Landkjenning, Op.31 (1872) [6.38]1
Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op.22 (1872): two choruses [10.06]2 and other excerpts [7.13]3
Olav Trygvason, Op.50 (1873) [37.28]4
Edmund NEUPERT (1842-88)
Resignation, Op.26/1 (orch. Grieg, 1895 version) [2.53]5
Yngve Solberg1 (baritone), Helge Rønning2 (tenor), Magne Fremmerlid4 (bass), Nina Gravrok4 (soprano), Marianne E Andersen4 (mezzo)
Malmö Chamber Choir12, Lund Student Singers12, Malmö Opera Chorus4,
Malmö Symphony Orchestra12, Malmö Opera Orchestra345/Bjarte Engeset
rec. Concert Hall of Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, 26 May 200912 and 7-9 June 2012345
NAXOS 8.573045 [64.19]
Per Dreier recorded the complete music for Peer Gynt for Unicorn
in 1978 (RHS361-2 reissued on CD as UKCD2003-4). It was only then that
most listeners began to appreciate that Grieg was much more than the miniaturist
which, apart from his ubiquitous Piano Concerto, we had always
believed him to be. Here was a composer who also had a real talent for
dramatic music. The incidental music to Ibsen’s play included a
great many scenes of hair-raising impact which Grieg largely removed when
he extracted the two suites for publication. Indeed the complete score
has now received a number of recordings (Engeset,
Neeme Järvi;
Ruud;
Paavo Järvi (Virgin)), many including the substantial sections of
melodrama and spoken dialogue which are necessary to realise a complete
comprehension of the work.
Grieg’s expeditions into the field of drama however extended well
beyond Peer Gynt. Most of his other music for the theatre was written
in collaboration with Bjørnsterne Bjørnson (1832-1910).
All the music on this disc derives from that collaboration. We have the
‘torso’ of the incomplete opera Olav Trygvason, the
cantata Landkjenning from the same legendary source, incidental
music for the play and amazingly the world première recording of
Grieg’s orchestration of a piece by Edmund Neupert to which Bjørnson
at one time set words. It should be noted that in 1979 Dreier also recorded
Olav Trygvason and Landkjenning alongside choral episodes
from Act 5 of Gynt (RHS364 reissued as UKCD2005) and the Sigurd
Jorsalfar music alongside Bergtekne (KP8003 reissued as UKCD2019).
The major work here however is decidedly the ‘torso’ (Grieg’s
own description) of Olav Trygvason. The libretto was left incomplete
when Bjørnson moved on to other projects and Grieg began work on
Peer Gynt. The topic which was to be treated - the conversion of
Norway to Christianity - was later taken over by Elgar in his Scenes
from the Saga of King Olaf to words by Longfellow as adapted by Elgar’s
friend Acworth. That cantata, one of the best of Elgar’s works before
Gerontius even if sometimes uneven in quality, is decidedly more
dramatic than Grieg; but the margin is not so great as might be imagined.
The opening scenes set by Grieg treat of the pagan rites before the arrival
of Olav. While the influence of works such as Mendelssohn’s Die
erste Walpurgisnacht is sometimes evident there is also a sense of
dramatic involvement here which surpasses even Grieg’s Night
scene for Peer Gynt. The opening scene is however somewhat
let down by the singing of Magne Fremmerlid whose rather woolly tones
don’t really convey enough menace; Asbjørn Hansli in Per
Dreier’s première recording is decidedly firmer. The remainder
of the singing and the orchestral playing have plenty of fire and guts.
We are also given Grieg’s cantata Landkjenning, a work written
a year before Grieg began work on the opera which nevertheless shares
the same subject matter and can perhaps be treated as a sort of choral
epigraph to it. We also get the chance to hear a short piece of music
written for Olav himself. It is lyrically sung here by Yngve Soberg. Again
the performance - with different chorus and orchestra but the same conductor
as in Olav Trygvason - is full of energy. One feels though that
Naxos have missed a trick by separating it from the operatic scenes and
placing it at the beginning of the disc, with the excerpts from Sigurd
Jorsalfar in between.
The music we are given here from Sigurd Jorsalfar comprise approximately
one half of the complete score; Neeme Järvi’s DG recording
runs to over half an hour. We do get all the major items with the exception
of the Homage March, the best-known piece from the work, which
was included in a previous Naxos collection. It would have been valuable
to have it again here, however, since it forms the lynchpin from which
much of the other material derives. The other omissions are mainly repeated
passages designed to cover scene-changes and are therefore a less severe
loss. By way of compensation we are given an additional 22 bars in the
First Interlude which were crossed out of the manuscript score
and remained unpublished. Bjarte Engeset in his booklet note observes
that the deletion does not appear to be in the composer’s handwriting.
Järvi does not include these, and it may well be that this is the
first appearance of this section of the music in any recording. The two
choral numbers are well delivered by the same choir as in Landkjenning,
with a very personable soloist in the shape of Helge Rønning.
To conclude we have the world première recording of Neupert’s
Resignation in Grieg’s orchestration. This was originally
a piano piece, but Bjørnson put words to the melody and Grieg prepared
a version for solo singer, horns and strings. That however is not the
version we are given here, but a later purely orchestral transcription.
Although it might have been nice to hear Bjørnson’s words
the later arrangement is a gem in Grieg’s best miniaturist style.
Naxos have done Grieg proud over the years, producing many discs which
have considerably extended our knowledge of a composer whose range of
expression was wider than is sometimes allowed. This is a valuable addition
to that collection, generally well performed and superbly recorded. The
extensive booklet note by the conductor is wide-ranging and informative.
Although texts and translations are not included they can be downloaded
from the Naxos
website.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
A valuable addition to the Naxos Grieg collection, generally well performed
and superbly recorded.
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