Johan Svendsen, Norwegian Rhapsodies

As usual with first symphonies (think of Gade, Berwald, Alfven, Atterberg, Glazunov, Dohnanyi, Kalinnikov), Svendsen’s is of abundances of freshness, confidence in expression and form (or structure), a certain level of innocence, and surefootedness in orchestral resourcefulness, even if the ideas remains fledging as far as personality is concerned (Mendelssohn’s influence looms quite a bit here). After all, his symphony is a student work, written while he was still studying at the Leipzig Conservatory). His music is highly engaging and sparkling, the ideas nicely tight, controlled, and memorable. Its premiere on October 12, 1867 was such a success that Edvard Grieg unfortunately withdrew his symphony he had written in 1864 & forbade it from ever being performed. It gained a foothold in the repertoire of Scandinavian countries, but not well played elsewhere.

Appreciation for the compositions from Scandinavian countries seems to be somewhat of an uphill battle. Apart from the works of Grieg and Nielsen, most other composers from this area of the globe are overlooked. This album of violin concertos by Norwegian composers Johan Svendsen and Peter Lange-Müller seeks to break this injustice. Svendsen's concerto makes clear that the composer was himself a violinist; the solo part is very idiomatically written, favoring lyricism over showiness. The orchestral accompaniment is sometimes overbearing and gets in the way of the solo violin's much more interesting and inspired contribution.

This generous 10 CD set presents a comprehensive collection of symphonies written by Nordic composers: Sibelius (1865-1957), Grieg (1843-1907), Stenhammar (1871-1927), Alfvén (1872-1960), Nielsen (1865-1931) and Svendsen (1840-1911). Their Symphonies hold a unique place in music history, blending lush melodies with the evocative power of nature. They drew inspiration from their rugged landscapes, infusing their works with a deep connection to their Nordic roots, enriching the classical repertoire with unparalleled emotional depth.

This new Chandos CD of the music of the neglected Romantic-era Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen is an absolute delight from first note to last. Until recently, when music-lovers were asked: "How many Norwegian works can you name?" they typically replied: "Grieg's Piano Concerto and Halvorsen's 'Entry of the Boyars'."

Volume 4 continues the pleasures to be found in Volume 3. The main work in 4 is again a suite of incidental music for a troll play, Peik and the Giant Troll , which Halvorsen arranged into the Norwegian Fairy Tale Pictures . These include a stirring introduction, a languid waltz, an elegantly gliding number that might elsewhere have served as carousel music except that it is scored with the skill of a Johann Strauss (delicate bells, solos for violin, clarinet, oboe, etc.), and troll music scary enough to make those creatures in Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King sound almost benign (Halvorsen’s trolls inhabit a Blue Mountain).

While their playing is just a little bit on the scrappy side, it is still hard not to enjoy this recording by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble. Part of the reason is the players' innate beauty of tone. Part of the reason is the players' affection for the music. Part of the reason is the players' sheer joy in making music. And part of the reason is that the music is just so darned enjoyable. Johan Svendsen may be no Edvard Grieg, but he still mines the same deep vein of Scandinavian sentimental melody and his String Octet is as charming as any piece of chamber music this side of Schubert's Octet.

An accomplished young Italian violinist with an appealing collection of concertante romances by great composers from Beethoven to Bruch.

Only 20 years old, Johan Dalene has already been hailed as ‘a musician of special sensibilities’ (Gramophone) in possession of ‘a rare fire’ (Diapason), and his début disc, with the concertos of Tchaikovsky and Barber, was described as ‘one of the finest violin débuts of the last decade’ in the BBC Music Magazine.

Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius, alongside Grieg the two giants in Nordic classical music, were both born in 1865. Both also received their first musical training on the violin, earning valuable insights when it came to writing for the instrument. Their respective violin concertos were composed some six years apart – Sibelius’ in 1904-05 and Nielsen’s in 1911 – and belong to the most performed works of either composer. They are nevertheless as different from each other as are the artistic temperaments of their makers. While retaining the traditional three-movement concerto form, Sibelius composed something closer to a Late-Romantic orchestral tone poem giving the orchestra unusual prominence. Nielsen on the other hand opted for an unconventional form, reminiscent of the Baroque concerto grosso: the spiky, neoclassical work is nominally in two movements, but with each movement having a slow and a fast section.

This recital brings together two established classics from the 20th century with lesser-known works from the repertoire for violin and piano. Alongside Ravel’s Sonata, a work that reveals the influence of jazz on the French composer, and Prokofiev’s wartime Sonata, Op. 94a, an idiomatic arrangement of its original version for flute, we find compositions by Arvo Pärt, Lili Boulanger and Grażyna Bacewicz, which, at times meditative, at times lyrical, at times folk-inspired, testify to the richness of this repertoire.