Search - Palle Knudsen, Edvard Grieg, Bjarte Engeset :: Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites; Six Orchestral Songs

The Orchestral Songs are the Draw Here

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 11/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fifty years ago Grieg's suites from his incidental music for Ibsen's play 'Peer Gynt' figured frequently on orchestral programs. But Grieg's star has dimmed over the years, possibly because it has become fashionable in some circles to think of Grieg as a miniaturist whose music is just one notch above salon music. That notion is, of course, complete rubbish and non-academic classical music-lovers have continued to adore his music; witness, for instance, the many, many recordings of the Peer Gynt music. But when was the last time you heard a live performance of it in anything but a pops concert?



This recording of the two Peer Gynt suites by Bjarte Engeset and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra has extremely strong competition, even from budget-priced versions. Still, on this disc the music is played exceptionally well and can easily receive a recommendation. One notices how scrupulously Engeset adheres to Grieg's quite specific indications in the score, even including the one direction (in Solveig's Song) for string portamento. It must be said that the Malmö orchestra, although probably not in the very top tier of orchestras worldwide, plays beautifully. Their pianissimi are a joy to hear. And their 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' is actually a little scary.



But for me the real treasure here are the eight orchestral songs. (Amazon's listing is a little confusing on this point. There are the Six Orchestral Songs, EG177, and two additional single orchestral songs -- 'The First Meeting' and 'The Mountain Thrall'. One of the Six Songs is the vocal version of 'Solveig's Song', also heard in its orchestral version in the Second Suite. ) Six of the eight are sung by Inger Dam-Jensen, a lovely singer with a silvery soprano whose response to the poetry is sensitive and whose vocal control is exemplary. The other two are sung by the young Danish baritone, Palle Knudsen, whose voice and artistry remind me a bit of the great Finnish baritone, Jorma Hynninen, and whose diction is particularly fine. All eight songs are generally slow in tempo and either melancholy or serene in tone. Listening to them I realized for the first time -- unfamiliar as I am with both the Norwegian language and with Norwegian songs -- how much Grieg's typical feminine phrase endings (DAAAH dah) come from their frequent occurrence in the Norwegian language. Unfortunately Naxos does not provide texts -- and I did not attempt to find them online, although I suspect a curious listener could probably find them there -- but Engeset's booklet notes are very helpful in giving us the general thrust of each song. I had never heard most of these songs and was utterly charmed both by the songs and by the performances.



An unequivocal recommendation.



Scott Morrison"