Benny Anderssons orkester (album)

Benny Anderssons Orkester, a folk music group founded in 2001 by former ABBA member Benny Andersson, follows the style of Benny's two solo albums from the 1980s, Klinga mina klockor and November 1989. The album combines traditional Swedish folk music with classical, pop und jazz influences. Out of the 14 tracks on the album, 12 are instrumentals and two ("Vår sista dans" and "Lätt som en sommarfjäril") feature vocals by Helen Sjöholm, who played the role of Kristina in the musical Kristina från Duvemåla, written by Benny and former ABBA colleague Björn Ulvaeus. Björn is credited on this album as well, writing the lyrics for the two tracks mentioned above. All music is composed by Benny Andersson, who also produced the album himself.

The album was recorded on two weekends in the spring of 2001 at Atlantis Studio in Stockholm. This studio, formerly known as Metronome Studio, was the location of many recording sessions for ABBA up until 1976. According to Benny (the "Kapellmästaren", as he calls himself in the booklet), the recording of the album was "live", which means that all the instruments (including Helen Sjöholm's vocals) were recorded at the same time, in one session. Only slight changes were made afterwards, when the album was finally mixed at Benny's Mono Music Studios.[2]

Various recordings from this album have also been included on movie soundtracks. The movie Sånger från andra våningen by Roy Andersson includes "Sång från andra våningen", "Laureen" and "Tösabiten", and the movie Nu är pappa trött igen by Marie-Louise Ekman features "Cirkus finemang" and "P.S.".

The song "Briggens blåögda blonda kapten" is a tribute to Görel Hanser (the "blue-eyed, blonde captain", as the title puts it), who has worked together with Benny and ABBA since the 1970s. Until today she is responsible for the business aspects of a lot of Benny's productions. One of the biggest ones is the "Briggen Teaterproduktion",[3] which is responsible for the three musical projects of Benny and Björn: Kristina från Duvemåla, Chess and Mamma Mia!.

The album's opening number, "Hardangervidda", is named after the famous Hardangervidda mountain plateau in Norway.

Both vocal tracks on the album were later re-recorded with English lyrics. Benny Anderssons Orkester themselves released an English version of their 2001 hit "Vår sista dans" in 2009 on their compilation album Story of a Heart, entitled "(If This Is) Our Last Dance" ("our last dance" being the literal translation of "vårs sista dans"). Just like on the original version, Helen Sjöholm again contributed the vocals. The other song, "Lätt som en sommarfjäril", was recorded by Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and released in 2006 on her album I Let the Music Speak, her tribute to the compositions of Benny Andersson. The lyrics for both English language versions were again written by Björn Ulvaeus.

Reception and success

Professional ratings

Review scores
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Aftonbladet	link

Upon its release in the end of June 2001, Benny Anderssons Orkester immediately entered the Swedish Albums Chart, peaking at number 30 in the middle of July before dropping out of the chart again two weeks later.[4] Due to some promotional appearances, amongst others performing on the TV series Allsång på Skansen, and the release of "Vår sista dans" on single, the album managed to return to the charts in August, eventually even topping them on September 19. Benny Anderssons Orkester stayed on the albums chart for a total of 55 weeks and received a gold and a platinum disc for selling more than 80,000 copies.[5]

All music is composed by Benny Andersson.

The following musicians contributed to Benny Anderssons Orkester:[6]

• Benny Andersson:accordion, piano, synclavier
• Göran Arnberg: organ
• Janne Bengtsson: flute, piccola, krumhorns
• Pär Grebacken: saxophone, clarinet, flute, piccola, block-flute
• Leif Göras: violin, cello
• (Nils-Erik) Nicke Göthe: violin
• (Jan-Erik) Jogga Ernlund: contrabass
• Calle Jacobsson: tuba
• Leif Lindvall: trumpet, cornet
• Kalle Moraeus: violin, zither, guitar
• Olle Moraeus: violin
• (Pererik) Perra Moraeus: violin, circus-saxophone
• Lars Rudolfsson: accordion
• Helen Sjöholm: vocals
• Jörgen Stenberg: drums, percussion