It was Henrik
Ibsen himself who contacted Edvard Grieg in 1874 and asked
him to write incidental music for
Peer Gynt. The author had very clear views about
the concept. Grieg set about his work but had to struggle a lot with what he
called 'a terrifyingly intractable subject'. He also feared that the artistic
quality might suffer in something 'made to order'. Today everybody even
marginally interested in classical music is familiar with Grieg's
Peer Gynt,
at least in the shape of the immensely popular two orchestral suites. To
realise the real greatness of his achievement, its stunning originality and its
modernism one needs to hear the complete score. This should, preferably, as
here, include chunks of the spoken dialogue, which to a considerable extent is
interwoven with the music.
It should be
mentioned that others have also written music for
Peer Gynt. The Swedish
composer August Söderman, almost simultaneously with Grieg, in 1948 Harald
Saeverud and in 1969 Arne Nordheim wrote electronic incidental music for
performances in Bergen. There have also been some operas on this theme, best
known is probably Werner Egk's work, with libretto by the composer, premiered
in Berlin 1938. There is also incidental music written by Alfred Schnittke in
1986.
This is not the
first 'complete' recording of the
Peer Gynt music. Per Dreier recorded
it with the LSO in 1979 (Unicorn -
also
later in suite form), Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra set
it down less than a decade later (
DG)
and in connection with the Grieg celebrations in 2007 there arrived another two
sets:
Ole
Kristian Ruud with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (
BIS)
and Paavo Järvi with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Virgin). I have
heard neither of the two last-mentioned and have vague memories of hearing part
of the Dreier on the radio. I bought a well-filled highlights disc of Järvi
pêre,
which for twenty years has adorned my collection.
The present
issue is the fifth instalment in Bjarte Engeset's Grieg Edition
and as
on the two most recent issues (
Symphony)
he conducts the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, which is a splendid body with a
number of very successful recordings to their credit. Sixten Ehrling's set with
the Berwald symphonies received a Gramophone Award. There is fine rapport
between the orchestra and Bjarte Engeset and Scandinavian orchestras have
Grieg's music more or less in their blood. They also recorded the
Peer Gynt suites
coupled with the six orchestral songs
(review) only a year before this complete undertaking.
I wrote in my
review of that previous disc that it felt 'undisputedly right' and this feeling
also prevails here. Tempos are natural, which implies that they don't draw the
listener's attention to the readings as some 'clever' interpretations can do.
In some of the numbers that also constitute the two suites there are small
differences but only variations of the kind one experiences every time one
listens to the same interpreter on, say, two consecutive evenings in the same
music. What definitely must draw the attention of a listener unfamiliar with
the complete music is the inventive scoring and bold harmonies. This is
especially noticeable when the chorus is involved and for those who only know
In
the Hall of the Mountain King from the orchestral suite this wild and
barbaric version with screaming trolls will come as a shock (CD1 tr. 10).
Peer
Gynt chased by the Trolls (CD1 tr. 12) is a real thriller and his
encounter with the three dairymaids (CD1 tr. 7) is also a far cry from the
'sugary' Grieg. There were some detractors in the twentieth century who thought
his music too idyllic for Ibsen's 'bitter, timeless work'. Probably they were
only familiar with the orchestral suites. Here Bjarte Engeset has chosen
singers primarily active in folk music and there is a raw primitivism about
their wholehearted and uninhibited performance.
There is also a
fair share of exotic music, partly known from the suites, but the
Arabian
dance (CD1 tr. 18) incorporates women's voices, which makes it even more
Arabic, and, deeply rooted in the Norwegian mountains as the Mountain King's
daughter must be, her dance (CD1 tr. 11) reveals that she has probably spent a
holiday south of the Mediterranean. It is probably no coincidence that when we
first meet her as the Woman in Green (CD1 tr. 8) she is accompanied by phrases
from
Morning Mood, later played as orchestral introduction to Act IV (CD
1 tr. 16), which is set in North Africa. The most special music in the score is
arguably the long eerie, dark and foreboding
Night Scene in Act
V (CD2 tr. 5). This is music that
heralds impressionism and even more advanced developments in 20
th century music.
There are
generous helpings of spoken dialogue included to heighten the impression of the
drama. We hear a lot from Peer himself, superbly acted by Hans Jakob Sand, but
there are also excellent contributions from several others, none more so than
Anne Marit Jacobsen's touching Aase. During
Aase's Death (CD1 tr. 15)
the eyes brim with tears. Peer Gynt's sole vocal contribution, his
Serenade in Act IV, is well sung by Yngve A. Søberg and Isa Katharina Gericke (Solveig).
Basque-born Itziar M. Galdos (Anitra) is splendid.
The Norwegian
texts and English translations that are available on internet are very useful -
I would even say necessary - to follow the proceedings. Scandinavians have an
advantage, being able to follow the original more or less effortlessly. A minor
drawback is the fact that the version printed here is based on a concert
performance of
Peer Gynt and includes much more spoken text than is
included on the recording. The advantage is that one get an even fuller picture
of the play - Ibsen entitled it 'dramatic poem'. Readers who want to print the
text should know that it totals 40 pages including the words for the two
fillers.
Foran Sydens
Kloster (Before a Southern Convent) was on a BIS
disc that I
reviewed a couple of years ago. The title was then translated 'At the Cloister Gate'.
This scene for two female voices and women's chorus was intended to form part
of a longer work, based on Björnson's
Arnljot Gelline but it was never
finished. The action in
Arnljot Gelline takes place in the early
eleventh century. In the BIS review I commented on 'its likeness to Mediaeval
ballads with its question-answer structure'. Bjarte Engeset instead sees
parallels with Tamino's meeting with the Speaker in
The Magic Flute.
Whichever parallel one prefers it is fine lyrical music and I particularly like
the 'Heavenly choir of nuns at the end'.
This music was
written in 1871, just before Grieg composed the
Peer Gynt score. At the
same time he started working on
Bergliot, also a Björnson text, but it
wasn't completed until 1885. It is based on an Icelandic Saga, found in Snorre
Sturlason's
Heimskringla. This emotionally charged melodrama is about a
Viking woman, whose husband and son are murdered by Harald Hardråde. Frøydis
Armand invests her monologue with such tangible feelings: the joy and pride
that is turned into sorrow and wrath - and finally to resignation. The music
follows the changes of the text and again shows that Grieg was no plain
idyllist. There is pathos here as well as nobility. I suspect that it is an
advantage to understand the original language. I don't understand why Armand
lacks a biography in the booklet when everybody else has one. After all this is
the most important solo contribution on this disc, next to Hans Jakob Sand's
Peer Gynt.
While neither of
the two Björnson settings will ever be standard works it is a treat indeed to
have them in such committed readings and they add further to the value of this
highly recommendable set. The complete
Peer Gynt is a work that should
be heard by every music lover. I am sure that many listeners will have an even
higher opinion of Grieg as a composer after hearing it. This set is another
feather in Bjarte Engeset's cap. His Grieg series goes from strength to
strength.
Göran
Forsling