Mit diesem Album beschließt Audite die fünfteilige Gesamtaufnahme aller Orchesterwerke des norwegischen Nationalkomponisten. Die CD beginnt mit zwei Nummern aus der Bühnenmusik (nicht aus den Suiten) zu Henrik Ibsens Drama ‘Peer Gynt’ und endet mit den ‘Norwegischen Tänzen’ op. 35, die das WDR-Orchester hinreißend spielt, völlig gelöst und mit genuinem Schwung.

Grandioser Höhepunkt der CD sind die ‘Sechs Orchesterlieder’, weil mit Camilla Tilling und Eivind Aadland zwei Musiker aufeinandergetroffen sind, die dem elegischen Zyklus die Klangwelt verleihen, die er braucht, um den Zuhörer zu fesseln.

Mit ihrer kräftigen und doch so überaus sensiblen Stimme sowie ihrem so herzerweichend schönen, goldenen Timbre bleibt die schwedische Sängerin weder den verinnerlichten Gefühlen noch der leidenschaftlichen Dramatik etwas schuldig. In Aadland hat sie einen Dirigenten, der ihre Stimme trägt, der mit ihr atmet und der selber die Musik von innen heraus expressiv werden lässt. Deshalb gelingen ihm auch die beiden Lyrischen Stücke op. 68 so wunderbar einfühlsam.

Ganz bewegend ist ebenfalls ‘Der Bergentrückte’ (auch ‘Der Einsame’ genannt), den Tom Erik Lie gefühlvoll und mit angenehmer Stimme singt.

Kein Zweifel mit dieser CD setzt Audite seinem Grieg-Zyklus die Krone auf.

This final CD in Audite’s Grieg series has a lot of well performed content, yet the highlight is the cycle of Six Orchestral Songs, beautifully and movingly sung by Camilla Tilling, whose voice is perfectly supported by the orchestra.

Mit ganz so edlen Waffen wird auf der folgenden Aufnahme nicht gefochten, wo sich Camilla Tilling und Tom Erik Lie beim Grieg-Zyklus des Norwegers Eivind Aadland mit dem WDR-Sinfonieorchester ins Zeug legen. Mit der fünften Ausgabe gehen die Complete Symphonic Works mit der Einspielung von weniger bekannten Orchesterliedern effektvoll ins Ziel (audite 92.671). Die Sechs Orchesterlieder von 1894/95 beispielsweise fassen u.a. mit zwei Solveig-Weisen Auszüge aus der Schauspielmusik zu „Peer Gynt“ sowie Bearbeitungen von Klavierliedern – darunter „From Monte Pincio“ oder das dem norwegischen Patrioten und Dichter Wergeland gewidmete Lied – zusammen. Tilling glänzt vor allem im fast wagnerischen „Letzter Frühling“. Mitbringsel von Griegs Sommer-Aufenthalten in Hardanger sind neben den Orchesterbearbeitungen der Lyrischen Stücke für Klavier mit „Abend im Hochgebirge“ und „Wiegenleid“ die stark volkstümlich gefärbten Norwegischen Tänze op. 35 und die stimmungsvolle Orchesterballade für Bariton „Den Bergtekne“, was Michael Struck-Schloen im schönen dt. engl. Beiheft als „Der durch den Berg Entrückte“ wiedergibt. Beiheft (dt., engl.). Das WDR-Sinfonieorchester sorgt u.a. mit erhabenen Holzbläser-Passagen dafür, dass der Hörer sich eine gute Stunde lang in norwegische Landschaften entrückt fühlen darf.

This is volume five of Audite’s survey of the complete symphonic music of Edvard Grieg, and not surprisingly, it continues to delight with excellent performances and wonderful surprises from the corners of this great composer’s output (not to mention the very familiar Peer Gynt music). This edition features two works for orchestra and voice, including six songs for soprano, and one for baritone. The six orchestral songs are a grouping of early works with piano accompaniment that the composer orchestrated in Copenhagen in 1895. They are exceptionally beautiful, with, typically for Grieg, a strong folk influence. Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling sounds very much in her element here, with her light bodied, lyrical soprano capturing the mood of the music nicely. The song for baritone, Den Bergtekne (The Mountain Thrall) was written for orchestra and voice, the only such example in Grieg’s output, according to the program notes. Norwegian singer Tom Erik Lie renders the music with the gravity of a Schubert song. The two Lyric Pieces, as well as the Norwegian Dances, are also orchestrations of familiar piano music. The Lyric Pieces sound a bit overweight in this garb, but the Norwegian Dances, originally for piano four hands, translate well.

No surprises here as far as Aadland and his Cologne musicians are concerned, and that’s a good thing, because previous releases have also featured lusty, deeply committed performances. Great engineering from Audite, also as usual (and I am only hearing it in standard CD playback). This is a terrific series.

Sometimes you open up an innocent looking CD and discover a box of treasures. That’s what this one is like. Not having listened to any Grieg for a little while, I was pleased enough to come across this recording but it turns out to be full of truly wonderful things. Plenty of variety too, with short orchestral works, incidental music, and songs with orchestra.

It’s these last – the songs – that lie at the heart of this collection, and bring its most memorable experiences. The soprano Camilla Tilling is a rare talent, and is to be heard at her best in this Scandinavian repertoire. I first heard her in a fine CD of Strauss songs with piano, and was struck then with the freshness of her tone, the open, natural manner of her singing. That is again the case here, perhaps enhanced by the character of the Norwegian language though she herself is Swedish.

