This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
If you want Grieg's complete Peer Gynt with dialogue, this is the set to own. It really does represent a new standard, musically, dramatically, and technically. Let me say up front that ordinarily I'm not a fan of music with dialogue, but these actors are so involved, and their participation is so skillfully integrated into the acoustic framework and the musical flow, that the sound of idiomatically spoken Norwegian becomes a sort of quasi-musical counterpoint all on its own. Of course, it helps that the actual music, as realized by Ruud and his Bergen forces, also is outstandingly played and sung. His interpretation has all of the necessary freshness and energy that Grieg's score requires. It's theatrical and exciting but also sensitive; rustic without being crude.
High points are almost too numerous to list: there's Ruud's ebullient overture and his perfectly judged accelerando at In the Hall of the Mountain King; the rush of excitement when Peer Gynt is being hunted by the trolls; the characterfully grotesque Dance of the Mountain King's Daughter; the effortless flow of Morning Mood; Anitra's sexy little belly dance; a wonderfully urgent Peer Gynt's Homecoming; a terrifying shipwreck that happily avoids tacky sound effects; and it's all capped by the beautiful vocal contributions of Marita Solberg, who sings a particularly earthy, warm-toned Solveig. As with all the participants in this performance, she seems not just concerned with getting the notes right, but she's also fully involved with the text and in communicating what the music means, almost as if it were new. The chorus also characterizes its part with enthusiasm, avoiding that "churchy" feel that sometimes dogs performances with voices (except, of course, in the Whitsun Hymn, where it's called for).
It's also worth pointing out the extreme care that BIS has taken over production values. In SACD multichannel format, not only do you get enhanced three-dimensionality with respect to the basic soundstage, but sensitive use of the rear speakers creates atmosphere--for example, at such moments as the scene with the Boyg, or at various places requiring offstage voices--without ever drawing gratuitous attention to the technical side of things. The bottom line is that this production offers an unparalleled experience of Grieg's music in which the technology is placed entirely in the service of musical and theatrical values. The packaging and presentation are also exceptional: you get two booklets, one with notes and texts (Norwegian and English), the other with production stills from the actual play. Clearly everyone concerned with this release has pulled out all of the stops, and it has paid off handsomely. An exceptional achievement. [6/28/2005] --David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Following a visit to Wagner in Bayreuth in 1873, Anton Bruckner dedicated his most recent symphony, No.3 in D minor, to ‘the unattainable world-famous noble master of poetry and music’ and would later refer to the work as his ‘Wagner Symphony’. Among Bruckner’s symphonies, it is the one with the most complicated genesis: the first version was followed by substantial revisions and it exists in two more versions, from 1877/78 and 1888/89. The first version was never performed in Bruckner’s lifetime – in fact, more than a century passed before the work was heard in the form that Wagner first knew and called ‘a masterpiece’. This is the version that Thomas Dausgaard has chosen to perform, as he and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra follow up on their recording of the composer’s Sixth Symphony, praised in Fanfare for having ‘all of Bruckner’s splendor and tenderness without any excess baggage’. Dausgaard explains the reason for his choice as follows: ‘The original version stands as a monolith … what you go through is musically so strong, swinging between timelessness and drive, despair and ecstasy, divine light and hellish fire, that in the end I feel you have to let yourself go and be won over by it.’
REVIEW:
Dausgaard's Bruckner symphonies tend toward the quick side, but he has never been quite as relatively fast as he is here; his original Symphony No. 3 is more than 12 minutes faster than a version by Kent Nagano from the early 2000s, and his reading comes in even shorter than some of the recordings of Bruckner's abridged versions. This is all to the good, even for listeners who prefer heavier Bruckner to Dausgaard's rather lithe style. Dausgaard's quick tempos catch the kaleidoscope of moods, and with them, the febrile quality of Bruckner's imagination in this work, really his creative breakthrough. Dausgaard's management of his Bergen musicians is, as usual, exemplary as they skitter through the difficult passages that bedeviled the symphony's early interpreters. A high point in Dausgaard's Bruckner project.
