Mark Pentleton

Today I’m marking the première of the musical Kristina in the Royal Albert Hall with the final song in our Kristina series, and it’s one of the pieces from the show which combines a number of themes heard previously. At this stage Kristina has lost her child and her husband is a stranger to her. [...]

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All musicals need an “eleven o’clock number”, the song which is a turning point towards the end of the second act. There’s no doubt that Du måste finnas is exactly that! Kristina has miscarried and she sits alone under the stars contemplating all the bad things which have happened to her. For the first time [...]

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I’m continuing the series of songs from Kristina från Duvemåla today (more information here). In a work full of tender moments, this song represents one of the most tender. Ulrika is a changed woman since her arrival in Minnesota. Back in Sweden her reputation meant that no man would consider marrying her, but in America [...]

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This week I’m doing a series of songs from the Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvæus musical Kristina which premières next week at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Today we’re at the hundredth song of the 365songs project, and I’ve recorded the song Hemma (Home). By this time, Kristina and Karl Oskar have arrived in [...]

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Next Wednesday evening in the Royal Albert Hall the UK première of the concert version of  Benny and Björn’s musical Kristina will take place. As I explained in a previous post when I performed Guldet Blev till Sand, the epic musical is based on Vilhelm Moberg’s series of books, Utvandrarserien, which tell the story of [...]

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Sticking with the musicals theme from yesterday, Guldet Blev till Sand is one of many beautiful songs from the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla, written by (my musical hero) Benny Andersson and with lyrics by Björn Ulvæus. The musical is based on the novels of Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg which tell of a Swedish family’s [...]

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