All the songs are sung with great beauty and an unsentimental strength of emotion. Solveig’s Song from Peer Gynt is famously affecting, but I can’t remember hearing it sung as perfectly as this. A Swan, to Henrik Ibsen’s poem, is hauntingly elegiac, while The Last Spring achieves a remarkable intensity. Tilling has the ability to sing this often subtle and demanding music as if it comes straight from the heart, which I’m sure it does.

All through these songs, she is accompanied with the greatest sensitivity by Eivind Aadland and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. They are equally engaged for Tom Erik Lie’s singing of The Mountain Thrall – the only Grieg song that was originally set for voice and orchestra. Matters of balance have been most carefully addressed by the performers, and the excellence of the recording simply facilitates that.

The first two tracks are items taken from the music Grieg wrote for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. Neither of these is to be heard in the familiar suites; we have the Act 1 Prelude, quite an extended piece that incorporates Solveig’s Song, while the second is the sensual Dance of the Mountain King’s Daughter, with its Arabic colouring. The whole programme, which could have been a little disparate, is given a satisfying shape by ‘book-ending’ it with orchestral items, the final four tracks being the delightful Norwegian Dances of op.35. Again I was struck here by the very fine orchestral playing. The first Dance - which brings us Grieg in his ‘Mountain King’ mode evoking wicked dwarves and trolls - fairly rattles along, while the oboe playing in no.2 (Allegro tranquillo e grazioso) is beautifully phrased and full of gentle wit. The same characteristics are to be found in the two Lyric Pieces on tracks 9 and 10. I was particularly taken with Evening in the Mountains, an atmospheric and moody little piece, that brings us an oboe ‘ranz des vaches’ reminiscent of the cor anglais solo in Tristan, followed by yet another example of Grieg’s unsurpassed wiring for strings.

All in all, a disc of the highest quality. Grieg is a composer that it’s far too easy to take for granted, and to think no further than the Peer Gynt Suites and the Piano Concerto. There is an awful lot more to him than that, and this CD, Volume 5 of a ‘Complete Symphonic Works’ project, demonstrates that in the most enjoyable way possible.

Was im Juni 2011 mit der ersten von insgesamt fünf Einspielungen des gesamten sinfonischen Werks von Edvard Grieg mit dem WDR-Sinfonieorchester unter der Leitung des Norwegers Eivind Aadland begann, ist nun vollendet. Die die Gesamteinspielung abschließende, soeben erschienene fünfte CD, stellt den Liedkomponisten und Bearbeiter Grieg in den Mittelpunkt.

Immer wieder hat er sich leidenschaftlich gegen den Vorwurf der "Norwegerei" gewehrt – doch die Werke dieser CD belegen eindrucksvoll, dass Edvard Grieg sich seines Bekenntnisses zu seiner norwegischen Heimat, zu deren Klang, Atmosphäre, zu deren elegischem Naturmythos alles andere als schämen musste. Denn was Grieg uns in seiner Musik zu Ibsens "Peer Gynt", seinen Norwegischen Tänzen op. 35, den zwei lyrischen Stücken op. 68 und insbesondere in seinem Zyklus "Sechs Lieder für Orchester" hinterlassen hat, ist der Beleg eines Komponisten, der die Instrumentationsraffinessen der Spätromantik bravourös einzusetzen wusste. Umso wertvoller, dass wir sie nun in einer mustergültigen Edition vollständig vorliegen haben.

Aadland als Natur- und Seelenführer

Das WDR Sinfonieorchester schlägt unter Eivind Aadland genau den richtigen Ton an, den es braucht, um Griegs Heimat akustisch erlebbar werden zu lassen. Einen besseren Natur- und Seelenführer als den Norweger Aadland hätte sich das Orchester nicht wünschen können. Aadland weiß genau, wovon die Musik erzählt. Und so lässt er sie an langer Leine ebenso ausgelassen feiern, mit wachem Ohr für die burschikose Heiterkeit vieler volksmusikalischer Elemente, wie er auch die überwältigenden Eindrücke einer sich auf die Berge legenden Abendstimmung mit majestätischem Staunen zu Gehör bringt. Aadlands Grieg ist kraftvoll, jedes Motiv ist bis ins Detail ausgelotet, bis ins letzte geschliffen und fügt sich doch wie selbstverständlich in einen in jedem Moment spürbaren Blick für die Gesamtform ein.

Atemberaubende Klanglandschaften

Wälder, Berge, Fjorde – Edvard Grieg hat Norwegens grandiose Landschaften in atemberaubende Klanglandschaften verwandelt. Ja, es sind manch elegische, lyrische, träumerisch-versonnene Momente in dieser Musik, so, als ob sich sanfte Nebelschwaden über die Natur legen – aber von welcher Schönheit! Und gerade, wenn sich die Musik über Worte legt und diese vom goldwarmen Klang der Sopranistin Camilla Tilling zu leuchten beginnen.

Griegsche Orchesterkosmos

Über vier Jahre haben sich das WDR Sinfonieorchester und Eivind Aadland auf das orchestrale Gesamtwerk Edvard Griegs konzentriert. Sicher, eine neue Gesamteinspielung der Symphonien von Beethoven, Brahms oder Bruckner mag spektakulärer klingen – aber auch diese fünfte und letzte Grieg-CD beweist: Es lohnt sich den Blick zu weiten, auch zu einem Komponisten, der musikalisch viel mehr Sprachen sprach, als "nur" die norwegische. Mit dieser exemplarischen Einspielung kommt man an der Vielsprachigkeit des Griegschen Orchesterkosmos endgültig nicht mehr vorbei. "Norwegischer" geht nicht!

