Eight discs for the price of three is the promise given on the
back of this bumper Bergen box from Bis, and staggeringly good
value it is too. These recordings have of course been released
before, and on SACD. Not having heard any of the SACD versions
I have no comment to make on any advantages to be had from having
this technical aspect, but would suggest that, with the cracking
sound quality on offer throughout this set we’re well served by
these stereo versions, and I can’t imagine any complaints from
anyone. These recordings have already received numerous accolades
and awards, and the entire series received the Grieg Award in
2007, the year of the hundredth anniversary of the death of the
composer, as well as a very special commendation by the UK Grieg
Society the same year. This coming to a Norwegian orchestra and
conductor might not be surprising, but in repertoire which has
been some of the more widely represented in the catalogues for
years has to make this something of a milestone. All of the links
in this review will take you to the other MusicWeb reviews of
these discs as they appeared singly, providing further background
and insights. The booklet notes for the box are good, but not
nearly as detailed as those for the original releases – some small
compensation to those who shelled out at the time.
Disc
1 opens with the concert overture I høst (In Autumn),
orchestrated from a piece originally written for piano duet.
This substantial fantasy has a dramatic, craggy opening, with
plenty of that Nordic spirit which makes one believe in the
power of landscape to influence art and the spirit of countless
mythologies. This is a moving prelude to what has almost become
a concert-hall cliché; the Piano Concerto in A minor.
This has to be one of the pieces no self-respecting collection
would be without, but with so many versions on offer it is hard
to take one’s pick. My own much-played version has been that
of Murray Perahia with the Bavarian RSO and Colin Davis, originally
on CBS but now available on Sony. I have no real allegiance
to this particular recording other than not having felt any
particular need to seek much in the way of other performances.
With Noriko Ogawa and Ole Kristian Ruud I, as have others before
me, felt myself discovering the music anew. Ruud and the Bergen
Phil have, as they already did with I høst, a way of
bringing out the hard, granite grit in the centre of this almost
over-familiar music, such that the familiar flowery romanticism
almost becomes a secondary feature. The combination of that
high-romantic idiom alongside Grieg’s native folk-feel material
is fused into a heady brew in this recording. Ogawa’s cadenza
in the first movement has a truly thunderous opening, and the
storm clouds are still very much present as the orchestra comes
out of retreat. With the Adagio the sense of drama continues,
with any limpid or dewy sentimentality only given a much space
as is indicated in the score, which in fact is not much when
the piece is played properly. The dance-like impact of the final
movement is full of controlled dynamism, superbly articulated
by winds, brass and strings alike. The final cadenza and conclusion
is a sonic marvel, as well as a performing triumph. Full of
emotional charge and wonderful playing, this is a ‘Grieg Piano
Concerto’ for keeps, and bodes very well indeed for the rest
of this box.
The final work on
disc 1 is the Symphony in C minor, which was famously
the result of Niels W. Gade’s advice to Grieg to “go home and
write a symphony” instead of prolonging his studies. Grieg himself
withdrew the work, and it was only revived in 1981. Full of
a similar youthful freshness to Nielsen’s first symphony, this
work has plenty of vigour and charm, with sweeping themes and
a generally uplifting feel. The Grieg fingerprints of descending
bass lines, major/minor relationships and a potent sense of
landscape and national character are all there within the conventional
pattern of a romantic four movement symphony form, albeit with
some lengthy transitions of lesser originality. This is certainly
no lightweight filler, and is well deserving of its place in
the repertoire. The Bergen Philharmonic does the piece proud,
imparting a character and sense of involvement that I’d not
yet heard in this music. Grieg’s native town was Bergen, and
this might have something to do with the musicians’ sense of
connection to the music, despite any weaknesses we might find
in it as a whole. Whatever the reason, in my book, this is the
recording which we should all have on our shelves.
My reference for
Sigurd
Jorsalfar has long been that with Neeme Järvi and the
Götheborgs Symfoniker on DG, the one which acts as a filler
to his ‘complete’ Peer Gynt, of which more later. Rich
orchestral sound aside, this was always a piece I felt had just
a bit too much nationalist fervour in Järvi’s recording, and
as a result it would more often as not be turned off whenever
Peer Gynt had finished. Ole Kristian Ruud’s percussion
somehow sounds less martial than Järvi’s, and the recurring
chorale-like theme more like a lyrical hymn or anthem than a
statement of national identity being rammed down one’s throat.
This is something of an extreme comparison I admit, but the
Bis recording is the one to which I know I can return. Baritone
Håken Hakegård is heroic as soloist, and the men of the Bergen
Philharmonic Choir are throatily lusty, like a real crowd of
soldiers. By contrast, Kjell Magnus Sandve is rather lightweight
for Järvi, the lower range of the music going just too far down
for his tenor voice.
