (The norwegian Book-of-the-Month-club) makes a
re-launch of KBs novel “Oda!” from 1983, due to it’s 25th
anniversary, together with a re-release of his tripple-album
“Leve Patagonia” from 1978. The book and the cd’s will be
offered in October 2008, and KB
will perform “Sommernatt ved fjorden” at the “Bokfest” at the new
Norwegian Opera.
22 September 2008
KBs portrait of the Norwegian poet Kolbein Falkeid “Kolbein Falkeid
– et nærbilde. Den som ser i brønnen stirrer nedenfra.”, will be
released by CappelenDamm.
The book is a result of several interviews KB made with the 75
year old poet in his hometown Haugesund during
2008
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel "La Société des Jeunes Pianistes" (Til
Musikken) is nominated to the French "Prix des Lecteurs" 2008.
19 December 2007
KB’s novel "Elven" (The River) was regarded as one of the best
books in 2007 by Norway's biggest newspaper VG. Gabriel Michael
Vosgraff Moro called the novel "a thrilling experience". (VG)
February 2008
KB’s Novel ODA was published by Insel/Suhrkamp.
22 October 2007
KB’s new novel "Elven" (The River) is the sequel to "Til
Musikken" and was released by Aschehoug. It is
also "book-of-the-month" in Bokklubben’s Nye Bøker. The author
Unni Lindell recommends the book strongly for the BnB-magazine
and says it is a book with an extraordinary literary quality. It
reminds her of her favourite novel "Juleoratoriet" by Göran
Tunström. In Adresseavisen Ole Jacob Hoel writes that the novel
is "highly recommendable" and even asks for a third book about
Aksel Vinding. In Dagsavisen, Gerd Elin Stava Sandve calls the
novel "a deep river - a dark stream of desire and passion". In
Aftenposten, the critic Svein Johs Ottesen regards the book as
one of KB’s best novels ever.
KB's latest novel "Til Musikken" (Vindings Spiel, etc) was sold
to the English publishers MAIA-press during the London Book-Fair
in April 2007. A GB-release of the book, which is also a
pocket-book at Suhrkamp Verlag in September 2007, is planned for
spring 2009.
19 March 2007
Ketil Bjørnstad participated in Elke Heidenreich's
Literatur-Gala in Cologne, reading from "Vindings Spiel"
18 October 2006
The French translation of Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til
Musikken (La Société des Jeunes Pianistes) has received
excellent reviews in France. In Le Point, the former
Goncourt-prize-winner Jacques-Pierre Amette writes that the
novel is "Tout simplement superbe!" The novel has also received
a very good review in Die Zeit.
2007
Together with his journalist-wife Catharina Jacobsen, Ketil
Bjørnstad wrote a book about the nerve sanatorium Modum Bad
outside Oslo. The book was released by Dinamo Forlag.
Autumn 2006
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til Musikken (La Société des jeunes
pianistes) was released in France on Editions JC LATTÈS in
September. It has been selected by Virgin and FNAC stores as a
star book.
April 2006
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel "Vindings Spiel" ("Til Musikken) got a
strong recommendation from the book critic Elke Heidenreich in
Germany. In her "Lesen!"-program for ZDF She called the novel:
"... ein rundherum gut erzähltes, spannend erzähltes,
einfühlsames, perfektes Buch. Das könnte Ihr Frühjahrsbuch
werden." The novel reached the bestselling-list of both Stern
and Der Spiegel shortly afterwards.
Ketil Bjørnstad’s book on Liv Ullmann ”Livslinjer
(Lifelines)” is regarded one of the best books of the year
(2005) by Aftenposten’s film critic Per Haddal. The book
is so far sold to Germany (btb - Random House), Denmark, Russia,
Hungary, Czeck Republic and Estonia.
October 2005
Ketil Bjørnstad's non-fiction novel "Flammeslukeren" (Ole Bull -
en livshistorie) about the Norwegian fiddler Ole Bull
(1810-1880) got an excellent review by the historian Yngvar
Ustvedt in Norway's biggest daily newspaper VG.
17 October 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD released his biographical novel FLAMMESLUKEREN
(The Fire- Eater) about the fiddler Ole Bull (1810-1880) in
Bergen together with the Norwegian violinist Arve Tellefsen.
19 November 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD gave a lecture on Edvard Munch at the Royal
Academy in London. Arcadia Books is also publishing their B
format edition of The Story of Edvard Munch at the same time.
November 2005
KETIL BJØRNSTAD wrote a biography on the Norwegian actress and
director LIV ULLMANN for Aschehoug & co, called LIVSLINJER
(Lifelines).
August 2004
KETIL BJØRNSTAD’s latest novel "Til Musikken" (An die Musik/To
the music) was released in Norway in, and is so far sold in
Denmark, Holland and France.
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