De volledige editie van Edvard Griegs symfonische werken met het WDR Symphony Orchestra onder Eivind Aadland is nu verkrijgbaar als een 5 SACD-boxset. Deze editie is vooral overtuigend dankzij de authentieke aanpak van de Noor, Eivind Aadland. Hij dirigeert nl. met veel energie en opwinding, een zeer goed orkest.

Vol. 1 en 2 zijn gewijd aan de originele orkestwerken, terwijl Vol. 3 een deel van de transcripties bevat van werken die Grieg oorspronkelijk voor piano componeerde. Hij orkestreerde ze om als populaire componist en dirigent meer symfonisch materiaal tot zijn beschikking te hebben. Niet zelden overtreffen de transcripties de originelen in termen van volheid en rijkdom aan kleur. Vol. 4 van deze serie combineert het populairste werk van Grieg met zijn minst bekende stuk, zijn Pianoconcerto en zijn Symfonie. Hoewel het pianoconcerto in la klein, hier met Herbert Schuch (foto) als solist, de doorbraak van de 25-jarige componist tot internationale bekendheid was, had hij besloten zijn symfonie in te trekken, slechts enkele jaren eerder geschreven.

Toch overtuigt elke pagina van de partituur ondanks invloeden van Schumann, Gade en Mendelssohn, dankzij Griegs jeugdige inspiratie en uitstekend vakmanschap. Het afsluitend Vol. 5 van de volledige opname van de orkestwerken van Edvard Grieg onthult een minder bekende kant van de Noorse nationale componist, nl. als arrangeur van zijn eigen lyrische en patriottische liederen, hier gezongen door de sopraan, Camilla Tilling (6 Orkestliederen) en de bariton, Tom Erik Lie (Den Bergtekne (De Bergtrol), op. 32), met elegische en dansachtige melodieën. Opgenomen in de Philharmonie en de Bismarck-zaal in Keulen.

Hoewel het grootste aandeel van Grieg aangaande het zoeken naar een eigen Noorse nationale stijl, voornamelijk gebeurde met pianocomposities, componeerde hij prachtige orkestmuziek die wereldwijd veel te weinig gespeeld wordt en (nog) grotendeels onbekend is. De box is de viering van de rijke en veelzijdige esthetiek van Grieg, die een idealistische humanist was en wiens muziek en geschriften de mooie harmonie tussen mens en natuur beklemtoonden. Het gevoel van sentimentele nostalgie en ‘postkaart lyriek’ vaak geassocieerd met Grieg, worden ruimschoots ontkracht en gelogenstraft door de vaak wilde energie, oerkracht, pessimistische emoties en onstuimige romantiek, aanwezig in zijn orkestmuziek. Ontdek daarom het sonoor universum van deze “norsk nasjonalromantisk komponist”.

De Noorse dirigent en violist, Eivind Aadland (°1956) (foto) is concertmeester van het Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Aadland was van 2004 tot 2010, chef-dirigent en artistiek leider van het Trondheim Symphony Orchestra en onderhoudt een regelmatige relatie met veel Scandinavische orkesten, waaronder de Oslo en Bergen Philharmonics, Stavanger Symphony en het Zweeds Kamerorkest. Bij Den Norske Opera in Oslo heeft hij producties van Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte en Die Fledermaus uitgevoerd. Recente seizoenen omvatten optredens met het Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, de Zweedse Radio en Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, de Lausanne en Scottish Chamber Orchestras en de Symphony Orchestras van Göteborg, de Finse Radio, SWR Stuttgart en WDR Keulen. Betrokkenheden tijdens het seizoen 08/09 omvatten concerten met het Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra en het Queensland Orchestra, Royal Flemish Philharmonic en het Nationaal Orkest van België.

De bijhorende boekjes bevatten interessante teksten van Michael Struck-Schloen (foto) over de composities, een heuse meerwaarde. Michael Struck-Schloen modereert de WDR 3-programma’s “Mosaik”, “Lieblingsstücke” en concerten, “Musik der Zeit”. Hoewel qua uitgave niet echt een primeur, toont de algemene kwaliteit van deze uitgave nog maar eens aan, wat we missen als we de Orkestmuziek van Grieg niet kennen. Een must!

It was the ‘3 Bs’ that formed the core of Gioconda de Vito’s rather limited repertoire. She shunned violinistic showpieces, preferring to focus on the masterworks. Modern composers didn’t much interest her either. She never played Sibelius, Stravinsky, Berg or Bartók, though she did make concessions to her Italian compatriots Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Casella and Pizzetti whose Violin Concerto she premiered in 1944. Two of the ‘Bs’ are represented here, joined by the Italian composer Tomaso Antonio Vitali.

De Vito carved out a successful career for herself at a time when violin concertising was very much a male bastion. Erica Morini, Johanna Martzy, Ginette Neveu, Camilla Wicks and Ida Haendel made similar inroads. As well as tramping the concert circuit, she forged a parallel teaching career. In 1949, she married David Bicknell, an EMI executive producer and, from 1951, lived in the UK; she never really mastered the English language, often needing a translator. Strangely, she was only fifty-four when she retired, never performing or teaching again, living happily in retirement in her cottage in Hertfordshire, England. She died in Rome in 1994, aged 87.

