This is my first encounter with the Hannibal/Petri family’s music and I have to say I am more than pleasantly surprised and delighted. Lars Hannibal and Michala Petri are a well-known duo with a lot of albums and collaborations. On this particular work Lars Hannibal plays guitar, Michala Petri plays recorder, Agnete Hannibal Petri plays cello and Amalie Hannibal Petri does vocals. The musical equilibrium that takes place is wonderful. The eighteen tracks on their album Blue, are Baroque influenced tunes with a mixture of Old world and New World charm. There is an organic quality to the music, honest, rustic, yet sophisticated in execution. The performances take on different forms. Sometimes it is an individual, sometimes a duo, trio, or a quartet.
The first cut is called Twilight on a Ground. Ground doesn’t have the standard English meaning we are generally familiar with. It is sort of the anchoring or base. In this case bass. Lars admits to using a simple bass line as the inspiration for the song. With a lustrous classically influenced guitar theme, it starts with some bright harmonics, a little repetition of the notes, and the recorder becomes a welcomed companion to this gentle air.
The title tune, Blue - On a Ground with guitar and recorder, uses the same concepts. This one is a bit jazzier and complex, but uses a minimalist perception of two instruments that dance around each other and never touch. The proximity is obvious as is the emotion, but the distance is noticeable as well. More about this track later.
Springtime Sun has the quartet singing and playing in the bright light of day. It is a folksy, popular tune in which Amalie voices the theme in a sweet refrain as in a spring ritual. They all celebrate the return of warmth and the greening of the earth. You can smell the flowers and the new warm breezes of the day.
Out on the Lille Vildmose in Himmerland are the Moors. These boggy hills and fens are the gathering for heaths and fairies. The Moor is a solo recorder tune that is lonely and soft. This Nordic tune has the mist of the moors, the wet grass under your feet, and the enchantment of the recorder that weaves a story of the unseen. There is a tiny hint of humming, almost subconsciously in the end that closes the tune. Careful, there be magic here.
Sunset Dance is not so much as a good bye to the day as it is a hello to the night. This twilight celebration has Michala on recorder and Lars on guitar. There are many time changes and many facets of this vignette. The sun goes down in a golden fire of color, the stars wink on, and darkness finally arrives. Let us join the dance and make merry.
The Magic of Thoughts has a melancholy refrain, but the song is anything but sad. Perhaps it is the notion of being away from the ones you love that influences the mood. Amalie’s poignant vocal is light and Agnete’s cello is barely above a whisper. The song suggests that love in your heart and thoughts in your mind will sustain you. But that only works for a while, doesn’t it?
The last eight tunes on Blue are Danish-inspired folk tunes. One of my favorites is Spurven sidder stum bag kvist (Sparrows hushed behind the bough). It features Machala’s crisp recorder notes and Lars’ unpretentious guitar accompaniment. As in the other ethnic tunes, it sounded like a church hymn with a warm melody that is comforting and evocative. I truly liked the other Danish traditional tunes as well. Although most of the songs on Blue maintain a deliciously Baroque style, there are other influences afoot. American Folk and early rock make an appearance, but all blends together well. Okay, Lars might have literally put blues in the title tune Blue. Once again, all the themes mix and combine into an album, more than an hour long, of tunes that gratify the listener on many levels. To me, Nordic-tinged music has always been cool as in temperature, but not cold at all. Just sublime to the Western ear. This is an instance where four talents create eighteen tracks that are quite pleasing and make for a satisfying listening experience. Highly recommended

Having spent a half-century on stage, Danish classical guitarist Lars Hannibal has amassed a formidable list of credits. He expanded on the guitar technique he honed in ensembles during the ‘60s and ‘70s by studying lute with Toyohiko Satoh in the late ‘70s, playing jazz with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and forming Duo Concertante with violinist Kim Sjøgren in 1980. Not only did the latter outfit perform more than a thousand concerts, the musical partners recorded ten albums under the Duo Concertante name. Such a diverse background naturally lends itself to an equally broad approach to the music Hannibal performs, with the Danish artist drawn as much to classical and folk as popular song and modal jazz.
While his latest album does cast a wide stylistic net, it's an intimate recording that sees the guitarist joined on many of the eighteen tracks by his long-time musical companion and former wife, recorder virtuoso Michala Petri. Making BLUE even more of a family affair, three songs include their daughters, cellist Agnete and vocalist Amalie. The four's collective presence adds to the music's considerable charm, the result a recording to which one naturally warms. As appealing as the release is in total, the three songs on which all four appear (written by the guitarist in the late ‘80s) are especially endearing, in no small part due to Amalie's lovely vocal delivery.
BLUE is fundamentally a two-part presentation, with the first ten settings originals by Hannibal and the other eight from the Danish social song tradition. The title was chosen to accentuate the music's overall melancholy, its calm, free-floating quality, and introspective character. Hannibal strives for simplicity and clarity in his material, with the opening “Twilight on a Ground” serving as an excellent illustration. In using a modicum of elements—a small number of notes repeating throughout and unadorned recorder melodies—the piece distills his compositional approach into a single three-minute presentation. Even more affecting is “Evening in the Garden,” whose lilting, Spanish-tinged flow provides an elegant base for the guitarist's sensitive expressions and Michala's heartfelt voicings. In contrast to its Nordic folk tone, “BLUE on a Ground” exudes a pronounced twelve-bar blues feel, even if the recorder imbues the material with a medieval quality. In the other settings, Hannibal's uncluttered arrangements serve the material well, with the impact of a delicate piece such as “Dreams” all the stronger for the directness of its presentation.
In terms of the three quartet performances, “Autumn Rain” takes flight when Amalie's pretty, youthful voice gently glides over Hannibal's guitar arpeggios and Michala's recorder patterns. If there's a single on BLUE, it would have to be “Springtime Sun,” a samba-tinged reverie buoyed by radiant melodies and Amalie's lovely vocal. The prettiest of the three, however, is “The Magic of Thoughts,” whose lilting melodies are nothing less than swoon-inducing. The beauty of the quartet pieces suggests Hannibal might be wise to consider creating an entire album of such material.
As mentioned, the recording's second part features recorder-and-guitar arrangements of Danish songs written by famous poets and accompanied by music from leading composers of their time. Yet while Hannibal didn't write the material, the pieces complement his originals when the instrumentation is common to both. The predominating style in the second part is classical-folk balladry, with settings by Thorvald Aagaard, Thomas Laub, Carl Nielsen, Franz Gebauer, Oluf Ring, and C.E.F. Weyse featured. Like the songs in the opening section, the pieces are endearing, none more so than Nielsen's lullaby-like “Underlige Aftenlufte” (Wond'rous air of evening) and Thomas Laub's alluring “Stille, Hjerte, sol går ned” (Still, my heart, now sets the sun). Whether the pieces are vocal-enhanced or instrumental, the album's seventy-four minutes present a most flattering portrait of Hannibal as composer, arranger, and guitarist. However much its title emphasizes melancholy, BLUE impresses as a joy from start to finish.