First performed in Dresden in 1909, Elektra was Strauss's first collaboration (of many) with the librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and is the most modernist of all of his operas. Based on the (heavily reworked) play by Sophocles, Hofmannsthal's version concentrates on the inner thoughts and feelings of Elektra as she holds individual conversations with other members of her family. Strauss's score is exceptionally adventurous harmonically, and famously features the Elektra Chord (a simultaneous combination of E major and C sharp major). The orchestration is exceptionally lavish - even by Strauss's standards - featuring eight horns, six trumpets, double timpani, and two harps. The performance was recorded live in Bergen in December 2023, Edward Gardner conducting a cast led by the great Swedish dramatic soprano Iréne Theorin, one of the finest Elektras of our time.
Oscar Wilde's play Salome was conceived for the actress Sarah Bernhardt and was originally planned for performance in London, in 1892. The play was blocked by the sensor (it was forbidden at the time to depict biblical characters on stage) and so first given in Paris instead, in 1896. Wilde never saw his play performed, as he was serving a prison sentence for homosexual acts whilst the only two performances in his lifetime occurred. Subsequently the play gained popularity in Germany, and having attended a performance in Berlin in 1902, Strauss determined that this would be the subject for his third opera. First performed in 1905, Strauss's Salome has gone on to become much better-known than Wilde's play, and is regularly performed at opera houses around the world. This live recording was made at a performance at the Usher Hall, in Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2022. Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by an outstanding cast of soloists, led by Malin Bystrom in the title role, Gerhard Siegel as Herod, Katarina Dalayman as Herodias, and Johan Reuter as John the Baptist.
Nørgård: Symphony No. 8; Orchestral Works / Storgårds, Bergen Philharmonic
BIS
SACD
$21.99Sep 01, 2023
Having celebrated his 90th birthday in 2022, Per Nørgård is undoubtedly one of the most important Danish composers since Nielsen. His important production that covers all genres is a highly personal travel document based on his endless incursions through the sonic labyrinths of this world.
Based on material from Nørgård’s viola concerto from 1986, Three Nocturnal Movements for violin, cello and orchestra came about on the initiative of the violinist Peter Herresthal and the cellist Jakob Kullberg, two of his long-term collaborators. The work was creatively developed for two soloists by Kullberg, who decided on the form of the movement after making a selection of musical fragments described as ‘nocturnal’.
Dedicated to the conductor John Storgårds, Symphony No. 8 appears bright, transparent while its atmosphere is somewhat mysterious and filled with tension. This symphony, his most recent work in this genre, can be compared to latter works from other Nordic composers like Sibelius and Nielsen. Finally, Lysning, a short piece for string orchestra, has been described by Nørgård as a ‘glade’ and is made of an alternance of darker and brighter variations of the same musical ideas heard in different instrumental colourings and nuances.
Edward Gardner's series of Nielsen symphonies with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra continues with this recording of No. 5, complemented with the overture Helios and the Clarinet Concerto, featuring Alessandro Carbonare as soloist. Nielsen composed Helios in 1903 on a trip to Greece, as his wife, Anne Marie, a sculptor, had won a grant to copy sculptures on the Acropolis. Over it's ten-twelve-minute duration, the work depicts sunrise, noontime, and then sunset over the Aegean Sea, and is one of the composer's most performed works. The Clarinet Concerto dates from 1928 and is cast in one long movement falling into four sections. It is dedicated to Nielsen's friend Aage Oxenvad who gave the first performance. Composed between 1920 and 1922, the Fifth Symphony is unusually laid out in just two movements - the only piece by Nielsen to adopt this structure. Unlike his other mature symphonies, the fifth lacks a subtitle, and so could be considered to be more 'pure music' compared to the descriptive nature of the others. Nielsen described the symphony as 'the division of dark and light, the battle between evil and good' and the opposition between 'Dreams and Deeds'. Considered by many as a "war symphony", Nielsen insisted that he had not been thinking of World War I whilst he was composing the work, but also commented "not one of us is the same as we were before the war".
