If you enjoyed Bjarte Engeset's excellent disc of the Peer Gynt Suites, then you'll certainly like this version of the complete incidental music as much...

If you enjoyed Bjarte Engeset's excellent disc of the Peer Gynt Suites, then you'll certainly like this version of the complete incidental music as much if not more. Normally I prefer "extended excerpts" without the dialogue, but it's all so well done here that I find it impossible to complain. In fact, this set is every bit as fine as the competition on BIS, with excellent soloists (especially the Solveig of soprano Ise Katharina Gericke), an enthusiastic chorus, and extremely atmospheric engineering. All of the popular numbers from the suites (Morning, Anitra's Dance, Ase's Death, In the Hall of the Mountain King, etc.) are played to the hilt, and the extended scene with the trolls is really exciting under Engeset's leadership. Additionally, the couplings are unusual and very welcome.

Bergliot is a melodrama--that is, music accompanied by dialogue--and for that reason it never will be one of Grieg's more popular pieces. Still, it's very enjoyable, full of colorful effects, and the text (about a Viking woman's desire to avenge the death of her husband and son) is very dramatic. It's certainly worth getting to know, and it really does make the perfect companion to the complete Peer Gynt score, which after all has its share of speech against music as well. At Naxos' very reasonable price, this set becomes self-recommending. Texts and translations are available on the Naxos website.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com