Search - Edvard Grieg, Odd Grüner-Hegge, Eugene Ormandy :: Grieg: Greatest Hits

MUCH Better than the Usual "Best of" Albums!

10/04/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Record labels come out with "best of" selections, usually to make some money off of older or poorer recordings (both as recordings and performances)-- thinking that only relatively ignorant buyers will opt for such fare, and they won't know the difference between the indifferent and excellent. But, on occasion, gems can inveigle their way onto such recordings. Here is a case in point: this recording, which does indeed include the most popular of Grieg's works, the Peer Gynt Suites 1 and 2, and the Piano Concerto, is excellent through and through. Fine performances of the Peer Gynt Suites, beautifully played, are crowned with what is still (in my opinion) the finest recorded performance of the A Minor Piano Concerto: a practically unknown pianist, a provincial (or seemingly!) orchestra, and a recording that dates back forty years. But, Ah! What a performance! The pianist and orchestra being both Norwegian, this music is in their genes. The remastering of the recording is very good. But it is the combined interpretation of the pianist and orchestra that shines so brightly. Most acclaimed modern interpretations tend to overdo the delicacy and "poetry" of the work to the extent of emasculating it. But this performance oozes vitality and virility, is BOTH exciting AND exquisitely beautiful. No one could ask for more poetic rendering of the slow movement, or the spacious middle portion of the finale; yet the tension and brilliance of the first movement and the main sections of the finale are brought out more brilliantly here than in almost all other, more expensive, later recordings. And all this for a pittance! The lowest price-range! Who could ask for anything more? Bliss on a budget! If you love Grieg, give this CD a spin. It will illuminate the concerto as few other recordings do."

Still the best

07/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over twenty years ago, before returning to the US from two years in Norway, I bought the LP recording of this performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto. It immediately became a favorite, a summation for me of the beauty and wonder of the land and people. Since then, I have wondered if there were better recordings available. After all, this was a recording with no well known names and little hype. I can say,now,after twenty years of listening and looking, it is still the best."