# Edvard Grieg, Václav Neumann, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Adele Stolte ‎– Peer Gynt



## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

Henrik Ibsen 's five act play _Peer Gynt_ is one of the most widely performed Norwegian plays. It is loosely based on a Norwegian fairy tale (Per Gynt) which tells the story of the eponymous Per Gynt, a hunter from Kvam, and his various exploits. Gynt rescues three dairy-maids from trolls and shoots the Bøyg, a gigantic, worm-shaped troll-being. The fairy tale is most famously recorded by Asbjørnsen and Moe in Norwegian Folktales. Ibsen believed that the legend of Per Gynt was rooted in fact, and his play is also tinged with characters modelled after Ibsen's own family.

Ibsen asked *Edvard Grieg* to compose incidental music for the play. Grieg composed a score (his op. 23) that plays approximately ninety minutes. Grieg extracted two suites of four pieces each from the incidental music (Opp. 46 and 55), which became very popular as concert music. The music of these suites, especially _Morning Mood_ starting the first suite, _In the Hall of the Mountain King_, and the string lament _Åse's Death_ later reappeared in numerous arrangements, soundtracks, etc.

For many years, the suites were the only parts of the music that were available, as the original score was not published until 1908, one year after Grieg's death, by Johan Halvorsen.

The complete score of the incidental music includes several songs and choral pieces. The complete score was believed to be lost until the 1980s and has only been performed in its entirety since then. Some recordings that claim to contain the complete incidental music have 33 and 49 selections including several verses from the drama, read by actors. The original score contains 26 sections.

This week's _Vinyl's Revenge _can be thought of different ways - the one I espouse follows the line that many conductors create their own "concert suites" of music of great stage works, not necessarily following strictly published ones. We've seen that for some of the great ballets of *Tchaikovsky*, *Prokofiev *and even *Khachaturian *- Khachaturian himself recorded concert suites that don't strictly follow his published ones!

This sampling by Czech conductor Václav Neumann of the incidental music for Peer Gynt- though it does include all eight sections that make up the official suites - is a "performance suite" of the incidental music, which is why I attributed it the opus 23.

Two tracks from this album are sung in German by soprano Adele Stolte, including _Solveig's Song_ (typically performed in concert as an instrumental section from the op. 55 suite).








*Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)*
_Peer Gynt_, op.23 (Incidental Music, selections)


Norwegian Bridal Procession	
Overture To Act II: The Abduction And Ingrid's Lament	
In The Hall Of The Mountain King	
Aase's Death	
Overture To Act IV: Morning Mood	
Arabian Dance	
Anitra's Dance	
Solveig's Song 
Prelude To Act V: Peer Gynt's Homecoming	
Solveig's Lullaby (Soprano Vocals - Adele Stolte)

Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Václav Neumann, conducting
Philips ‎- 6570 017 (Festivo - Vinyl, LP, Reissue)

YouTube URL - 



(Posted to Youtube by R Foekens, with thanks!)


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## itywltmt (May 29, 2011)

*We are repurposing the music from this post as a new montage in our ongoing A la Carte series on the For Your Listening Pleasure podcast January 18, 2019. The following notes are an update .*

The original post, featuring stage music by Grieg, is being "mashed up" into a new programme by adding more stage music by the Norwegian. This _A La Carte_ montage extends our old vinyl share of Vaclav Neumann conducting excerpts Peer Gynt with a rare complete recording of the incidental music from Sigurd Jorsalfar.

Sigurd Jorsalfar is a play by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson celebrating King Sigurd I of Norway. Published as his Op. 22, his incidental music for the play was first performed in Christiania on 10 April 1872. The full work consists of nine parts; five are purely orchestral, and four are scored for tenor or baritone, male chorus, and orchestra.

Happy Listeing!

Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Peer Gynt, op.23 (Incidental Music, selections)
Soprano Vocals - Adele Stolte
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Václav Neumann, conducting
[VR-18]
Sigurd Jorsalfar Op. 22 (Incidental Music, complete)
1. Prelude
2. Intermezzo (Borghilds Dream) - Act I
3. In The ing's Hall (The Matching Game) - Act II
4. Horn Calls - Act II
5. The Norsmen - Act II
6. Homage March - Act III
7. Interlude I & II - Act III
8. The King's Ballad - Act III
Baritone Vocals - Kåre Bjørkøy
Chorus - Oslo Philharmonic Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Per Dreier, conducting
Archive Page - https://archive.org/details/alc-06


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