Although the music
on this CD could certainly not be labelled
Grieg at his best - none of it displays
the bracing quality to be found in the
Piano Concerto, Holberg Suite
or the finest of the Lyric Pieces
- the disc is nevertheless a valuable
compilation of Grieg’s lesser-known
occasional and incidental works. To
the extent that it shows the public
side of a notably private composer,
it warrants serious consideration by
any dedicated Grieg enthusiast or fan
of music with a nationalist flavour.
It certainly makes an interesting comparison
with Grieg’s fellow Scandinavian, Sibelius,
who was later to take source material
of this sort as the inspiration for
some of his most powerful works (Tapiola,
Luonnotar, the Lemminkainen
works, etc.).
As with much of Grieg’s
orchestral music, the works presented
here benefit from the composer’s ability
to conjure up a mood through evocative
orchestration (think of Peer Gynt,
for instance). For an example of this,
try track 2, where the warmth and drowsiness
of Borghild’s Dream is conveyed
to perfection by diaphanous, pianissimo
strings - a lullaby every bit the equal
of the children’s duet in Hansel
and Gretel. By contrast, Grieg approaches
the march numbers with a quasi-Elgarian
relish, complete with heavy brass to
underline the Big Tune, as is very apparent
in the Homage March. Unsurprisingly,
though, it is in the gentler, more poetic
sections that Grieg is at his most characteristic.
As the number of composers brought to
mind might suggest, there is little
here that is instantly recognisable
as Grieg; indeed, the introduction to
Sigurd Jorsalfar sounds, more
than anything, like a missing page from
Smetana’s Ma Vlast. The one piece
on the disc reminiscent of nobody but
Grieg himself is the funeral march,
written for his friend Rikard Nordraak.
Perhaps the personal circumstances and
lack of time constraint (Sigurd Jorsalfar
was written in less than a month!) explain
the difference in quality? The funeral
march has an intense, restrained melancholy
that makes it stand out from the rest
of the disc; interesting that Grieg
thought highly enough of it to request
it for his own funeral.
Although this disc
will probably only really appeal to
Grieg devotees (and one might note aside
that if one didn’t get any enjoyment
from the works featured here, one certainly
would from the quirky English translation
in the sleeve-notes!), with the exception
of the melodrama Bergliot none
of the music here is actually disagreeable
listening, despite the sometimes overwhelmingly
nationalistic elements (some of the
patriotic music jars on the ears of
non-Scandinavian listeners). Bergliot,
in the violence of its expression, seems
to prefigure works like Erwartung.
Although obviously written in a more
conservative style than Schoenberg’s
piece, Bergliot is given a visceral,
aggressive impact by the full-throated
narrator, Gorild Mauseth. Although her
approach is a valid one given the violence
of the events described, I did find
myself wishing that the frequent cacophonous
bouts of yelling and screeching could
have been toned down, to be held in
reserve for the real climaxes of the
piece rather than every one of the (multitudinous)
angry outbursts.
That reservation apart,
the performances are excellent. Håkan
Hågegard sings with considerable
authority and both his diction and that
of the (pleasingly ‘present’) choir
is impeccable. Although the Bergen Philharmonic
does not have the growling, bowels-of-the-earth
cellos and basses boasted by some of
the world’s greatest orchestras (which
would have been of benefit in the march
sections), it plays with obvious commitment,
as might well be expected from an orchestra
whose financial security was ensured
by Grieg’s will! Ensemble is excellent
throughout and, barring some undernourished
trombones, the balances are well-judged.
On this evidence, conductor Ole Kristian
Ruud deserves the acclaim he has received
from the Scandinavian press and, as
the whole enterprise is captured in
excellent sound (the disc is a fine
advert for the SACD/Surround Sound format),
it makes a worthy addition to BIS’s
ongoing Grieg series.
Em Marshall
Håkan Hågegard (baritone), Gorild
Mauseth (narrator) 