The contents of Audite’s release are all new to the violinist’s sparse discography, which makes the disc all the more welcome. She never recorded the Beethoven Violin Concerto in the studio, neither are there any other extant live airings apart from this 1954 RIAS performance. It attests to a congenial partnership between soloist and conductor. The opening movement is broad and spacious and has nobility and stature. De Vito savours the sublime lyricism of the score, judging the ebb and flow of the music instinctively. I didn’t recognize the cadenza she uses, and Ruggiero Ricci’s Biddulph recording, including fourteen alternative cadenzas, didn’t come up with any answers. I liked it anyway – maybe it was her own. The slow movement is eloquent and imaginatively phrased and in the finale her bowing has real bite and tenacity. Intonation throughout is, for the most part, on the mark. This is a performance which certainly brings the music to life. The sound quality is excellent, not sonically compromised like some of her live airings I’ve heard that have hit the market-place over the years. The audience members were extremely well-behaved, and I only detected their presence between movements – the odd rustle and suppressed cough.

The Brahms Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100, with Michael Raucheisen, pre-dates the commercial recording she made at the Abbey Road Studios in London by five years. In that recording, Tito Aprea took the piano part, completing the HMV trilogy begun in 1954 with Edwin Fischer. Surprisingly, the audio quality of Audite’s Berlin traversal far exceeds that of the later version: Testament SBT1024. The sound is more vivid and bright. Interpretively there is less divergence. The players convey the intimacy, affection and luminous warmth that permeates the music. The first movement is spacious and relaxed. Joy and affability abound in the second movement, and an ardent glow suffuses the finale.

In 1948, de Vito made a commercial recording of the Vitali Chaconne, again at Abbey Road, London, in the orchestral version arranged by Ottorino Respighi. Her accompanists were the Philharmonia and Alberto Erede. Here Michael Raucheisen supports her, and takes a bit of a backseat, allowing the violinist, who is very forwardly projected, the spotlight. The opening theme is announced boldly and majestically, and as each variation becomes progressively more demanding, De Vito maintains the cumulative thrust with astounding virtuosity. I do confess to having a predilection for organ accompaniment in this work, my taste persuasively formed by my first encounter with it in the unsurpassable version by Jascha Heifetz.

This release fills a notable gap in the violinist’s discography and receives my wholehearted endorsement.

Over a period of roughly five years from 2009 – 2014, Audite recorded five discs which they describe as "Edvard Grieg – Complete Symphonic Works" with Eivind Aadland conducting the WDR Sinfonieorchester. Now, in 2019, they have been brought together in a box – slightly lazily, the liner booklet from each of the volumes is retained, thereby duplicating all the orchestral and biographical detail but retaining the adapted Edvard Munch painting from the original release. There is some saving to be had by buying the box – roughly speaking, a five-for the-price-of-four ratio in the UK.

The key for many collectors will rest on how complete is "complete". This set is one of four currently available professing varying degrees of totality. First up was Neeme Järvi on DG in Gothenburg recorded back between 1986 – 93. He needs six generously-filled discs. Then from Bergen on BIS came Ole Kristian Ruud in excellent SACD sound in 2002 – 08 needing eight discs (and winning a Diapason d'Or for his trouble). Lastly, Bjarte Engeset on Naxos, either in Malmo or with the RSNO from 2003 – 13, also requiring eight discs. Rather entertainingly, none of these sets can agree on which works should constitute part of the complete orchestral canon or not. Clearly, the set under consideration has the fewest number of discs and the least number of works. The main work "missing" here but included in the other three sets is the complete incidental music to Peer Gynt. Aadland chooses to include just the two standard orchestral suites plus a couple of extra songs and excerpts, which I find a little arbitrary and odd. In the same way Aadland does include some vocal works – the Six Orchestral Songs and The Mountain Thrall but not Bergliot or Before a Southern Convent. If there is a logic to that it eludes me. Järvi and Aadland do not include the opera excerpts Olav Trygvason or the cantata Landkjenning which Engestet and Ruud do. Engestet uniquely adds some orchestrations of piano works by other composers which I enjoy a lot – the Slåtter and the Ballade. Of course, the 'core' works are present in all the sets and for many that may be more than enough. Personally, if the word complete is going to be bandied around I want it to be really complete.

So to consider the discs in order: certain characteristics are clear across the set. Audite provide a very dynamic, quite closely detailed recording. I listened to the stereo SACD layer – perhaps the surround sound tempers the degree of closeness. Certainly the playing of the WDR Sinfonieorchester can stand such forensic inspection. Aadland's style is founded on contrast and drama. This works well across all of Volume 1 which consists of the Four Symphonic Dances Op.64, the two Peer Gynt Suites and the Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak. The latter in Grieg's own version for wind band – Järvi uses this version too, the other two sets preferring Halvorsen's orchestration.

The Symphonic Dances are thrilling. Aadland's approach makes them miniature tone poems with the wide dynamic range of the orchestra very well caught. Even this early into hearing the set, there is a sense that Aadland 'pushes' the music rarely letting it relax let alone smile. Make no mistake, this is a very exciting interpretation but one that never 'lilts'. This stylistic limitation becomes more of an issue in the reflective more sensuous movements of Peer Gynt. Neither Anitra's Dance nor the Arabian Dance has any degree of seductive sway. It is no surprise that In the Hall of the Mountain King and Peer Gynt's Homecoming both respond well to this approach, but conversely The death of Åse loses any kind of fragile or touching intimacy as Aadland seems determined to create saturated walls of symphonic string sound. Technically its very impressive – musically it seems misguided to me.

