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Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Songs
BODIL ARNESEN soprano
NAXOS 8.553781
Includes full texts with translations in English. Notes by Øyvind Norheim. |
by the Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase
Whereas the majority of Scandinavian greats, whether inspired by Nordic legend or Northern mountains, composed gigantic structures, Grieg (right) seemed rarely comfortable with large forms. It is sometimes said that he wasn't exactly capable of subtlety (and I must admit even I used the same phrase against his Piano Concerto), but that's perhaps because one is focussing on those large forms - whereas the master miniaturist is to be found in the Lyric Pieces and the songs.
Grieg's songs suffer the accusation of being mere arrangements of folk-music, but in fact the composer rarely used them. His is a kind of subtlety that somehow refuses to look subtle on the surface: "The empire of harmonies has always been my dream-world and the relationship between the harmonic way I feel and the Norwegian folk-tune has even for me always been a mystery." Grieg did not seek intellectual genius outwardly - on the surface it looks like a pretty landscape; instead he sought intellectualism internally, inside enclosed dollops of harmony. Individually, his little miniatures look perhaps like M&Ms, pieces of sweet; but viewed as a whole (his 180+ songs, or the 66 Lyric Pieces), the consistency of their miniature wholeness can be quite remarkable.
In the small forms, Grieg "realized that the secret depth one can find in our folk-tunes is caused completely by their richness in unimagined harmonic possibities." From these quotations (taken from the lengthy notes in this album), it would appear that Grieg was no mere random tune-spinner.
Grieg has also been called the least Nationalistic (in terms of musical 'voice') of the Scandinavian "Nationalist" (I still think this is a useless term) composers. Now listen to this:
There are moments of great inspiration in her strategic placement and very musical use of vibrato, very effective in the "Greeting" song [12] from the Six Songs of op.48, or in "Last Spring" op.33 no.2 [21]. This semi-trill effect is particularly delightful throughout the recital, as in the "tandaradei" refrain of the nightingale in "The Nightingale's Secret" [15]. Both singer and accompanist are at their lyrical best here.
Savour the relish with which she expressively phrases her lines in "Good Morning!" [5] - with springing cheer in her singing, gladdened by the flight of darkness at the arrival of morning, or the warbling of birds as they cry "Awaken!". In "The First Meeting" [4], listen to her drawing back her voice to imitate the sound of distant horns as depicted in the text. Gorgeous.
The ever-present Nordic melancholia is expressed in The Princess [8], quietly but solemnly displaying the Princess' langorous, irritable fickleness. Arnesen is full of dark passion in Goethe's The Time of Roses [16]. Her control of passages at high registers is impressively unforced and natural-sounding.
In the few faster, louder songs, accompanist Eriksen can be rather lacking in refinement, almost banging away coarsely in the louder songs (eg. Hope). In "A Dream" [16], everything starts very beautifully, but by the time the song reaches its climactic end, the piano is just a muddy mesh of clanging. Perhaps this is just a matter of personal taste, or it could be the fault of the recording, but I wanted something lighter in tone and touch.
In any case, Eriksen more than makes up with his unobstrusive accompaniment elsewhere. An example of this is in the surprisingly very beautiful performances of the famous Solveig songs from Peer Gynt.
Eriksen's piano tolls like a slow breeze in the background while Arnesen casts a misty Solveig's Song [10]. Her expressive art, both in the earnest heartbreak of the main verses and the sweet warbling of the wordless refrain, is one stretch of luscious sadness... One doesn't even notice how high that last note of the refrain is. Her voice simply floats into the soaring heights, touches the sky, and falls ever so slowly back to earth. It makes one sigh and want to play it all... over... again... .
So Grieg is not as seriously famous as Sibelius and Nielsen - we all know that. He composed no Lemminkainen Legends, no popular Violin Concerto, and certainly his one symphony is pretty extinguishable in comparison to those by Sib and Niel. Of course there is the Piano Concerto in A minor, and Peer Gynt (with that odd desert morning) - and that oft-quoted snide remark that his music is but "pink bon-bons stuffed with snow", courtesy of Monsieur Claude Debussy.
The best proof of this is with Grieg himself, who was phenomenally demanding on the requirements of singers who dared to breathe a word from his songs:
What are singers? Nothing but vanity, stupidity, ignorance and dilettantism. I hate them, every one of them. 'Also your wife?', one will ask, but I answer: 'I am sorry, but she is lucky enough not to be a singer'. [Grieg felt that Nina, his wife, was the only ideal interpreter of his songs.]
Phew.
... I have to search for a human being who understands how to continue [since Nina has stopped singing]. In Germany I do not find it. It must absolutely be here in the Nordic countries. Both in London and in Paris the public would rather listen to the original Norwegian text sung with understanding by a Scandinavian than a bad translation sung by one of their own people. Unfortunately, however, in Norway all these young virgins have no idea at all about their own literature.
Oops. Luckily for us, Naxos has employed the sweet and exquisitely expressive Norwegian soprano, Bodil Arnesen, to sing for us in this album. Not only her, but Norwegian pianist Erling Ragnar Eriksen, as well as Øyvind Norheim for the notes. Grieg would have been happy, I'm sure.
Bodil Arnesen (who sang with the SSO on Nov 14) is occasionally a little hard of tone in the forte parts, sounding contrastingly heavy to her otherwise even but pleasantly textured voice. But once you get used to it, this is insignificant. Otherwise, her singing is, I'm sure, very worthy of Grieg.
Album Contents
Et Håb, op.26 no.1 (Hope)
Jeg elsker Dig, op.5 no.3 (I love but thee)
To brune Øjne, op.5 no.1 (Two brown eyes)
Four Songs from Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's Fishermaiden, op.21
Prinsessen, EG133 (The Princess)
Fra Monte Pincio, op.39 no.1 (From Monte Pincio)
Solveig's Song, op.23 no.19
Solveig's Cradle Song, op.23 no.26
Six Songs, op.48
Margaret's Cradle Song, op.15 no.1
Jeg reiste en deilig Sommerkvæld, op.26 no.2 (I walked one balmy Summer eve)
Med en Primula veris, op.26 no.4 (The First Primrose)
Våren, op.33 no.2 (Last Spring)
I Liden højt deroppe, op.39 no.3 (Upon a grassy hillside)
Til Én.II, op.59 no.4 (To Her.II)
Mens jeg venter, op.60 no.3 (On the Water)
En svane, op.25 no.2 (A Swan)
Foraarsregn, op.49 no.6 (Spring Showers)
Ved Rondane, op.33 no.9 (At Rondane)
En fuglevise, op.25 no.6 (A Bird-Song)
In Singapore, this CD is available at or can be ordered from Tower (Pacific Plaza & Suntec City), Sing Discs (Raffles City), Borders (Wheelock Place) or HMV (The Heeren).
Chia Han-Leon is smiling because he remains terribly infatuated with Alanis Morissette.
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342: 11.11.98. up.3.1.2000 ©Inkpot Sibelius Nutcase
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