Edvard Grieg Complete Symphonic Works, Vol. IV

[…] It’s almost eerily similar to another recent (also live) recording that combines the concerto with Lyric Pieces (although four of Ott’s twelve chocies overlap), namely that of Javier Perianes on Harmonia Mundi with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. If I had to choose between the two, Ott would win out; when she differs, however marginally, in tempos, she’s a touch fleeter, which I like… and the recorded sound (and orchestra’s wind section: no hiss with the Bavarians) is slightly better on DG, which becomes notable in the slow movement. Compared to Herbert Schuch’s recording on Audite (a very delicate, favorite performance, with the WDR SO Cologne and Eivind Aadland) the sound is more direct and almost (and only in comparison) brash.

In the Lyric Pieces Ott (and the acoustic) is a little drier, a little leaner, while Perianes indulges in a freer rubato. Incidentally that’s closer to Grieg, whose rubato was very free-wheeling, indeed. Another fine, slightly specialist release, of Grieg’s Piano Concerto and select Lyric Pieces (played on Grieg’s piano and trying to emulate Grieg’s own performances) shows this to be the case, namely that of Sigurd Slåttebrekk with the Oslo Philharmonic under Michail Jurowski on Simax (ionarts review here: Musical Journey Through Norway). Alice Sara Ott navigates her way through these pieces in similar manner as with the concerto. She won’t indulge, and while her butterfly is fast and sufficiently nervous, she doesn’t deliberately undercut the romantic cliché, either. Like that butterfly, the pieces flit by with great pleasantness and slight blandness.

If that sounds like a gentle bashing, it’s not intended that way. These qualities are no detriment to the music or recording. Actually, this disc could be considered an ideal Griegtroduction™: it does not overly color the canvas of the music and leaves the ears ready, thereafter, to open-mindedly receiving and considering any number of differing interpretations. The only snag: There is one similar recording already, which does all that, a little more of it, arguably a little more interestingly while doing it, and certainly no worse at it. That’s Leif Ove Andsnes’ first, super-stormy, recording of the concerto with the Bergen Philharmonic under Dmitri Kitayenko which, in a coupling on a Virgin twofer (now Erato, if only Warner only re-issued it at last, hopefully with the same Delacroix’ “Orphan girl seated in cemetery” on the cover), added many more lyric pieces and the Piano Sonata on two discs priced lower than the DG release. […]

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Over his entire career Grieg wrote only two orchestral works in the traditional multimovement format: this symphony and concerto. Both are early works. The symphony was completed in 1864, when the composer was 20; the concerto followed in 1868. The symphony had a curious fate because after some partial performances Grieg withdrew it, declaring it should not be performed. And so it wasn’t until 1980, and since then a few recordings have appeared. The work shows debt to Mendelssohn and Schumann but probably doesn’t have enough interest to enter the general repertory. It does have, though, catchy themes and lovely moments that show the remarkable skill and finesse of a young composer. The sweet romanticism we associate with Grieg is not yet part of his style—it really sounds more like Mendelssohn!—and it is clear that after these two early orchestral works he directed his career in other directions.

The symphony performance under Eivind Aadland has everything you would hope for: lots of energy and excitement, with a very fine, well-prepared orchestra. The music emerges with a sense of youth and enthusiasm, and rhythms are crisp. With the concerto, of course, we are on familiar ground. The catalog lists dozens of fine recordings, and a relative newcomer like Schuch (now in his mid-30s) won’t gain notice easily. But this is a fine performance. He throws himself into the piece with lots of excitement in the outer movements and plenty of virtuosic display, mainly in the big cadenza. He also gives us ample poetry in the slow movement and the finale (before the strange stop in the middle!) Schuch is ably backed by Aadland, who brings the same level of excitement here as in the symphony.

This is Volume IV of Audite’s complete edition of Grieg’s orchestral work in five volumes (see our index). It comes with fine, detailed notes, and the sound is first rate. A fine job all around!

For the fourth (and next-to-last) installment of its stunning series of the complete symphonic works of Edvard Grieg, Audite made the canny decision to combine the composer’s least-known major work with the one performed with the most monotonous frequency. Incredibly enough, these two youthful half-hour works, written barely five years apart, hardly seem the work of the same composer.

