Customer Reviews

Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite; Lyric Suite; Piano Concerto / Schumann: Piano Concerto / Franck: Symphonic Variations

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The English now dote on Sir John Barbirolli, albeit for decades he languished in the shadow of Beecham. I suspect that these Grieg recordings from 1969-72 first came out on Pye, the secondary label that Barbirolli and the Halle Orch. regularly rcorded on, given that EMI already had a classic Peer Gynt from Beecham (now in the Great Recordings of the Century series, while this Barbirolli version sells at super-bargain on Seraphim). His Peer Gynt is relaxed and lyrical, no match for the high-powered version from Karajan, but if you think this music should sing in a softer, more modest voice, his account is fine.

CD 2 is devoted to the pianist John Ogdon, a bear of a man tormented by mental illness. You'd never know it from his light, carefree readings of the Grieg and Schumann concertos, both accompanied by Barbirolli with a noticeable absence of drama and contrast. I found that I liked their understated way with these over-familiar works very much, and at pennies on the dollar, this two-fer is highly recommendable.

Sir John Barbirolli was always considered a strong proponent of Grieg. The first disc in this two disc set feaures a marvelous 1969 performance from the Halle Orchestra of music from Grieg's incidental music to the Ibsen play "Peer Gynt", and not just the eight pieces which make up the two popular suites but also some essential additional selections. First and foremost "Solveig's Song" and "Lullaby" both beautifully sung by soprano Sheila Armstrong. Also the addition of the chorus to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" adds even more power to this already exciting moment from the music. The remainder of the first disc contains the orchestrated versions of four movements from Grieg's Lyric Pieces, op. 54, originally written for piano. The Nocturne is a truly beautiful piece.

The second disc, which at this price is like an added bonus, includes a generous program (76 minutes) of music for piano and orchestra: the usual coupling of the Grieg and Schumann piano concertos plus the wonderful Symphonic Variations by Cesar Frank. The performances by John Ogdon (piano) with the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Berglund are all very good. The Adagio movement from the Grieg gets a wonderfully sensitive reading from Ogdon.

The Barbirolli performances alone are worth several times what is being charged for this two disc set. The digital remastering is excellent with little to no background noise, even on the Frank "Variations" which date from 1963.