Quattro Racconti by Lars Fredrik Frøislie

Quattro Racconti by Lars Fredrik Frøislie, recently released in 2025, is a new project featuring the exceptional collaboration of  Stefano "Lupo" Galifi of the legendary  Museo Rosenbach. It follows their previous EP,  Un Posto Sotto il Cielo, released in 2024.

We spoke about Lars on the occasion of the release of his first solo album, Fire Fortellinger , in 2023, and more recently on the occasion of his splendid album Gamle Mester in 2025, as well as on his participation in numerous solo projects, with  Wobbler, with the White Willow but also The Chronicles of Father Robin.

On the album, in addition to Lars playing all the instruments (Hammond C3, Mellotron M400, Minimoog D, Chamberlin M1, Hohner Clavinet D6, spinet, Yamaha electric piano, ARP Axxe and Pro Soloist synthesizers, Solina String Ensemble, Rhodes MKII, Wurlitzer 200, tremolo (zither), recorder, and drums), the great bassist Nikolai Hængsle of Needlepoint, whose two wonderful albums I've reviewed, also makes a guest appearance.

If "Un Posto Sotto il Cielo" was the replacement of Lars' vocals on the song "En Sted Under Himmelhvelvet" from the album "Fire Fortellinger" with Stefano's, sung in Italian, "Quattro Racconti" is a new version of the entire album, with lyrics and vocals entirely in Italian, and with Stefano "Lupo" Galifi on vocals on all tracks.

Musically, the tracks are the same beautiful ones as the original album, The album cover presents the song titles and lyrics in Italian, an updated lineup, and Lars' touching and heartfelt thanks, especially to Stefano and Nikolai, and to the record company for believing in the project. The beautiful original artwork has not been modified.

On the original album, the lyrics were in Nordic and perfectly matched the scores, lending the album the typical deep and melancholic Scandinavian atmospheres that I often listen to, being a fan of Northern Prog and Lars's works.

Musically, it's a beautiful album, a triumph of analog keyboards, harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog, and Hammond organ—an instrumentation that made me relive splendid moments of the past, yet alive, indeed, revived in the present. From these sounds and atmospheres, seventies prog, interpreted with great mastery and taste, full of refinements, is an absolutely exquisite work.

This four-track album, including two suites lasting over 16 minutes, is pure Nordic-Italian progressive rock, with a running time of approximately 47 minutes. The song titles on the original album are renamed on their Italian titles.

What I heard on the first EP resulting from this collaboration is confirmed and intensified throughout the album: the typical atmosphere of Italian Progressive Rock beautifully blends with the sound and deep, epic atmosphere of Nordic symphonic rock, and Stefano's voice brings the atmosphere and feeling of the fervent 1970s Italian Progressive Rock.

One of the finest albums of recent years. Highly recommended.

Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.

Tracklist

1. Il Cavaliere dell'Apocalisse (16:50)
2. Un Posto Sotto il Cielo (6:41)
3. Presagio (6:22)
4. Cattedrale della Natura (16:54)

Duration 46:47

LineUp

- Lars Fredrik Frøislie - Hammond C3, Mellotron M400, Minimoog D, Chamberlin M1, Hohner Clavinet D6, spinet, Yamaha electric piano, ARP Axxe and Pro Soloist synthesizers, Solina String Ensemble, Rhodes MKII, Wurlitzer 200, tremolo (zither), recorder, drums

With:
- Stefano "Lupo" Galifi - vocals
- Nikolai Hængsle - bass