Records
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CloseTracks
- No Wonder
- Baby Plays Around
- Go Leave
- Rope
- Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
- Broken Bicycles / Junk
- The Other Woman
- Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
- Green Song
- April After All
- You Still Belive In Me
- I Want To Vanish
- For No One
- Shamed Into Love
- Just A Curio
- This House Is Empty Now
- Take It With Me
- For The Stars
Liner Notes
Anne Sofie VON OTTER MEETS Elvis COSTELLO
For the Stars
The bespectacled face and the name of Elvis Costello were familiar to me ten years ago but not much else. Since then I’ve got to know E.C. the great songwriter, the terrific performer, and on a personal level, the Elvis who helped me make this recording.
Whereas I meandered through various ideas and concepts for this disc, he always stuck to his convictions. After trial and error sessions prior to the October 2000 recording, he was proved absolutely right.
Many memorable images will stay with me now that this is all over; receiving the cassettes with accompanying letters that Elvis always put together with great care; the intense music listening sessions and the creativity and fun that flourished during the recordings. The dedication and time that he showed this project amazed me and still does.
P.S.: There are some people I’d like to thank and since this is my pop record I know I’m allowed: Joni, Carole, Judy C., Carly, Mama Cass Elliot, Barbra et al whose songs and voices I have always loved and who certainly inspired me; John and Paul who taught me already in 1964 at the age of nine what really good pop music could sound like; Svante, for getting a great group of players together for this CD; Bengt, for doing the secret Hammond session in November 2000; Kalle, for introducing me to Atlantis, the best little recording studio there is; Janne (and Lalla) for Atlantis.
Benny Fredriksson, my husband, for this idea and his never-ending support. And Elvis, for everything else.
Anne Sofie von Otter
Eleven years ago I heard Anne Sofie sing for the first time. It was in a performance of the Damnation of Faust by Berlioz. Her voice affected me like no other. Since that time, her concerts and recordings have introduced me to so much beautiful music. I’ve been amazed, surprised and frequently moved beyond words. Friends and relations will tell you that this is unusual.
So flowers of congratulations having been sent, introductions were made. Two musical invitations helped us get acquainted. Firstly, there was a concert with the Swedish Radio Symphony in 1996 at which we performed with both orchestra and piano. As it was January in Stockholm, Frank Loesser’s Baby its cold outside seemed a natural choice. Later that year I composed Three Distracted Women, a set of character songs, for Anne Sofie’s tour with the Brodsky Quartet. Around this time we started talking about making this record.
For years we have exchanged letters and cassette tapes proposing titles that might make up this album. We discarded as much as we discovered. The songs of Friedrich Hollander, Prince and Billy Strayhorn have gone the same way as Francis Poulenc’s Hotel and such lost gems as I’m up a tree. These are the songs that we decided to keep.
Elvis Costello
Personnel
Elvis Costello Vocals, Baritone Guitar, Lowrey Organ, Bass
Anne Sofie Von Otter - vocals
Bengt Forsberg - piano, Hammond B-3 organ
Billy Bremner
Michael Blair - vibraphone, bass drum, percussion
Bebe Risenfors - clarinet, tenor saxophone, accordion
Svante Henryson - celtar, cello, upright bass
Anne Sofie Von Otter - vocals
Mats Schubert - piano, harmonium, Moog bass
Bengt Forsberg - piano, Hammond B-3 organ
Steve Naive - piano, celeste, organ