Composed for Copenhagen at the suggestion of Niels Gade when Grieg was only 20, the Symphony in C Minor is an amiable, well-made stylistic hodge-podge that mixes Schumann, Mendelssohn and—for those with a very discerning ear—Gade himself. Finished in 1864, the symphony was not performed until 1980, when it was finally heard against the composer’s wishes and instructions. The premiere was given—wouldn’t you know it—in the Soviet Union, by the Russian conductor Vitali Katayev, who asked the Bergen city library for a photocopy for “research purposes only” and then performed it anyway. (One more reason not to lament the passing of The Evil Empire.)

The brilliant young Norwegian conductor Eivind Aadland treats the piece like the early work it is, wisely choosing never to overstate the case or try to turn it into the youthful masterpiece it clearly isn’t. Still, everything is done with such loving care and meticulous attention to detail—listen especially to the incredibly refined and sensitive phrasing in the lovely Adagio espressivo—that it’s difficult to imagine a stronger case ever being made for the piece.

The version of the piano concerto is as fresh-minted and spontaneous sounding as everything else in the series, with the WDR Symphony again playing in a way that suggests it’s coming to the music for the very first time (in the best possible sense). The Romanian-born Herbert Schuch is a probing and imaginative soloist, often acting like the first among equals in a fine chamber music recital. The playing itself is lithe and endearingly capricious, especially in the concerto’s cadenza, which for once sounds like cadenzas were meant to sound: as though someone were making it up on the spot. There’s also plenty of fire and muscle when the music requires it, most notably in a finale which steps off at a pace that manages to seem both cracking and completely comfortable. Again, the orchestra performs countless little expressive miracles along the way. Try sampling the flute solo about two and a half minutes in: You can actually smell the chilly morning air.

As in the previous installments in the series, the recorded sound is as warm and natural as the performances themselves. Alas, the concluding Volume Five must now be anticipated with equal amounts of eagerness and regret: as in, what a pity Grieg didn’t write more things for this bunch to record.

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«Rentre chez toi et écris une symphonie», conseille Niels Gade au jeune Grieg, qui s'était alors frotté qu'aux petites formes. L'apprenti s'exécute. Mais note en 1867 «Ne doit jamais être jouée» sur le manuscrit de son unique tentative. Conventionnelle dans sa construction, la symphonie offre pourtant de beaux atouts mélodiques.

Depuis la levée de l'interdiction en... 1981 par la bibliothèque qui la détenait, les gravures ne manquent pas. La nouvelle, bien ancrée sur son large socle (mais pas empesée pour autant), doit beaucoup au geste nerveux d'Eivind Aadland. On peut rêver, dans l'ondoyant Adagio espressivo, de couleurs plus «boréales» que celle de l'orchestre de Cologne, mais l'élan populaire que le chef confère au scherzo et l'énergie trépidante du finale enthousiasment plus que de coutume. Un joli coup de frais.

Soliste et maestro travaillent ensuite à caractériser au mieux les différents épisodes du concerto pour piano. De la vigueur parfois un peu dure au lyrisme le plus chantant, Herbert Schuch montre l'étendue de sa palette expressive et veille à l'élégance du rubato. En outre, les compères semblent prendre un malin plaisir à accentuer ici l'influence de Chopin, à tirer là des fusées lisztiennes, ou à annoncer Rachmaninov. Personnel, bel et bon, mais trop contrôlé. Un peu d'abandon n'aurait pas nui.

'Must never be performed' is an obvious red rag to any musical bull and although Grieg's youthful C minor Symphony reveals numerous influences, some more obvious than others, it's confidently built, thematically appealing and mildly memorable in a way that recalls similarly derivative early symphonic works by Dvorak and Glazunov. Its first recording, by the Bergen Symphony Orchestra under Karsten Andersen, is now out on Decca Eloquence (appropriately coupled with Goldmark's equally engaging Rustic Wedding Symphony), and shares the market with worthy versions under Ari Rasilainen, Okko Kamu, Terje Mikkelsen and Neeme Järvi. Up until now I would probably have rated the latter as top contender but this newcomer from Eivind Aadland and the Cologne WDR Symphony Orchestra, which is captured in admirably natural sound and appears in the context of Grieg's 'Complete Symphonic Works, Vol 4', is a fresh, lightly sprung performance that avoids any inappropriate feelings of portentousness and highlights the mazurka-style third movement as the most characteristic in terms of its thematic material.