 
Forunderligt familiefortagende
 
Lars Hannibal og Michala Petri har udsendt et smukt album med deres to døtre
5 Stars
 
København. Den klassiske guitarist Lars Hannibal har i eget navn udsendt et næsten meditativt album med egne kompositioner og arrangementer af stykker af bla. Carl Nielsen, Thomas Laub, Oluf Ring og C.E.F.Weyse.
Hele tre kvarter med feel good-music, som hans tidligere hustru Michala Petri bidrager til på sin fløjte. Med i flere af stykkerne er også parret døtre, der begge er midt i 20erne. Her er kommet det ypperste ud af kombinationen af arv og miljø med Agnete Hannibal Petri, cello og Amalie Hannibal Petri, der har en smuk og ren vokal. Hun brillierer på kvartetten ”Autumn Rain”.
 
Lys grundtone
Lars Hannibal voksede op i Århus, og som mange andre teenagere i 60erne begyndte han at spille guitar inspireret af Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Kings og Rolling Stones. I slutningen af 60erne hørte han en indspilning med André Segovia, som spillede Bach´s Gavotte. Denne oplevelse blev et vendepunkt for Lars Hannibal, og han begyndte at spille klassisk guitar. Udgangspunktet er den klassiske musik, og med sangene og arrangementerne af stykker som ”Det er hvidt herude” (Laub), ”Jeg ved en lærkerede” (Carl Nielsen), og ”Sig nærmer tiden” (Ring får den en mere bred og folkelig appel. Første halvdel er forbeholdt Hannibals kompositioner, anden del indeholder arrangementer af de gamle danske sange.
Albummet har en vidunderlig lys, men også melankolsk grundtone – stille på en nordisk måde. Deraf titlen ”Blue”. Der er ingen overflødig fedt her. Hver tone og hver akkord taler sit minimalistiske sprog, og Hannibal fortæller tilbagevendende i bookletten, hvordan helt specifikke lokaliteter i den danske natur har inspireret ham til værkerne.
 
Komplekse
Albummet er mættet med harmoniske kvaliteter. Selv med simple baslinier får Lars Hannibal frembragt musik med dybde.
Hans egne kompositioner er dig også komplekse og måske ikke så let tilgængelige som de sange, vi kender, og som han og Michala Petri fortolker med den suverænitet, vi kender dem begge for.
Det er ganske enkelt et forunderligt familieforetagende. Hans Christian Davidsen, december 2020
 
Google translation.
 
Flensburg Avis
Marvelously family-business
Lars Hannibal and Michala Petri have released a beautiful album with their two daughters
5 Stars Copenhagen.
 The classical guitarist Lars Hannibal has in his own name released an almost meditative album with his own compositions and arrangements of pieces by amongst others Carl Nielsen, Thomas Laub, Oluf Ring and C.E.F.Weyse. A whole five quarters of an hour with feel good music, which his former wife Michala Petri contributes to on her flute. Included in several of the pieces are also the couple's daughters, who are both in their mid - 20s. Here the best has come out of the combination of inheritance and environment with Agnete Hannibal Petri, cello and Amalie Hannibal Petri, who has a beautiful and pure vocal. She is brilliant on the quartet "Autumn Rain".
Light basic tone
Lars Hannibal grew up in Aarhus, and like many other teenagers in the 60s, he started playing guitar inspired by Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Kings and  Rolling Stones. In the late 60s, he heard a recording with André Segovia, who played Bach´s Gavotte. This experience became a turning point for Lars Hannibal, and he started playing classical guitar. The starting point is the classical music, and with the songs and arrangements of pieces such as "It is white out here" (Laub), "I know a lark´s nest" (Carl Nielsen), and "The time gets near" (Ring) it gets a wider and more popular approach. The first half is reserved for Hannibal's compositions, the second part contains arrangements of the old Danish songs. The album has a wonderful light, but also melancholic basic tone - quiet in a Nordic way. Hence the title "Blue". There is no excess fat here. Every note and every chord speaks its minimalist language, and Hannibal recounts in the booklet how very specific localities in Danish nature have inspired him to the works.
Complex
The album is saturated with harmonious qualities. Even with simple bass lines, Lars Hannibal produces music with depth. His own compositions are also complex to you and perhaps not as readily available as the songs we know and which he and Michala Petri interpret with the sovereignty we know them both for. It is simply a marvelous family business. Hans Christian Davidsen, December 2020