Grieg: Olav Trygvason
Magne Fremmerlid (bass-baritone), Nina Gravrok (soprano), Marianne E. Andersen (mezzo-soprano), Yngve Søberg (bass-baritone) & Helge Rønning (tenor)
Malmö Opera Chorus, Malmö Opera Orchestra, Malmö Chamber Choir, Lund Student Singers & Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Bjarte Engeset
Engeset secures committedly live-feeling performances from his Swedish players and choirs. Recommended for that, and for the convenience of hearing the Bjornson/Grieg repertoire as a unit.
Grieg: Olav Trygvason
Magne Fremmerlid (bass-baritone), Nina Gravrok (soprano), Marianne E. Andersen (mezzo-soprano), Yngve Søberg (bass-baritone) & Helge Rønning (tenor)
Malmö Opera Chorus, Malmö Opera Orchestra, Malmö Chamber Choir, Lund Student Singers & Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Bjarte Engeset
Purchase product
Engeset secures committedly live-feeling performances from his Swedish players and choirs. Recommended for that, and for the convenience of hearing the Bjornson/Grieg repertoire as a unit.
About
Edvard Grieg and his librettist Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson were both fascinated by a great period in Norway’s past: the Viking Age, whose sagas, and fierce conflicts between Christianity and the old Norse religion, inspired all three of Grieg’s works recorded here. Landkjenning depicts the moment when Olav Trygvason (960s-1000) and his men sight the Norwegian coast for the first time on their voyage from England to Norway. As King from 995 to 1000, Olav worked singlemindedly to Christianise Norway. Conceived as a true Norwegian national opera, but left unfinished, the three scenes from Olav Trygvason explore pagan rituals and tributes to the Norse gods in anticipation of King Olav’s entrance into the pagan temple.
Contents and tracklist
- Yngve A Soberg
- Malmo Chamber Choir, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Lunds Studentsångare
- Bjarte Engeset
- Helge Ronning
- Malmo Chamber Choir, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Lunds Studentsångare, Malmö Opera
- Bjarte Engeset
- Nina Gravrok, Magne Fremmerlid
- Malmö Opera Chorus, Malmö Opera
- Bjarte Engeset
- Marianne E. Andersen, Magne Fremmerlid
- Malmö Opera Chorus, Malmö Opera
- Bjarte Engeset
- Malmö Opera Chorus, Malmö Opera
- Bjarte Engeset
Spotlight on this release
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Edvard Grieg
3rd Apr 2015
David picks some of the best recordings of the works of the Norwegian Romantic nationalist, Edvard Grieg.
Awards and reviews
March 2014
Engeset secures committedly live-feeling performances from his Swedish players and choirs. Recommended for that, and for the convenience of hearing the Bjornson/Grieg repertoire as a unit.
3rd January 2014
Naxos have done Grieg proud over the years, producing many discs which have considerably extended our knowledge of a composer whose range of expression was wider than is sometimes allowed. This is a valuable addition to that collection, generally well performed and superbly recorded.
9th January 2014
[Olav Trygvason] attains a level of musical violence unique in Grieg's output...the performances are a mixed bag, although the choral singing is excellent.
New York Times December 2013
This wonderful album, the seventh in a series, presents three extended scenes from that incomplete work, with rousing choruses, invocations to Norse gods, a prophetess weaving ominous spells, and more.
