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Bergen Philharmonic\/Edward Gardner et al<\/p>
Chandos CHSA 5301\u00a0\u00a0 63:48 mins<\/em><\/p> Grieg\u2019<\/a><\/strong>s dances may not be as symphonic as Rachmaninov<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s, of which Edward Gardner is a vivid interpreter. The melodies aren\u2019t his own, either, and there are reams of repeats. But what he does with folk material is so enchanting that, in this beautiful incarnation with the Bergen players delivering so freshly and responding so well to Gardner\u2019s rhythmic drive in the livelier sequences, you\u2019ll be compelled throughout. <\/p> The tunes chosen are all winners and palpably Norwegian; loveliest of all is the oboe melody \u2013 not the famous one, from the earlier Norwegian Dances<\/em>, but equally fine \u2013 which weathers its four appearances most attractively.<\/p> Most Grieg compendiums include oddities, among which the \u2018melodrama\u2019 Bergliot<\/em>, to an olde-Norse heroic scenario by his distinguished friend Bj\u00f8rnstjerne Bj\u00f8rnson, is strangely compelling. The speaker holds sway for the most part, Juni Dahr mesmerising as the widow of the slain Tambarskjelve, beaten by Harald Hardrada. The orchestra comes to the fore in three plaintive laments, more original perhaps than the early Funeral March<\/em> for Grieg\u2019s friend and fellow composer Rikard Nordraak. <\/p> Conviction wins the brief Before a Southern Convent<\/em> a place in the sun. It\u2019s a scene from Bj\u00f8rnson\u2019s Arnljot Gelline <\/em>in which a chieftain\u2019s daughter seeks refuge among Italian nuns after the murder of her father, but carries its own revelation without any further necessary context. Soprano<\/a><\/strong> Mari Eriksmoen and mezzo Astrid Nordstad set the dramatic mood from the start, and the female chorus, uncredited in the booklet, sings with conviction. Faultless performances in very natural sound throughout.<\/p>