Document

  2000
    June 2000
        Orchestral
                Norwegian Violin Favourites Bull The Herd-girls' Sunday Adagio in E minor La melancolie Grieg I love but thee, Op 5 No 3 (both arr Kraggerud) Last spring, Op 34 No 2 Halvorsen Danses norvegiennes Nos 1 and 2 Maiden's Song The Old Fisherman's Song Andante religioso Sinding Suite im alten Stil, Op 10 Svendsen Romance in G, Op 26

Norwegian Violin Favourites

Bull The Herd-girls' Sunday. Adagio in E minor. La melancolie

Grieg I love but thee, Op 5 No 3 (both arr Kraggerud) . Last spring, Op 34 No 2

Halvorsen Danses norvegiennes Nos 1 and 2. Maiden's Song. The Old Fisherman's Song. Andante religioso

Sinding Suite im alten Stil, Op 10

Svendsen Romance in G, Op 26 Henning Kraggerud vn Razumovsky Symphony Orchestra / Bjarte Engeset

Naxos R 8 554497 (59 minutes: DDD)

Beautifully played with simple eloquence on a modern violin, these folk-inspired [piece] pieces are highly recommended at Naxos price

The best-known piece here is Svensen's disarmingly memorable Romance, with its romanticised folk-like main theme (beautifully played here). Svensen, like Grieg, owed much to Ole Bull, who, born in Bergen in 1810, was a virtuoso of the traditional Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. He took his folk-instrument to Europe and achieved considerable success in Paris. He was also one of the first collectors of Norwegian folk-tunes, which he used in his own music. The opening piece here, The Herd-girls' Sunday, with its charming melancholy, is characteristic, but the touching Adagio from his Violin Concerto shows that he could also use his collected themes more ambitiously. Johan Halvorsen, a contemporary of Grieg, continued the tradition, offering simple, colourful settings of memorable ideas, and the Sinding Suite is in the same vein.

Henning Kraggerud plays on a modern violin, and with a lovely tone presents these miniatures with a simple eloquence that is disarmingly pleasurable. He ends his programme with two favourite Grieg items which show how folk material could be transmuted by a really great composer. He is very well accompanied and recorded, and this is altogether a most engaging lightweight concert, which at Naxos price is highly recommendable.

Ivan March

***Brief reviews ***



		The best-known piece here is Svensen's disarmingly memorable Romance, with its romanticised folk-like main theme (beautifully played here). Svensen, like Grieg, owed much to Ole Bull, who, born in Bergen in 1810, was a virtuoso of the traditional Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. He took his folk-instrument to Europe and achieved considerable success in Paris. He was also one of the first collectors of Norwegian folk-tunes, which he used in his own music. The opening piece here, The Herd-girls' Sunday, with its charming melancholy, is characteristic, but the touching Adagio from his Violin Concerto shows that he could also use his collected themes more ambitiously. Johan Halvorsen, a contemporary of Grieg, continued the tradition, offering simple, colourful settings of memorable ideas, and the Sinding Suite is in the same vein.



		Henning Kraggerud plays on a modern violin, and with a lovely tone presents these miniatures with a simple eloquence that is disarmingly pleasurable. He ends his programme with two favourite Grieg items which show how folk material could be transmuted by a really great composer. He is very well accompanied and recorded, and this is altogether a most engaging lightweight concert, which at Naxos price is highly recommendable.