A good idea to couple Grieg's least familiar orchestral work with its totally familiar near contemporary, the A minor Piano Concerto, in a not insubstantial reading by the excellent Herbert Schuch, who sounds-as if he's worked over every semiquaver with infinite care. Not that the performance lacks spontaneity, more that inner voices, crisp rhythms and a sculpted brand of poetry suggest a truly 'settled' interpretation, one that happily compares with (but hardly replaces) the best available. Again Aadland and his Cologne players provide an excellent account of the orchestral score, supportive of Schuch and distinctive on its own terms, and the recorded balance is excellent.

Edvard Grieg would prefer that we did not know his Symphony in C minor. But his cover was broken in the late days of the LP when Decca issued a digital recording by Karsten Andersen and the Bergen Philharmonic. The work has not been hidden since, although it is hardly a staple of the repertoire, and is unlikely ever to be. One may well understand the composer's reluctance to have the music played, yet there are some attractive ideas in a symphony that is concise, confident and lyrical, and certainly with numerous trademarks of the Norwegian's style. It's a warm-hearted score, and not a little evocative in places, cast in the traditional four movements and playing for just over half an hour. So it doesn't outstay its welcome; and, anyway, Grieg wasn't about putting on a big show. Rather he invented some pleasing melodies, developed and orchestrated them well if modestly, and his dynamic palette is wide, which Eivind Aadland ensures we appreciate; furthermore, when needed, the composer invests moments of drama to keep the listener engaged and the music on a clear-cut journey.

There is something of a chivalrous fee l to the first movement. If the slow one is a relative disappointment, it's because the very opening is quite lovely but then the music doesn't quite bloom as the initial promise suggests it might. It's tenderly played here, though, as part of a sympathetic and well-prepared reading that continues with a robust, dancing scherzo, itself contrasted with a pastoral trio. The finale drives along with a sense of purpose and direction and also with a sense of emotional urgency, and lightly trips, too, in a very attractive way. The cited stylistic likenesses that are made in Audite's annotation to composers such as Niels Gade, Mendelssohn and Schumann are justified, if applicable more to the former than the two Germans. Yet, ultimately, Grieg is characteristically Grieg in this work, not quite fully formed, doubting himself, but Ieaving us a work that can be much enjoyed.

The excellent music-making and recorded sound is carried into a piece at the polar extreme of Grieg's popularity, the Piano Concerto. Eric Morecambe may have made hay with it more than 40 years ago, with André Previn his willing and brilliant accomplice. Herbert Schuch, with the full support of the orchestra and conductor, gives a fresh and flowing, feisty even, account of music easy to take for granted. There is much that is gentle and tender, too, and the slow movement is especially soulful, beautifully brought off, and the finale has an invigorating impetuousness as well as idyllic romance and final triumph. Throughout, a positive collaboration informs this honest outing for such a familiar concerto. (The earlier volumes in this series were reviewed in July / August 2011 and September 2013).

Grieg's most popular piece alongside his most forgotten, the amlable Symphony he withdrew soon after it was written. The Concerto performance lacks fire, but it's an agreeable combination.

In seiner Gesamtaufnahme von Edward Griegs symphonischem Werk kommt Eivind Aadland nicht an der viel und nicht zuletzt vom Komponisten selber geschmähten Symphonie vorbei. Aadlands motiviertes Dirigieren kann die uncharakteristische Musik nicht ins Positive wenden: Das Werk zieht vorbei und hinterlässt kaum Spuren.

Im Klavierkonzert geht der Dirigent recht sachlich mit der Musik um und arbeitet zusammen mit Herbert Schuch ein Maximum an Nuancen und Kontrasten im Grieg-Konzert heraus. Das führt zu einer lebendigen Darstellung, in der kraftvolle Bravour und poetische Lyrik mit klarem Kopf platziert und dosiert werden.

Lively and stylish performances in a very natural sound. However, even in such a good interpretation, Grieg’s Symphony remains a rather uncharacteristic and unsatisfying work.

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