If Volume 1 could be considered a mixed interpretative bag, Volume 2 dedicated to the famous string works seems a complete failure. The fault for this is wholly Aadland's, who again seems to strive for the epic rather than the intimate. If this were Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, I would applaud the style. That is a work that really needs a large symphonic-sized string section with muscular dynamic playing. These Grieg works do not require this approach. Last Spring epitomises for me the wrongness of Aadland's approach. He seems intent on building an epic Mahlerian tragedy with overly mannered phrasing and a fuller vibrato from the orchestra. Listen to Ruud who takes almost exactly the same amount of time but there is a version that breathes simplicity and unaffected beauty. Played in that manner, this is one of Grieg's most affecting and heart-stoppingly beautiful works – Aadland makes it into over-heated melodrama. The same is true of his Holberg Suite too. This music should bubble along with directness of utterance and lack of mannerisms. It really is one of the most joyful string pieces to play precisely because it is unaffected and simple. With Aadland it creaks under the weight of its alleged importance. Time and again he seems fixated on the heavy-handed pointing of an accent rather than letting them serve a function of rhythmic impetus. Interestingly, the liner makes repeated significance of Aadland's affinity with the music and the insights this affords. Before becoming a conductor, he was an international-calibre violinist and lived and worked near Grieg's birthplace in Bergen. The liner notes occasions where Aadland seeks a folklorish 'authenticity' by avoiding vibrato or marking off-beat accents. This is all true and no doubt carefully considered but it does seem that somewhere along the creative process the open-sky essence of this music has been lost. Here the Audite sound, so effective on the first disc, adds more burden of up-front dynamism and inflated sound. I am not sure when I have enjoyed this music less despite the easy excellence of the actual playing. Perhaps it is worth noting that although this is nominally Volume 2, it was the first disc to be recorded and the only volume to be recorded in the Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal Cologne as opposed to the more generous (forgiving?) acoustic of the Philharmonie.

The 'house' style of sharp contrasts, dynamic performances with forceful accentuation allied to close and detailed recording continues into the third volume. Whereas in the string-dominated volume 2 this proved to be a mixed blessing, the return to the full orchestra brings better results. Indeed, in many ways the opening work In Autumn could have been written for just such an approach. Surgingly powerful, wide dynamic range, virtuosic playing all contribute to the impact of the work which on occasion can sound just a tad generic. As the piece continued – and indeed this disc – I did begin to wonder whether this approach was in the "sonic spectacular" school of performance/production which is certainly a label you would not expect to associate with Grieg. The Lyric Suite that follows is more of a mixed bag again. It is important to remember that this suite consists of orchestrations of a small selection of the many Lyric Pieces that Grieg wrote for solo piano. This was music intended for the salon and I find Aadland's striving for maximum 'effect' too often undermines the brilliant simplicity of the music. So while No.1 Shepherd Boy starts beautifully – lovely lyrical [pardon the pun] string playing - Aadland then overplays the climax. Likewise, I still do not enjoy his penchant for strongly marked accents as in the second movement Norwegian Rustic March. That said the third movement Notturno is delightful. The closing March of the Dwarves [Trolls] is played with all the energy and flair one could wish for – at almost exactly the identical tempo to Engeset in Malmo but here the effect is spoilt by the over-large soundscape from the Audite engineers. The percussion – never the subtlest or most imaginative part of Grieg's scoring – is allowed to dominate in a rather unappealing way. It was a good idea to include the elusive, distinctly impressionistic Bell-ringing as a quasi-appendix to the published work – all the other 'complete' sets do as well, although Engeset's is rather perversely a single track on a different disc.

The Old Norwegian Romance with Variations gets a strong performance with – no surprise – the variations well contrasted. Relatively speaking, I do not find this to be one of Grieg's most compelling works; it is lacking in the variety and evocation of colour that say Dvořák finds in his Symphonic Variations. Aadland's approach is to maximise contrast whereas Engeset or Ruud seek continuity with less sharply contrasted variations – Ruud is a full two and a half minutes slower as well. Certainly Ruud does not feel slow with Aadland in contrast seeming occasionally impatient. The disc ends with the 'standard' suite of three excerpts from Grieg's incidental to Sigurd Jorsalfar Contrary to developing expectations, Aadland conducts a beautifully reflective central Borghild's Dream although that is followed by as bombastic a Hommage March as you are ever likely to hear with bass drum and cymbals again overly prominent in Audite's vibrant mix. Aadland plays these three excerpts running to just shy of seventeen minutes. Järvi and Ruud provide an eight-movement synopsis which roughly doubles the amount of music to be heard and it is good Grieg to boot. Certainly it gives a greater range of mood and scene-painting than the three-movement standard work allows. Across the five-disc set there is room to include this music and its omission is serious in any set claiming "completeness".

Volume 4 contains just two works: the early Symphony and the ubiquitous Piano Concerto. The symphony was written when Grieg was just twenty-one and such were his concerns over its quality and value that he wrote "never to be performed" on the score by the time it came to be deposited in the Bergen City Archive. This sanction was obediently followed until 1980 when a photocopy, sent to the Soviet Union "for research purposes", was used to generate a set of parts and the work was performed. Since then the embargo has been lifted and this work features in every 'complete' survey of Grieg's music. The impetus for its composition came from the Danish composer Gade, who told Grieg to go home and "write something valuable". Grieg wrote the symphony at some speed but one can only imagine that on reflection he felt it lacked the value of being distinctively Nordic or Grieg-ish. For sure, the shadow of the German Conservatoires lies over the work and there is little of the characteristically folk-inflected idiom that Grieg was to make his own, but surely he was too harsh a self-critic. Not only as a marker of his development but in its own right this is a very enjoyable and substantial. Aadland gives it an excellent performance with his penchant for energy and brightly sprung tempi finding a perfect platform in this youthful work. Curiously – and it had me leafing through the liner – for this disc the Audite engineering is not quite as close or consciously wide in its dynamic range as the preceding three discs. Given that it is exactly the same technical team of producer and engineer I do not know why this should be. Suffice to say the music benefits substantially from this approach. On disc – once it became known – this symphony has fared well. This is a well-crafted but not profound piece so it responds to a direct, unfussy approach and it is no surprise that this finds Neeme Järvi in good form – and in fact Järvi's timings are very close to Aadland. It has to be said that the Järvi set on DG still sounds very good and of course his Gothenburg Orchestra are very fine. Away from the 'complete' surveys, I rather enjoy Dmitri Kitajenko's performance with the Bergen PO which is a more measured, weightier affair. Indeed, the more one listens to this work the more its century of solitary confinement seems absurd.

