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The rate of production
for what amounts to a one-man outfit,
even if that man is Bo Hyttner,
is phenomenal. He is, I suppose, the
Richard Itter (Lyrita Recorded Edition),
of Sweden; it’s just that he is still
producing, shows no sign of flagging
and shares the heritage month after
month. Sterling’s enterprise in the
loving promotion of the late-romantic
musical production of Sweden and many
other European nations, is something
we have come to take for granted. Sterling
is not alone, of course; look at Timpani
in France, Danacord in Denmark and Proprius
also in Sweden. None of these labels
however is as audaciously exploratory
as Sterling.
On this showing Bengtsson
in the 1930s and 1940s was happily writing
in an idiom derived from Bruch, Schumann
(a little) and Tchaikovsky (those woodwind
graces in the slow movement of the Violin
Concerto). This is flavoured and enlivened
by a sometimes louring Scandinavian
character - most apparent at the start
of the first movement of the Violin
Concerto. The rustic dancing side
of Scandinavian folk culture can be
heard in the finale of the concerto.
It is bluff and energetic avoiding country-kitsch
and written in an idiom related to Grieg’s
more vigorous Gynt music. This
is warm and singing writing as the second
movement’s duet between gloriously round-toned
French horns and the solo instrument
proves.
The Cello Concerto
is another romantic and dramatic
piece, surging and plunging (in the
two outer movements) with deeply satisfying
work for the cellist. As with the middle
movement of the other concerto there
is, in the Cello Concerto’s Andante
cantabile, a temperate quasi-Delian
summery heat. This is affectionately
rounded music which touches Tchaikovskian
territory. Once again there is a dialogue
for the cello with soft-focus French
horns. From this music it is a small
step onwards to the languages of Korngold
and Elgar.
There are some very
fine moments here. I would place the
two concertos above the Violin Concerto
of Josef Sillén (Sterling CDS-1044-2)
another Swede who aligned his style
with the Bruch-Tchaikovsky axis. Bengtsson’s
music might loosely be grouped with
Peterson-Berger whose symphonies (especially
2 and 3) are often inspired well above
the common touch. It is not as radiant
as that of P-B but it is unassumingly
rewarding and sometimes much more so.
After a slightly sour
start Ringborg warms to a liquid and
golden tone. The Malmö violins
sounded a little hard rather than sumptuous
at first but you soon adjust. Mats Rondin
has studied with Helmerson, Pleeth,
Kirshbaum and Rostropovich. His sound
is well suited to this grandly nostalgic
and haunting music.
From the age of six,
Bengtsson, a child blessed with perfect
pitch, was taught by his father to play
the violin. By his teens he was also
a more than capable organist and deputised
for this father at the St Birgitta Convent
at Vadstena, his birthplace. In 1904
he began studies at the Stockholm Conservatory.
The conductor Conrad Nordqvist then
offered Bengtsson a place in the Royal
Opera Orchestra. His debut as a composer
was when his Second Symphony was premiered
at a concert alongside major pieces
by Atterberg and Lindberg. This was
in 1912. As a permanent conductor in
Karlstad, Värmland held him for
twenty years. In 1942 he moved to Linköping
where a director’s position occupied
him until 1956. His Symphony No. 1 (of
3) has been recorded on Sterling CDS-1008-2.
His memories of the Convent are affectionately
reflected in the orchestral suite I
Vadstena Kloster (In Vadstena
Cloisters) recorded on Sterling
CDS-1008-2. There is also a symphonic
poem Vettern on the same disc.
The fully detailed
notes for the present disc are by Stig
Jacobsson.
Is this the first CD
to couple two concertos and to have
the soloist in each concerto the conductor
for the other concerto? I feel a nugget
of musical trivia beginning to form.
This disc gives us
a companionable pair of concertos that
will appeal strongly to romantic nationalists
everywhere. The music is in a blend
of received styles and none the worse
for that. Now, how about a CD of the
other two symphonies please?
Rob Barnett
see also review
by Ian Lace - November
Recording of the Month
Malmö Opera Orchestra/Mats Rondin (Violin
Concerto); Tobias Ringborg (Cello Concerto) 
