Peer Task

The spirit of adventure, braggadocio and tall stories… for her second album on the Berlin Classics label, the Norwegian violinist and Hardanger fiddler Ragnhild Hemsing has chosen to focus on one of Norway’s best known and most legendary characters: Peer Gynt. Although her solo instruments are not part of the original orchestra formation, she chose various sections of the incidental music to the stage play of Peer Gynt op. 23 and had them arranged for her Hardanger fiddle and the violin with string orchestra accompaniment – thereby creating a link to the traditional story of Peer Gynt in the context of Norwegian folk music.

Edvard Grieg already had the renowned Piano Concerto and Sigurd Jorsalfar behind him when he was commissioned to write incidental music for a staged version of Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. This resulted in some of Grieg’s most famous music, from the Norwegian trolls and hobgoblins of In the Hall of the Mountain King to the movingly simple Solveig’s Song. The suite From Holberg’s Time takes us back to Baroque style and traditions with irresistible melodic charm. Wedding Day at Troldhaugen was a wedding anniversary present for Nina, Grieg’s wife, and the sprightly Norwegian Dances are a precursor to the larger-scale Symphonic Dances (available on VOX-NX-3038CD). These classic VOX recordings by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra were originally issued in 1976 and have been newly remastered from the original tapes. The Elite Recordings for VOX by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

Edvard Grieg already had the renowned Piano Concerto and Sigurd Jorsalfar behind him when he was commissioned to write incidental music for a staged version of Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. This resulted in some of Grieg’s most famous music, from the Norwegian trolls and hobgoblins of In the Hall of the Mountain King to the movingly simple Solveig’s Song. The suite From Holberg’s Time takes us back to Baroque style and traditions with irresistible melodic charm. Wedding Day at Troldhaugen was a wedding anniversary present for Nina, Grieg’s wife, and the sprightly Norwegian Dances are a precursor to the larger-scale Symphonic Dances (available on VOX-NX-3038CD). These classic VOX recordings by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra were originally issued in 1976 and have been newly remastered from the original tapes. The Elite Recordings for VOX by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.