Grieg’s four Symphonic Dances are a late work, completed in 1898. Grieg takes his inspiration (as in so much of his output) from traditional Norwegian folk tunes, and the four movements together deliver a symphonic unity in their overall effect. Both Bergliot and Before a Southern Convent are written on texts by Grieg’s good friend the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who was also a theatre manager in Oslo. Bjørnson is considered one of the four great Norwegian authors alongside Ibsen, Lie, and Kielland, received the 1903 Nobel Prize for literature, and wrote the words for the Norwegian national anthem. Bergliot – a declamation with orchestra – tells the story of a dramatic episode involving the chieftain Einar Tambarskjelve and his son Eindride, killed by King Harald Hårdråde. Before a Southern Convent is a more traditional setting – requiring two vocal soloists, female choir, and orchestra rather than the narrator of Bergliot – of the story of the folk-hero and barbarian Arnljot Gelline. In the course of his wild escapades, he killed a chieftain, but allowed the chieftain’s daughter, Ingigerd, to live. This daughter left the homestead and wandered southwards in poverty – through Europe. At long last she arrived at a convent which granted her admittance. The album is completed by the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak – a friend of Grieg’s, who died of tuberculosis in 1866. Grieg conceived it first for solo piano, but whilst travelling by train to Bergen to attend Grieg’s funeral, Johan Halvorsen made the orchestral arrangement heard in this recording.
Born in Bergen in 1985, the Norwegian saxophonist and composer Marius Neset has earned countless nominations and awards for his performances and recordings, and has performed with jazz musicians all over the world. He is increasingly in demand as a composer of works for the concert hall; these range over a wide spectrum of performing forces, many featuring the saxophone. This album features four world première recordings, three of which feature the composer as saxophone soloist. MANMADE is a concerto for saxophone and symphony orchestra in which the form and the structure are inspired by the climate change which our times are experiencing. The work is divided into five movements which concern themselves with man-made historical innovations that have contributed to the development of society, but that in many ways have also brought us step by step to the great global challenges facing the world today. Originally scored for flute, string quartet, and piano, Windless is a piece that Neset was keen to re-score for saxophone and orchestra. Similarly, A Day in the Sparrow’s Life started out as a piece for solo saxophone that has grown (via saxophone and string quartet) to the full orchestral score recorded here. Every Little Step was composed during lockdown when we all had to maintain a distance, and spend time by ourselves. It was also a period when we had to stand together in making all the small but crucial changes that would get us to the finish line. To Neset, it also offered the possibility of spending a lot of time with his new-born daughter and following her development from day to day.
Composed between 1865 and 1868, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem has become a repertoire staple for choirs around the world, amateur and professional alike, possibly because it relies so much more on the choir than it's soloists to convey the texts than other works. Brahms chose not to set the Requiem Mass, but rather a collection of biblical texts of his own selection, taken from the Lutheran Bible (hence the 'deutsches'). Rather than a prayer for the dead, Brahms's concern is much more with offering comfort to the bereaved, still on earth. When challenged about the lack of a single reference to Christ in the entire work, Brahms responded, 'I would gladly omit even the word German and simply put Human'. This adds credence to the view that he saw the work in an entirely humanist way, and that the religious overtones of the title and text selection are much more a result of the avowedly Christian culture of his times than a specific decision to express personal belief. Edward Gardner and his Bergen forces are joined by the soloists Johanna Wallroth and Brian Mulligan in this exciting new recording.
His First Symphony famously took Brahms twenty-one years from conception to first performance - a marker of both his own highly self-critical assessment of his output, combined with the expectation of everyone around him that his symphonic output would naturally pick up where Beethoven had left off. Astonishingly, his Second Symphony was begun in June 1877 and received it's first performance just six months later, by the Vienna Philharmonic and Hans Richter. It's cheerful nature and pastoral mood are also a stark contrast to the first symphony. Following a gap of some six years, Brahms returned to the form in 1883, and composed his third and then fourth symphonies in quick succession. Begun in 1884, the Fourth Symphony was premièred by Brahms and the Meiningen court orchestra in October 1885. The work is especially notable for it's last movement, which takes the form of a passacaglia (an extremely rare occurrence) and is the only one of Brahms's symphonies to end in a minor key.
Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 12; Rondo for Piano in D Major, K.
Challenge Classics
CD
$16.99Nov 07, 2025
Mozart Piano Concertos, Vol. 3. The concept behind our present undertaking, the Mozart Piano Concertos CD trilogy, is to present a range of concertos from Mozart's various compositional and performing periods, styles, techniques and instrumentations. Our endeavour is also linked with an encore-like single work on each CD, namely a Rondo. The additional connecting link between these six piano concertos is the Cadenzas & Lead-ins which Lazic has composed himself. Here he was inspired by the common practice of the composer's day.
Second of three instalments in this Lazic-de Vriend-Bergen Philharmonic unique project. Famous Concertos nos. 21 & 9 are alongside the Rondo K. 382. Once more all candenza and leads-in are inventive creations by Lazic. Fanfare (USA): I find Lazic and de Vriend's K 449 quite exhilarating and rate it an unmitigated success. Classica (FR): In total: a record of quite astonishing eloquence. Luister (NL): Recommended.
Nordheim: The Tempest - Suite from the Ballet / Gardner, Bergen Philharmonic
LAWO Classics
CD
$18.99Feb 03, 2023
The Bergen Philharmonic and Chief Conductor Edward Gardner present Arne Nordheim's "The Tempest" (Suite from the Ballet). Arne Nordheim was Norway’s most significant and respected composer until his death in 2010, and one of the few figures in contemporary western music who proved himself able to move beyond traditional harmonic relationships while maintaining a distinct ability to communicate widely through his striking, physical music.
To list the various distinctions awarded to the recordings that make up this sumptuous offering is almost impossible; suffice it to say that the entire series received the Grieg Award in 2007, the year of the hundredth anniversary of the death of the composer, as well as a very special commendation by the UK Grieg Society the same year.
During 2003-2006, as the individual discs were released, reviewers all over the world were heaping praise over the series – astoundingly enough, as this is repertoire that at least in part belong to some of the most well-represented on disc. But this did not seem to matter to the critics, who described the performance of the Piano Concerto as one that ‘will make you fall in love with the music all over again’ (American Record Guide) and that of the Holberg Suite ‘so compelling that it simply makes you forget about any other’ (Classics Today.com), deeming the Peer Gynt Suites to be ‘interpretations that rejuvenate even this almost hackneyed, overly familiar music, relieving it of all the ballast of performance history’ (klassik.com).
It was the freshness of the performances by Ole Kristian Ruud and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra that struck most critics – freshness coupled with expertise: ‘Bergen musicians have lived with these scores since their creation and all the performances here have a relaxed, idiomatic naturalness in their virtuosity’ (Gramophone). A second point was the superior sound quality – the result of inspired and painstaking work by the BIS recording staff in combination with the splendid acoustics of the Grieg Hall in Bergen. ‘Sonically this production features demonstration quality both in stereo and SACD multi-channel formats’ wrote the reviewer of Classics Today.com; ‘a fabulous complete cycle, admirably served by the splendid recording technique’ was the verdict in Classica-Répertoire.
The third factor contributing to the warm reception was of course the music itself, the fascination and power exerted by the Piano Concerto and the complete Peer Gynt, the emotion projected in Bergliot and Den Bergtekne, the charm and freshness of the orchestral songs and Lyric Suite – in the words of one reviewer: ‘music that you'd have to be either deaf or dead not to love’. The complete traversal, generally considered a reference point in the Grieg discography, is now available in this stereo-only version at a very advantageous price. (8 CDs for the price of 3)
Job receives a performance of striking composure, luster, and palpable dedication. Not only do the Bergen Philharmonic respond with notable poise and eagerness (solo contributions are of the highest quality throughout), Davis conducts with unobtrusive authority as well as a sure hand on the structural tiller, uncovering a wealth of harmonic and textural detail along the way. The spectacular engineering handles everything with aplomb.
There's heaps to priase, too, in Davis's scrupulously observant and nobly unforced conception of the Ninth Symphony - and, once again what admirably vital and shapely playing he draws from the orchestra. This mightily impressive Ninth deserves a place at the top table alongside the 1969 Boult, Handley, and Haitink.
