Search - Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Sigurd von Koch, Wilhelm Stenhammar :: Anne Sofie von Otter - Wings in the Night (Swedish Songs)

A feeling of discovery

Timothy F. Ortlieb | USA | 09/23/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The songs on this wonderful Swedish anthology may not be familiar to most listeners but they occupy an idiom not so dissimilar to the world of Grieg. (Otter and Forsberg's Grieg recital from a few years earlier is also indispensible.). The nostalgia-tinged melancholy (or is it wistful joy?) of Wilhelm Peterson-Berger's folk-inspired songs, for example, convey a hint of Grieg's art yet are distinctively Swedish. There are nine selections by Peterson-Berger, out of 31 total, and they all exemplify this composer in full melodic flower. The other composers offer something closer to what we think of as art songs: somewhat rarefied, reserved, melodically rich and often evocative. The piano accompaniments are always first rate. This treasury provides a rich and varied 74-minute overview of Swedish song. If the quality of the Swedish literature as a whole is half as good as what's presented here, let's hope that this is only an introduction from Otter and Forsberg, who would seem to have this repertoire to themselves although one could not hope for more understanding interpreters. After all, they are Swedish! All of imagination of their earlier Grieg interpretations is present here as well. There is all the necessary depth of characterization without affected artsiness.If that's not enough, this disc also won the coveted Gramophone Award."

I wish I was Swedish

DAK | Tucson, AZ United States | 06/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is simply my favorite disc of song out there. As a recreational singer, it's wonderful to come across a disc like this and be given an entire new world of song that you can't even find music for. The songs by Sigurd von Koch, who spent some time in Asia, are beautiful enough to dissolve your brain! In The Month Of Tjaitra and Of Lotus Scent And Moonlight are so full of beautiful imagery and wonderful music I can't see why people sing anything else. And the folk-inspired Pertersen-Berger songs are loads of fun too, although of course not as moving."