Search - Peterson-Berger, Segerstam, Royal Orch Stockholm :: Symphonies 1 & 5

Unjustly neglected syphonies well worth a listen.

07/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ultra conservative Swedish symphonies from an exact contemporary of Sibelius, Nielsen, Stenhammar and Alfven. Nordic pastoralism meets Wagner and the military band! Highly enjoyable! Considering the middle symphonies of Dvorak get programed with some regularity, the neglect of these attractive works is beyond understanding. Enthusiastic performances, well recorded--low volume level, however."

One very good indeed, another not quite so magnificent

I. J. J. Nieuwland | Amsterdam | 10/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is in some respect a Janus-faced disc, showing the extremes of Peterson-Berger's symphonic output. On the one hand the First Symphony, which is very much a first effort: ambitious yet somewhat lacking in ideas and compositional tightness. It is to his later symphonies what Bruckner's first symphony is to, say, the sixth; showing the outlines of greatness but lacking the necessary depth.



The fifth, on the other hand, is marvellous music, rich in ideas and marvellously developed. Its subtitle, 'solitude', makes clear that the large gestures of the second and third 'Same Atnam" symphonies are not predominant in this work. Rather, it is subtlety that dominates. The scherzo, rightly titled 'delicatissimo', is a clear indication. No spectacular codas here; all movements end rather quietly. The finale, however, is very rhytmic, with the sort of 'perpetual movement' that pervades the last movements of Schubert's ninth or Raff's eleventh. A great piece, that deserves far more attention than it has sofar received.



Segerstam's forces are just the ones to challenge these works. However, it must be said that there's little in it between his recording and Michail Jurowski's equally excellent one on CPO. Segerstam's first is a little better, but the work I'd buy this CD for would be the fifth symphony.



P.s. unfortunately, these reviews have sometimes become a medium to vent dogmatic views on what is good music and what is not (e.g. review by 'Homer' elsewhere on this page). My star rating here refers to playing and interpretation, not the intrinsic musical value of either symphony - that is a matter of aesthetics that everyone needs to decide for him- or herself."