Johan Halvorsen spent most of his career writing for the theater, which is probably why his music sounds so effortless, colorful, and well, efficient. This isn't meant to be disparaging. Rather, all of these pieces get right to the point, and none outstays its welcome, not even the Second Symphony, which clocks in at a bit under half an hour. It's conservative, harmonically and formally, but the music really works--it's a pleasure from beginning to end, and wholly convincing. This performance also is the first to correct the zillion errors in the printed score that have gone a long way to preventing the work from entering the repertoire, where it surely belongs.
The other pieces are all, in one way or another, ostensibly Norwegian in sound in a manner quite similar to Grieg. Again, there's nothing wrong with that. What sane person dislikes Grieg? The Suite ancienne, to the memory of Holberg, has every bit as much charm and freshness as Grieg's Holberg Suite, while the other three pieces all feature solo violin. Marianne Thorsen plays splendidly, while Neeme Järvi leads his Bergen forces in performances that are graceful, vibrant, and in the Suite and the Symphony, the last word in impetuosity and excitement. With terrific sound, if you don't know this music, you're missing something special.
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Norway is a gorgeous country, and it’s no surprise that Delius found much of his inspiration there. The pieces on this intelligently planned program run from 1889-1917, and are programmed in roughly chronological order. They range from the charming orchestration of good friend Edvard Grieg’s Norwegian Bridal Procession to Delius’ first major works for orchestra (Paa Vidderne) and for the theatre (the incidental music to Folkeraadet), taking in a couple of orchestral songs along the way.
Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains) is a tone poem obviously of the Wagner/Liszt school, with plenty of hefty brass scoring and way too many cymbal crashes. It does not sound particularly Delian, but curiously the earlier Sleigh Ride’s calm central section clearly foreshadows the composer to come. Few listeners are probably aware that On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring is based on a Norwegian theme, but there it is, while Eventyr, which concludes the program, is a masterpiece of mood and turbulent atmosphere, sort of Delius’ answer to Sibelius’ En Saga.
This is one of those programs in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The selections are nicely varied. Ann-Helen Moen sings the two songs quite beautifully, and Andrew Davis, who recorded some very nice Delius for Teldec back in the day, knows his way around the music. It’s also good to hear non-British orchestras taking on this repertoire. Certainly the Bergen Philharmonic sounds just fine, although curiously, in Eventyr, the second of the two shouts (literally: the plays have to shout) is quite untidy. Not important, though, especially with fine sonics and a very generous nearly eighty minutes of playing time. A very enjoyable and interesting disc.
Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, Isle Of The Dead, The Rock / Litton, Bergen Philharmonic
BIS
SACD
$21.99Nov 01, 2012
"If you want to show people how fine a conductor in the old style Litton is, this version of The Isle of the Dead will do nicely, since it offers little to distract by way of surface brilliance. There’s an attention to structure, a matter not only of the tone poem’s all-important dynamic arch, but of carefully teasing out thematic cross-references in the orchestral texture. Inner lines are clarified, but not at the expense of vitality, momentum, or expressive power. As much can be said of this version of The Rock. It is in some respects a study for The Isle of the Dead, and Litton turns in a performance every bit as detailed and authoritative."
The programme on this first disc in the cycle includes both old favourites - the piano concerto - and less known works. (The Symphony was actually left unperformed for more than 100 years, from 1867 to 1980). Recorded with the new DSD (Direct Stream Digital) technology, these interpretations are available on SACD and in Surround Sound - a first for this the most recorded (?) of piano concertos. The presence of the piano and the weight of the orchestra as well as the sense of spaciousness are truly extraordinary. One gains entirely new insights into just how the piano soloist - Noriko Ogawa - sculpts those famous melodies; and just how dazzlingly spectacular her finger work is in the rapid runs!
![Grieg: Orchestral Works Vol 1 [sacd]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/1632953.jpg?v=1786694739&width=800)
![Grieg: Orchestral Works Vol 1 [sacd]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/1632953.jpg?v=1786694739&width=400)