The coupling of the Piano Concerto in A minor makes sense when you realise they are the only two extended, multi-movement orchestral works Grieg wrote. In his own lifetime, as much as the symphony was ignored the concerto became his calling card. Reviewing another performance, I wrote how this work's sheer ubiquity and popularity can easily mask just how unusual and sophisticated it is. The pianist here is Herbert Schuch and it must be said that this is a very impressive and intelligent performance. Schuch's is a considered and poetic account, favouring the lyrical and reflective over bombast or display. That said, he is technically in total control and is very well accompanied by Aadland and his Cologne orchestra. He phrases sensitively and effectively, allowing just the right amount of lyrical ebb and flow in the music without it falling into sentimentality or empty gesture. I would say this is one of the more wholly successful volumes in this series. That said, in a highly competitive field neither would supplant pre-existing favourites individually or as part of a series or set.

The fifth and final volume has something of a bitty, odds-and-ends feeling to it, pulling together pieces that did not quite fit onto earlier discs. This is evidenced by the range of recording dates which implies these works were put in the can at the same time as the other pieces they are linked to but then not included on earlier discs in the series. Possibly a little more careful planning of the repertoire could have avoided the frustration of having to swap discs to listen – say – to all of Aadland's Peer Gynt excerpts. Instead, you need to refer to volume 1 for the two standard suites and then swap to volume 5 here for another – slightly arbitrary – two, additional orchestral excerpts: At the Wedding and the sinuous Dance of the Mountain King's daughter. The liner note makes a case for this pair as being more 'modernist' than the simple lyricism of Morning Mood or Anitra's Dance. I would accept that as true – but rather than hearing 'just' these additional two excerpts surely that reinforces the case for the full incidental music which covers a very broad musical and theatrical canvas. Aadland is good in both these excerpts and the skill of his Cologne players is again never in doubt.

The Six songs with Orchestra were drawn together by Grieg to showcase his considerable skill as a songwriter. There is no particular continuity through the six, with the first two again excerpted from Peer Gynt. Soprano Camilla Tilling has a suitably attractive light soprano but with enough heft to make the most of the latter songs in the set which are more overtly dramatic. Possibly Marita Solberg for Ruud and Barbara Bonney for Järvi find an even greater degree of simple radiance but in its own right Tilling's approach is very beautiful. I still find Aadland's over-heated approach to the sung version of Last Spring to undermine the essential directness of the song as it did in the string transcription. But the final song in the set – Henrik Wergeland – responds to this almost operatic approach, which makes the omission of Landkjenning or Olav Trygvasson all the more baffling. Another head-scratcher is why no texts are included in the booklet. Generally across the whole set the German/English liner notes are very well written and full of useful information. The absence of texts of songs sung in Norwegian is an error. A couple more orchestrated Lyric Pieces – characterful wind playing again – and another vocal piece, the six-minute Mountain Thral add to the piece-meal feel of this disc. The latter is sung by baritone Tom Erik Lie. He has a lighter voice than Palle Knudsen for Engeset and is less overtly dramatic than the great Håkan Hagegård for Ruud. Again, in isolation, Lie is perfectly good but with luxury of choice, his would not be a first one.

The set closes as it opened, with a suite of orchestral dances; here it's the Norwegian Dances Op.35. As with the Symphonic Dances, this music very much plays to Aadland's strengths of strong contrasts in dynamics and tempi as well as showcasing the brilliance of the Cologne orchestra. This is a strong performance of a delightful set of four contrasting dances, three of which were interpolated into the complete Peer Gynt score for some editions of the work. Again, I do not quite follow the logic of this set since – for all the delights of this music – the orchestrations are not Grieg's own, thereby contradicting Audite's own description of the music included on the five discs.

So, this set proves to be something of a mixed bag. The playing is uniformly very good indeed, with the exception of the string orchestra disc, the performances are all good and some better than that. However, not a single performance I would not prefer above any other. The final nail in the coffin for me has to be the omission of so much music of real substance, interest and quality. For those in the market for a single purchase of Grieg's orchestral music including the operatic excerpts, the complete Peer Gynt plus other vocal works all recorded in SACD sound and idiomatically performed by Grieg's "own" orchestra in Bergen there really is no need to look further than the set on BIS. This is currently available in the UK where you can get this 8-disc survey for around £10 cheaper than the 5-disc Audite set under consideration here. If the SACD format in not a priority but cost is, I would still choose either Engestet – £15.00 cheaper, or Järvi – a full £25.00 cheaper over Aadland.