The rest of disc
2 is taken up with works which were less familiar to me. Landkjenning
or ‘Land Sighting’. This work for baritone, male choir and
orchestra was part of a projected but never to be completed
operatic collaboration between Grieg and the Norwegian poet
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. Ancient hero King Olav Tryggvason is
taken strongly by Håken Hakegård, and there is plenty of Nordic
testosterone flying around. The melodrama Bergliot depicts
the destiny of a woman, powerfully, sometimes frighteningly
played by Gørild Mauseth. Those Norwegian women certainly know
how to shout, and the language seems to lend itself well to
passionate outbursts. We can be grateful that all texts are
provided in translation at the back of the booklet, but to be
honest I’ve rarely found the need: such humanist sentiments
speak in some direct way to the soul, and are surely hard to
misinterpret. Besides, I greatly enjoy the strength and rhythmic
potency in the Norwegian language without picking through reams
of translated text to find out the exact meanings of each sentence.
The Funeral March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak was written
for a composer friend of Grieg, and appears here in the version
for symphony orchestra by Johan Halvorsen which was played at
Grieg’s own funeral. If you are looking for demonstration sound
quality, the bass drum from about 1:10 and onwards will give
your woofers a workout, and the winds and brass are given chilling
definition as well. The Mountain Thrall was entirely
new to me, but has some gorgeous melodic shapes. The text is
a traditional Norwegian poem about someone being led astray
in the woods by a maiden troll, but is more of an allegory;
telling mankind to stop messing around and get itself sorted
out in the same way as the herring and the squirrels, none of
whom have problems finding a mate.
The grim-sounding
Bjørnson saga of King Olav
Tryggvason has its remaining fragments on disc
3, with beautiful, clean singing by soloists and choir.
This dark drama is rich in nationalistic feeling, but still
has much good music to offer, and shows the way for some of
the characteristics found in Peer Gynt. Another piece
intended for use with Bjørnson’s work is At the Cloister
Gate, intended as an interlude for another play around the
subject of ancient history, that of the Swedish hero Arnjot
Gelline who fell at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030. It
is much to Grieg’s credit that all of these bits and pieces
still make for excellent concert music, but with the opening
Solveig’s Song of the collection Six Songs with Orchestra
it is clear that the composer had no problems about removing
‘the best bits’ from other works and using them as set pieces.
This Solveig’s Song is a tad slower than I’ve been used
to hearing it, but this takes nothing away from the beauty of
Marita Solberg’s singing. With the diversity of sources this
is somewhat less than a cycle of songs, but each has its own
atmosphere and beauty, greatly enhanced by the sensitivity of
the orchestral playing. The gorgeous Last Spring is one
you could play on a loop. As has been noted elsewhere, the performances
of this and the other songs avoid slushy sentimentality; jerking
the tears with relatively straight but finely wrought performances.
The addition of At Rondane is thanks to another arrangement
by Johan Halvorsen, providing a fine conclusion to this most
attractive of vocal programmes.
Discs 4 and 5 are
dedicated to Peer
Gynt. My associations with this piece are that of playing
Neeme Järvi and the Götheborgs Symfoniker’s DG version at high
volume first thing on Sunday mornings while on holiday in a
small cottage in Friesland, so my ‘complete Peer Gynt’ pre-programming
leads me to make a direct comparison. As so often with two such
high quality recordings this is a case of swings and roundabouts.
Both have swathes of Norwegian text which will go over the heads
of us poor non-speakers and the Bis recording is more complete
in this regard, but with Järvi the sense of high drama is potent
throughout, and his 1987 DG recording has Barbara Bonney in
the all-important role of Solveig. Ole Kristian Ruud is punchier
and crisper in his approach to the more dramatic moments in
the orchestral music, and with a marginally less plush though
certainly no less dynamic sound I feel more of a sense of contrast
in the colours he has from the instrumentalists. The all important
hardanger fiddle is more distant, at times too distant to my
mind with Bis, and only semi-audible in the opening of the Halling
scene in the first act. Bis’s production has however far
more of a theatre atmosphere, with Ibsen’s texts appearing more
often over the music, so the sense of perspective does have
logic. Järvi’s is more of a concert-hall performance. With Ruud
you can close your eyes and let your imagination take you through
the play – Grieg’s music functioning more as it would do in
the theatre or opera house. Carrying on a series of A/B comparisons
between these two versions I find myself more drawn to the Bis
recording on just about every level. Much as I hold an affection
for the older DG recording, I think it safe to say this Bis
version would be my desert island performance – with only the
increased level of Norwegian text as a possible caveat for those
who prefer to have more of the uninterrupted music, but then,
that’s surely what the suites are for.
