Who knows what strange confluence of influences came together to produce the program on this two-disc set of Grieg's music on EMI? One can certainly understand why the producers would choose music from Peer Gynt -- it is one of Grieg's best-known and best-loved works -- but why a pleasant albeit not especially inspired performance of the incidental music by Herbert Blomstedt and the Staatskapelle Dresden instead of the usual suites? One can certainly understand why the Piano Concerto -- it is almost as well-known and well ...
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Who knows what strange confluence of influences came together to produce the program on this two-disc set of Grieg's music on EMI? One can certainly understand why the producers would choose music from Peer Gynt -- it is one of Grieg's best-known and best-loved works -- but why a pleasant albeit not especially inspired performance of the incidental music by Herbert Blomstedt and the Staatskapelle Dresden instead of the usual suites? One can certainly understand why the Piano Concerto -- it is almost as well-known and well-loved as Peer Gynt -- but why a virtuosic albeit not particularly poetic performance by pianist John Odgon with Paavo Berglund and the New Philharmonia? And while one can more or less comprehend why the producers included a disc of Grieg's songs -- they are among wonderfully affecting works even if they are hardly known outside of his native Norway -- one wonders why a combination of soprano Siv Wennberg with pianist Geoffrey Parsons performing Haugtussa (The Mountain Maid) in...
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