Cada vez más discos de Böhm
La discografía straussiana oficial, legal, de Karl Böhm ya era voluminosa y de enorme interés. Las cintas de radio, las tomas de teatros, las grabaciones más o menos piratas han enriquecido ese legado hasta un punto y unos niveles que acaso lleven a revisar al alza la aportación toda del de Graz a este repertorio. Y a otros repertorios, porque también hay por ahí mucho Beethoven, mucho Wagner de Böhm, que muestran tal vez que en vivo era más él, más artista y más sabio en la sala de conciertos y en el foso que en el estudio de grabación. El propio sello Golden Melodram ya tiene una Elektra dirigida por Böhm (Múnich, 1955, con Goltz, Jean Madeira, Leonie, Uhde y Klarwein). Y tamo Golden Melodram como Orfeo y otros sellos descubren poco a poco, año tras año, nuevos fonogramas del maestro austriaco que, como veremos, gozó de aprecio, respeto y admiración, pero siempre vio que se le negaba la categoría de "genial", reservada para arras. Esos fonogramas son a menudo straussianos, y enriquecen la aportación oficial del maesrro, cuya discografía del músico bávaro se extiende durante décadas, desde los redescubrimientos de los años 40, todavía durante los años del Reich; desde descubrimiemos como estos dos poemas sinfónicos con la RIAS que ahora comentaremos; hasta romas como la de esra Elektra de París que puede provocar no pocas sorpresas.

París, años 70
Un detalle que acaso no tenga demasiada importancia: la fecha que se nos indica para la Elektra parisiense es 21 de abril de 1973; acaso haya un error, y se trate de una fecha posterior más o menos exactamente en dos años. Habría manera de comprobarlo, pero ahora no tengo a mano los daros ni sé cómo buscarlos en Internet. En cualquier caso, ranto abril de 1973 como abril de 1975 significan una cosa, que tanto Birgit Nilsson como Astrid Varnay pueden parecer talluditas para estos cometidos. Pero cuando las oímos comprendemos que aquí la edad es lo de menos; es importante en otro sentido, como ahora veremos. Nacidas en 1918, ambas sopranos dramáticas suecas han transitado a Wagner y han hallado triunfos en determinadas obras de Richard Strauss. Y si las voces han perdido en tersura, en color o en emisión, no han perdido fuerza ni belleza ni capacidad interpretativa. Después de todo, Elektra no es belcantismo, sino todo lo contrario (tampoco se puede despachar gritando, por favor). Pero la capacidad de canto, y de ruptura de ese canto para acentuar la acción y situación dramáticas, eso lo dominan esros dos monstruos suecos. Por lo demás, tanto Elektra como Salomé son papeles de madmez, porque una voz demasiado tierna puede estropearse con esos cometidos exasperados. La propia Nilsson, nos recuerda Leonie R ysanek, esperó a sus cuarenta y muchos para enfrentarse a Elektra. Así la escuchamos en el registro de Solti para la Decca de Culshaw en 1965, esto es, el año en que Birgit cumple 47; el mismo año en que una toma de radio recuperada (como la que comentamos) nos la trae con Karl Böhm, Leonie y Regina Resnik. No ha pasado tanto tiempo entre ese 1965 del registro con Solti y de la roma vienesa con Böhm; estemos en el París del 73 o el del 75, apenas unos añitos no han empañado esa voz que convierte en canto el grito y que se enfrenta a todos y cada unos de los tres grandes personajes de esta tragedia con una capacidad física y una altura artística insuperables. Al lado, en frente, feroz, la Clitemnestra de Astrid Varnay, cantante que fue Elektra en más de una ocasión (se conserva un registro de Radio Colonia, con Leonie Rysanek en Crisotemis y Res Fischer en Clitemnestra, con Hotter todavía por ahí, como Orestes; Richard Kraus, director musical). Varnay impresiona con las oscuridades a las que consigue descender, con el dramatismo doliente y a la vez agresivo de su línea, de la soberbia construcción de su personaje. Todavía hará este papel con Böhm; no nos adelantemos.

Leonie, la dulce
Junto a estas dos panteras suecas nos encontramos a una straussiana de altos vuelos y fidelidad permanente al compositor y al repertorio, la austriaca Leonie Rysanek, ocho años más joven, pero que no las sobrevivió. Adelantemos que su Crisotemis está garantizada con una permanencia de la cantante en este papel durante poco menos de tres décadas. No hace falta indagar más, así que vamos a evocar a es ta cantante de otra manera.

Cuando Leonie hizo en La Zarzuela la Jenufa de Mario Gas, allá por 1993, tuve ocasión de entrevistarla para ABC. Pero recuerdo una entrevista suya espléndida, la realizada por Monique Barichella para L'Avant-Scene Opéra. El título ya lo decía todo: Nacida para cantar Strauss. Era lo que le dijo un día Karl Böhm, que había nacido para cantar Strauss. Y Leonie ha sido Helena en su periplo terapéutico con Menelao; ha sido Arabella, Danae, Ariadne, la Mariscala, la Emperatriz de La mujer sin sombra, e incluso Salomé, papel para el que supo esperar, de acuerdo con sus propios principios y observaciones. Pero, atención, en Elektra ha sido las tres protagonistas. Primero, durante unas tres décadas, interpretó Crisotemis, la dulce y vital, la que pretende huir de la muerte de aquella "casa" y familia. La voz ya algo oscurecida le permitió a Leonie enfrentarse en su madurez a Clitemnestra, pasar al otro lado de la vitalidad, a la lucha a muerte familiar. Y al final de la vida de Karl Böhm, éste le hizo una propuesta sorprendente: por una vez, interpretas Elektra. Cómo. En una película, la que va a rodar Götz Friedrich para Decca.