Grieg published
his Peer Gynt Suite a few years after completing the
original score. The suite’s popularity lead to it being renamed
Peer Gynt Suite No.1 when the second suite was published
in 1892. The music from these suites became so popular that
they became public property, appearing in so many arrangements
and versions that the composer hardly recognised his own work
when encountering it at a concert in Monte Carlo in 1893. A
side effect of this was however to open doors to performances
of Ibsen’s play, which has received numerous performances where
it otherwise might have been neglected. As a member of numerous
youth orchestras I too remember several performances at which
Grieg might have had a hard time recognising his own work, but
the playing from the Bergen Philharmonic is second to none.
The all-important string sound is a lush, verdant field, from
which Grieg’s elegiac melodies grow with ineffable poetic beauty.
In the Hall of the Mountain King receives a suitably
creepy build-up, and the brass snarls early on are tremendously
evocative.
Referring back to
disc 2, and we have here the wind band version of the Funeral
March in Memory of Rikard Nordraak, which was Grieg’s own
arrangement from the piano original. The more acidic sound of
the wind orchestra if anything give this piece an even more
chillingly tragic feel than the opulence of the orchestral version,
and I am very glad it has been included in this set. Grieg’s
only substantial work for two pianos, the Old Norwegian Melody
with Variations is another work which was less familiar
to me. A quick look at other versions show it has made fewer
inroads into commercial success, and listening to the piece
one can hear why. The music is very good, and characteristically
‘Grieg’, but lacks the immediate appeal of his songlike themes
or programmatic imagery. In fact, all of these features are
there, but you have to search harder to find them – an indication
of some changes in direction in the now older Grieg. The work’s
origins meant that it wasn’t an instant hit, with few homes
boasting two pianos. Grieg spent five years working on the orchestral
arrangement, and was evidently convinced of its strengths and
potential. The overall impression is one of a suite of connected
character pieces rather than an academic set of variations on
a theme, and while it might take you a while, I can imagine
many listeners finding in this a new work to extend an appreciation
of Grieg’s character as a composer. Klokkeklang or ‘Bell
Ringing’ is another such piece. From the Lyric Pieces Op.54,
it was originally intended as the opening movement, but Grieg
was concerned that audiences might be put off by its radical
nature. As a result, it is often heard on its own, and its fine
orchestral colour and sonorities may indeed give you a surprise
– not as a ‘difficult’ piece, but certainly one which presents
Grieg as a composer capable of bringing off some quite modern
sounding, impressionistic effects.
Disc 7 opens with
the Holberg
Suite. This was another piano work arrangement from
an original ‘old French style’ piano suite, but the string orchestra
soon became a staple of the repertoire and it is easy to hear
why this should be so. The quality in the Bergen strings has
already been noted, and as a homogeneous ensemble they sound
as convincing as the winds do in the Funeral March for Rikard
Nordraak. The sheer effulgent joy in the soloists in the
final Rigaudon is tremendous. The Two Elegiac Melodies
come from two of Grieg’s Op.33 Vinje songs, and these were
extended with another song from the same set in the Two Melodies,
along with one from his Op.21. The other pieces, Two Nordic
Melodies and Two Lyric Pieces were originally written
for piano. There is a general air of melancholy in the bulk
of this programme which might make it less suitable for cheering
one up on a rainy afternoon, but there is no denying the beauty
of the playing or the music. Less is more, and the elegant,
elusive simplicity of some of Grieg’s best tunes is a lasting
resource.
The final disc,
number 8, brings us to the highly popular Norwegian
Dances. These were orchestrated from the original piano
duets by Grieg’s friend Hans Sitt, who gave them plenty of extra
punch and pizzazz, with percussion and brass extras helping
out with colour and impact. Another piano duet, the Symphonic
Dances, was arranged by Grieg himself with equal verve,
and the Bergen Philharmonic plays out of their collective skins
in repertoire which they must have performed hundreds of times.
The Lyric Suite is from Grieg’s highly successful fifth
volume of lyric pieces, Op.54. He made his own orchestration,
improving on a version by Anton Seidl from the USA which he
felt lacked the lightness of touch suitable to the music. The
contrasts which emerge have a surprising potency and passion,
particularly in the wonderful Andante espressivo of the
unexpectedly sophisticated ‘Shepherd Boy’. The evergreen March
of the Dwarfs, with its fleeting winds and pizzicati
is a suitably rousing finale to finish off this magnificent
set.
As far as Grieg boxes
go, this has to be top recommendation both for price, and sheer
excellence of the performances and recordings. Neeme
Järvi’s Gothenberg set of six discs from DG is in fact less
than complete, missing out the Peer Gynt suites
1 & 2 and quite a few other choice moments you
will find in this bargain Bis set, such as the wind band version
of the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak. Presentation
is good as ever, with adequate booklet notes written especially
for this set, including song texts and translations into English.
I am also delighted to see that the paper envelopes for the discs
in this chunky ‘slimline’ box no longer have those tedious glued
fold-overs. Never mind ‘Bargain of the Month’, this has to be
one of the bargains of the year, so my advice is to snap up a
copy post haste.
Dominy Clements
Noriko Ogawa
(piano) 
