Grieg: Norwegian Bridal Procession, Op. 19, No. 2

This is the fourth and final volume of colourful and highly appealing orchestral works by the Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen. The series is performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Neeme Järvi.

Based on the Passacaille (Chaconne) from the Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in G minor by Handel, Halvorsen’s Passacaglia is a virtuosic duo for solo violin and viola, later made world famous by artists such as Leopold Auer and Jascha Heifetz.

It starts as a simple arrangement of Handel’s original score, but after the presentation of the theme and the first three variations it gradually differs more and more, until it finally frees itself entirely from the original and becomes pure ‘Halvorsen’.

Halvorsen wrote extensively for the stage, and his lifelong fascination with ‘exotic’ elements in music is evident in the ‘Dance Scene’ from the incidental music to Knut Hamsun’s Queen Tamara, a historical play set in the Caucasus. In contrast, the Symphonic Intermezzo from the music to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson’s The King is presented in the style of a tone poem, its language strongly influenced by the musical universe of Liszt and Wagner.

Also on this disc is Halvorsen’s orchestration of Grieg’s piano piece Norwegian Bridal Procession. Other versions exist, among others by Frederick Delius, but in Grieg’s eyes only a native Norwegian could portray rural Norway in music without becoming too romantic or picturesque. Halvorsen’s lush, but non-idealising orchestration proved an immediate success, and at concerts and in the theatre over the next twenty-six years Halvorsen conducted the work at least 140 times.

Halvorsen considered his Norwegian Fairy Tale Pictures to be one of his best works. The suite is colourful and vividly programmatic, drawn from music that Halvorsen had written for a children’s comedy: violins portray the fairy tale hero, the flute plays the part of the abducted princess, while the villainous troll is represented by a motif in the bass.

With heavily atmospheric TV Scandinavian crime drama now all the rage, here is an essentially upbeat antidote to the leaden skies of northern Europe filling our TV screens! This collection features firm favourites such as Alfvén's Midsommarvake (Midsummer Vigil aka Swedish Rhapsody) and Grieg's Våren (Last Spring) and also less familiar works by Halvorsen, Svendsen, Bull and Nielsen. Completing the well-filled Smörgåsbord are three delightful miniatures by 'the Johann Strauss of the north' Hans Lumbye. Many of these performances, including six works conducted by Øivin Fjeldstad and John Frandsen's 1955 recording of Kuhnau's Elverhøj, are on CD for the first time.

Tony Harrison (creative director)

On this fascinating new release pianist Sigurd Slåttebrekk has attempted to recreate the performance of Edvard Grieg’s own pioneering acoustic recording from 1903 of several of his solo pieces. The session was recorded on Grieg’s own 1892 Steinway at Troldhaugen. On the bonus second CD he is joined by the Oslo Philharmonic and conductor Michail Jurowski in a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto.

Sigurd Slåttebrekk has previously released acclaimed recordings of Ravel and Schumann, co-created the animated TV-series "Elias" for children (Emmy nomination 2006) and is now finishing his thesis on late 19th Century pianist performing styles. Tony Harrison is a classical music producer regarded as among the foremost and most creative in his field today.

The 1903 acoustic recordings of Grieg playing nine of his own piano pieces are well known. Sigurd Slåttebrekk and creative director Tony Harrison were drawn to the artistic quality of the playing itself, and this evolved into a historic pioneering project of 'musical archaeology', reviving a performance tradition from over a hundred years ago. They have listened in depth to each detail of Grieg's own playing and tried to imitate the performances at Grieg's piano at Troldhaugen. Slåttebrekk has not only recorded the pieces Grieg himself made, he has also further applied what he has learned about Grieg’s approach to performance in his completion of the Sonata in E minor, and the epic Ballade in G minor.

This collection features some of the greatest composers ever to record, along with disciples playing pieces by their masters.

The disciples fall largely into two main ‘schools’: the Chopin/Schumann axis and the Liszt/Leschetizky group, offering piquant contrast in the piano styles that survived in the playing of Artur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz, respectively.

The recordings were selected for performance quality as well as historical and sonic considerations.

Audio conservation: Ward Marston

Mahler, Reinecke and Grieg play all their 1905/1906 interpretations of their own and other works. The Mahler compositions on this CD are performed both by Mahler and Hans Haass.