Un testamento
Así, en 1981, el mismo año en que fallece Böhm, sale esa película en la que está Leonie, a sus 55 años, por una vez y con la posibilidad de descanso vocal entre tomas, encarnando al rabioso retoño de los Átridas. Frente a Leonie, una Clitemnestra de lujo, Astrid Varnay, seis (u ocho) años después de la toma que ahora comentamos. Y Fischer-Dieskau, y Catharina Ligendza. Impresionante Böhm, que en buena medida, al final de su vida, se quita una espina, la de que él, siendo espléndido, no es genial en Strauss ni en otros repertorios que domina sobremanera. Porque ésa es una de las constantes de la crítica y de los aficionados, que Böhm es magnifico, pero no genial, que el genio straussiano es el de Solti, el de Karajan, el de Kempe, el de Clemens Krauss, el de Mengelberg o Fritz Reiner, entre otros.

Ciérrese el largo paréntesis dedicado a la entrañable, adorable Leonie Rysanek, que no olvidemos que también fue una maravillosa Desdémona o una incomparable EIsa. Paréntesis que ha compartido con Böhm por las razones que hemos visto. Y que conste que documentos como la toma parisiense que ahora recibimos demuestran que el director austriaco era un artista y que a menudo también rozaba lo genial, sobre todo en vivo, sobre roda en ese foso desde el que movía los hilos terribles de esta familia. De manera que, si bien no es ésta la referencia de Elektra, título muy bien servido en la fonografía, ni por calidad de sonido ni por otra razones; sí podemos decir que es un magnífico fonograma para el perfeccionamiento de lo que creemos conocer del todo y que aún nos reserva descubrimientos y sorpresas. No olvidemos las interpretaciones de un cantante británico mayor aún que las dos suecas, Richard Lewis, un Egisto histérico, como ha de ser, que todavía hizo este papel unos años después en La Zarzuela, en Madrid (1981, si no me equivoco, cuando se acercaba a los 70); y de uno bastante joven aún, el alemán Hans Sorin (Sarastro, Fafner, Ochs, Marke), que con su voz fuerte, oscura, poderosa, define muy bien su Orestes y redondea este reparto en el que muchos personajes son más o menos jóvenes, pero cuyas líneas, tesituras y alcance son para can tantes maduros. Buena forma relativa de la orquesta de la Ópera de París, en una toma que la prima, curiosamente, con relación a las voces. Ya decimos que, pese a encontrarnos a mediados de los 70 del siglo XX, la calidad de la grabación es inferior a lo que podríamos esperar para esos años. Pero el fonograma es impresionante y de una calidad artística superior.

Autobiografías Sinfónicas
Con las tomas de la RIAS retrocedemos unos 25 años. En el París de los 70 estamos en la paz, la Europa próspera y reconstruida, la reconciliación franco-alemana, todo eso. Pero en 1950-1951 en Berlin estamos en la ciudad sitiada, en la Europa demolida, en los primeros permisos para Böhm y Otros como él después del proceso de desnazificación, del que ahora se ríen muchos, pero que tenía una lógica perfecta, y que no fue llevado demasiado lejos, se diga lo que se diga. Böhm, como otros que se habían beneficiado de las prebendas hitlerianas, tuvo que sufrir un poco, y después se olvidó todo, y aquí no ha pasado nada. No es para quejarse, caramba, después de lo que se había hecho en nombre de Alemania y su cultura. Así que aquí tenemos a Böhm, en 1950-1951, ya "limpio", en Berlín, recién estallada la guerra fría y cambiados los adversarios y enemigos, frente a dos poemas sinfónicos autobiográficos de Strauss; uno, autobiográfico de verdad, el yo ideal o el ideal del yo, el Héroe, el Helden, frente a todos, los filisteos, los críticos y hasta la propia esposa. El otro, automoribundia (por decirlo en términos ramonianos), es una visión de la enfermedad, la crisis y la recuperación, algo que según el Strauss de veras moribundo de 1949 tenía mucho que ver con la realidad de la agonía. Strauss no se cortaba un pelo, como dicen los castizos, y ponía su yo heroico o su yo de mesa camilla (lntermezzo) como ejemplo favorito. Lo transfiguraba en piezas sinfónicas a mitad de camino entre lo puramente descriptivo y rapsódica y el entrevero formal de temas, células, motivos definidos por timbres o por dinámicas. De esos poemas sinfónicos de una época en la que aún no se dedicaba al teatro por completo, Muerte y transfiguración es una de las obras maestras; Vida de héroe es tal vez mayor aún, por capacidad de desarrollo, por conseguir una sinfonía en seis movimientos de desigual duración y no confesada discontinuidad, que se acerca a los cincuenta minutos, como si tal cosa, una obra tensísima , imparable, implacable, una pequeña maravilla 110 años después. Y aquí se requiere al gran concertador, al gran distribuidor de timbres, al maestro de la planificación sonora (que, lógicamente, en un registro como éste se pierde en buena medida), aquí se requiere a un Karl Böhm, alguien que trabajó desde muy joven con Strauss, y al que Strauss apreciaba y admiraba (a diferencia de Furtwängler, con el que no tenía buenas vibraciones, ya saben). Estas dos páginas no nos sonarán nuevas, pero sí claras en su complejidad de temas y colores, claras en su sonido histórico pero de muy buen nivel, claras en su secuencia y en su concepto. Son dos cintas de radio que se grabaron en la ciudad semidestruida y agobiada por el cerco soviético en esos dos años de comienzos de la década de los 50, tras la peor de las guerras. Fue en la Iglesia de Jesucristo, de Berlín-Dahlem, un 25 de marzo de 1950 (Muerte y transfiguración) y el 23 y 24 de abril del año siguiente (Vida de héroe). El aficionado sabe muy bien, sólo por los créditos, por la ficha del disco, si éste merece la pena. Esto es: acaso sobren tantas palabras.