With more music than the two suites by which it is usually represented on disc and less talking than the whole play by which it was represented on BIS, this Naxos release of Grieg's complete incidental music from Ibsen's Peer Gynt finds an unusual and unlikely middle ground for fans of the composer. Performed here by two choirs, 11 vocal soloists, and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra all under the direction of Bjarte Engeset, the music is well presented in tasteful and professional interpretations. True, there have been more ...
Read More
With more music than the two suites by which it is usually represented on disc and less talking than the whole play by which it was represented on BIS, this Naxos release of Grieg's complete incidental music from Ibsen's Peer Gynt finds an unusual and unlikely middle ground for fans of the composer. Performed here by two choirs, 11 vocal soloists, and the Malmö Symphony Orchestra all under the direction of Bjarte Engeset, the music is well presented in tasteful and professional interpretations. True, there have been more evocative accounts of the most famous movements -- the "Morning Mood," for example, is somewhat lacking in freshness -- but as a whole, Engeset leads a convincingly cohesive performance. The singers are a mixed lot vocally, but never less than persuasively dramatic. Non-Norwegian speakers might be put off at first by the occasional bits of spoken dialogue, but they work in context and without them the melodramatic music might have seemed faintly silly. The inclusion of two other Grieg...
Read Less
Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation. © 2024 Rovi Corporation.