The second release in the Naxos Geirr Tveitt survey comprises two orchestral suites drawn from A Hundred Hardanger Tunes Op. 151. There are not--and never...

The second release in the Naxos Geirr Tveitt survey comprises two orchestral suites drawn from A Hundred Hardanger Tunes Op. 151. There are not--and never were--a full hundred, but what survives are four orchestral sets of 15 pieces each. A further group was lost in the disastrous fire at Tveitt's ancestral farmstead in 1970 that resulted in the destruction of most of his completed works. Tveitt lived in the Hardanger region of western Norway, and the folk tunes (the "Hardingtonar") were collected by the composer during his travels throughout the locality. The material often is humorously orchestrated, most cleverly in the second group heard here, the Suite No. 4 "Brudlaups-Suiten" ("Wedding Suite"). This set takes the form of a programmatic representation of a traditional Nordic wedding and includes such graphic episodes as Hardanger Tune No. 58 "Brura-drammane" or "The Bride's Drink". Here, a peasant has slipped something into the bride's beverage and the first bassoon gives a risible portrayal of its undesired laxative effects! This account uses the recently completed edition by Bjarte Engeset, who directs a capable and attractive performance and secures a colorfully idiomatic response from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.


Suite No. 1 (un-titled) has been recorded previously on the Simax label by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Per Dreier. Although Dreier's is marginally better-engineered than Engeset's Naxos disc, there's little to choose between these two well-paced, evenly-balanced performances. If you're interested in Tveitt's music, try out this budget CD; the music is entertaining enough to fully justify the minimal outlay, and you can't go wrong with Engeset's strongly committed readings of both suites.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com