Dolce Trio on new adventures

Today we started our second adventure on the Norwegian Epic. Well our contract hasn't started yet, but the travel to Barcelona did.

 

Early this morning we said goodbye to our families and better halves. A last cup of coffee at Landvetter airport and we were soon on our way to Schipol, Amsterdam and then Barcelona.

Here you can see Sofia on the plane trying to read and summarize what we learned last year about safety on board.

A pleasant surprise was that this year we got each a single room at the airport hotel. The hotel is quite far away from Barcelona center and there is not much to see there so we decided to take a bus and enjoy a dinner with Henrik's aunt and uncle + cousins.

 We had a incredible meal that started with some tapas Barcelona style, then main course fish or meat and ending with a crema catalana. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A8me_br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e)

Tomorrow we will leave the hotel at 06:70 and then sign on the Epic so time for this trio member to get some sleep.

Be sure to check out our blog and we will keep you updated with our life on the Epic, the people, the ports and a lot more!

 

/Bea

Mozart program in Torslanda church

This is the program from our concert in Torslanda church last saturday evening. You simply can´t get too much Mozart, so we did a whole concert! Beautiful pieces arranged for our group by Henrik and Bea. My favourite is the "Kegelstadt trio"which we performed in its full length of three movements. 

For those who missed the concert, there´s hope of course. We´re bringing Mozart with us on the Epic. Only 2 weeks left now until our cruise conctract begins for the Mediterranean season. We´ll keep you posted on our adventures, IF we find good WiFi :)

-Sofia

Outdoor wedding

The rainy skies took a break just as the happy couple on this wedding were about to walk down the isle (pier). Dolce played during the ceremony and before dinner.

 The venue was located on the other side of the river, beneath the big bridge in Gothenburg city center

Dolce trio in wedding gig mode :)

- Sofia

Concert in Höreda church

Yesterday Dolce Trio played a concert in Höreda Church. 

The program included works by Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Elgar, Shostakovich, Peterson-Berger and Rachmaninov.

Höreda is a part of Eksjö municipality and it was a 2.5 hour drive from Gothenburg. Exciting to play a concert in a new county. We were nicely greeted by the priest and congregation.

The Tram Wedding

Three weeks ago Karin and Johan contacted us and wondered if we could play at their wedding. It turned out to be an exciting experience where the ceremony would be on a tram from the 60's. 

We were unsure at first if we all would fit on the tram (Henrik's piano) and whether it would work to play even though the tram was in motion.

In order to take gigs where there is no electricity, Henrik has fixed a car battery that he can connect to the electric piano. So now the Dolce Trio can play "almost" everywhere.

The bride and groom and priest during the ceremony.

Happy trio.

After the tram ride the whole wedding party had to take a boat out to Brännö, an island outside Gothenburg. There Dolce played waltzes and other dance music on Brännö pier. In Sweden Brännö pier is known from Lasse Dahlqvist's song, dance at Brännö pier ( dans på Brännö brygga) and this was also the desired bridal waltz.

This is the view of the Swedish archipelago from Brännö pier.

Tomorrow we will play a concert in Höreda church at 18.00.  You are very welcome!

/Bea

Summer and waltzes

Today Dolce did a concert in Landala Kapell in Göteborg, near Chalmers. The program was called "Beautiful waltzes" (rhymes better in Swedish) and included no less than five waltzes by different composers and of different characters. Other than Srauss' "The blue Danube" and "Vienna blood" we also took the chance to play "Waltz of the flowers" by Tchaikovsky and one of the favorite pieces in our repertoire, Shostakovich "Waltz Charmaine" - a completely unknown piece but surprisingly lovely and cute!
In between the waltzes we had some other music for a bit of contrast. "Salut d'Amour" by Elgar never fails to be a part of programs like this, as well as "The spring" by Grieg that we also did in Saint Andrew's church in March. Some Mozart is always nice to have, so this time we did "Voi Che Sapete", an aria from The marriage of Figaro and "Ave Verum Corpus", perfect to play in a church like this. To finish off we had one of our heavy Rachmaninov pieces - variation 18 from the "Paganini Rhapsody Variations" for piano and orchestra. It's a lot to do in the piano part, even when re-arranged for the trio, but it's totally worth it when you feel the super-romantic phrases and 4-against-3-rhythms!!
Here's some pictures of the "Fika" with the church-goers after the concert. "Fika" is a Swedish concept that involves coffee/tea, biscuit and pleasant conversation.
Finally, a big thanks to Sofia, our stand-in violinist this concerts for Sofia who is in Finland. (I know, we couldn't have chosen one with a better name, could we?)

Now Dolce is having some vacation, but we have a concert in a month, 22 July, in Eksjö församling in Småland, Sweden. See you there!
/Henrik

Latest news

Dear blog readers. It's been a  while since the last post in this blog. It does however not mean that Dolce has not been busy. Since the last time we wrote, Dolce has entertained at both private and corporate events. At the end of August we will as previously mentioned, go back to the Norwegian Epic and entertain guests for 10 weeks. Before our new contract in the Mediterranean we will be playing a few gigs here in Sweden.  If you want to experience one of Dolce's concerts this summer you can check out our website where all the upcoming concerts and events are listed.

 Dolce performing at Carlanderska in Göteborg

Summer Greetings from Dolce Trio!