The liner-note for this third volume in the Chandos traversal
of Halvorsen’s orchestral music states “The music
of Johan Halvorsen is one of Norway’s best-kept secrets”.
If there is any justice at all this will be the series of recordings
to bring this delightful music to a wider audience. Having enjoyed
volume two enormously when I reviewed
it for this site I bought volume one which proved equally rewarding
(see review).
At a push I would have to say I think this new volume is the
best of the lot.
There are a couple of points worth reiterating; Halvorsen writes
in an idiom resolutely out of touch with the time in which it
was written. So the Symphony No.3 presented here was
sketched in 1928 but spiritually belongs to the end of the 19th
Century. But if lyrical, beautifully crafted music is your thing
this will prove irresistible. As in the two earlier volumes
Neeme Järvi is in his considerable element aided by the
quite excellent Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and engineering/production
from the Chandos top-drawer. Violinist Marianne Thorsen adds
- briefly - to the fine impression she made on both of the other
discs although here she faces competition for the soloist’s
laurels from Hardanger fiddler Ragnhild Hemsing; more of that
later.
Only one of the works here receives a premiere recording, but
as with volume two, where I have been able to make comparisons,
these new versions supersede the earlier discs from Simax on
every front. The programme opens with the afore-mentioned symphony.
In the excellent liner-note Øyvin Dydsand notes various
allusions to other composer’s works including Grieg, Sibelius’s
Symphony No.1, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
and even Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2. The
implication, arising from a Halvorsen quote, “... there
are, all in all, many peculiar things in it, just not a programme”
is that these are deliberate yet enigmatic signposts. Yet I
have to put up my hand and say that even though I know all of
those works extremely well I could not hear the links. The similarity
I did feel, which is one of mood rather than material. Dydsand
makes a further point which is more valid: by the time he came
to write this work Halvorsen was comfortable with his position
and achievements in Norway’s musical life and felt he
had nothing more to prove. So there is a sense of being ‘at
ease’ in this work that is greatly appealing. Not that
it lacks in drama or impact, far from it, but conversely it
is not trying too hard to impress. If I were to have a criticism
of the Symphony No.2 that appeared in the second volume
it would be just that - Halvorsen was straining to write a major
work. Here, running to just twenty-six minutes we have a beautifully
proportioned piece. In mood and outlook it reminds me of those
symphonies by Kurt Atterberg and Franz Schmidt - their 6th
and 3rd respectively - that were written for the
famous Columbia Gramophone Company’s 1928 Schubert-inspired
competition - I love the idea that - ever the individual - Havergal
Brian submitted his Gothic Symphony’s orchestral
movements to the same competition. Nothing in the liner links
the Halvorsen to the competition but the date is fascinatingly
coincidental … This is an immediately appealing work with
the central slow movement reaching a powerfully cinematic climax.
Likewise the finale is full of energetic good humour. The liner
lists seventeen tempo indications for this movement which lasts
just over eight and half minutes. On the written page it seems
excessive but to the ear it flows together effortlessly. Credit
therefore to the performers for playing this with such conviction
and apparent ease. Järvi seems to have taken to Halvorsen’s
idiom with total command and identification and, as I wrote
about volume 2, this disc oozes the energy and vibrant flair
that has been a hallmark of Järvi’s best recordings
throughout his career.
My reasoning why this is the best of the three volumes to date
is that all of the music presented is of equal high quality
although of diverse origins. Halvorsen’s bread-and-butter
job was as musical director for theatres initially in Bergen
and then from 1899 of the National Theatre in Kristiania where
he worked for the next thirty years. In 1899 the orchestra of
the National Theatre was the largest professional group in Norway.
They performed six nights a week, giving Halvorsen a practical
and pragmatic approach to his own and other's music. Halvorsen
composed many scores for productions at the theatre but rather
appallingly on his retirement in 1929 chose to burn the bulk
of them in the theatre’s boiler room. One imagines he
must have considered the scores to represent hack work rather
than the best he could do. Fortunately, not all of his incidental
music scores were destroyed and some examples appear here. After
1919 the orchestra was cut back to just fifteen musicians. For
this very limited number Halvorsen wrote Sorte Svaner [Black
Swans] - a five minute miniature that makes a fascinating
contrast to the bravura of the Symphony. In many ways this is
the most interesting work on the disc with Halvorsen making
a virtue out of the limited resources. There is a muted ‘study
in grey’ feel to this work with occasional echoes of Sibelius’
Pelleas et Melisande incidental music. Järvi is
again masterly in controlling the ebb and flow although if one
is being really critical you have to note that this is played
by the full Bergen Orchestra as opposed to the fifteen that
one supposes were originally involved which makes the central
climax rather more overblown than one imagines was intended.
The most extended work recorded here is the Fossegrimen -
Dramatic Suite for Orchestra. This is drawn from Halvorsen’s
incidental music to the play of the same name premiered in 1905.
Sub-titled ‘a troll-play in four parts’ by date
and spirit this is a natural heir to Grieg’s Peer Gynt.
From the incidental music Halvorsen drew a five movement suite
into which Järvi has interpolated the Danse Visionaire.
This solo violin and orchestra movement was a pre-existing work
from 1898 incorporated in the play’s music as a matter
of expediency. It is a charming salon-esque piece played with
real finesse by the orchestra’s leader Melina Mandozzi.
There is more than a hint of the early Delius works for violin
and orchestra, particularly the Suite for Violin and Orchestra
but I have no idea if Halvorsen could have heard or been influenced
by the earlier work. As for the other five movements in the
authorised suite they are as picturesque and appealing as you
might ever wish to hear. Local colour is added by the integration
into the score of an important part for a Hardanger fiddle -
Norway’s unique folk violin. Apparently its appearance
in a symphonic score was the first time this had been done.
Grieg also used the Hardanger in his Peer Gynt score
but there they are folk interpolations into an orchestral score.
The player here is Hardanger expert Ragnhild Hemsing and the
liner is further enhanced by a brief contribution from her explaining
a little about the Hardanger tradition as well as pictures of
Hardanger fiddles. As a piece this is the most obviously folk-influenced
and you can hear the Bergen strings playing with the easy familiarity
for the idiom that other orchestras would struggle to achieve.
Indeed the whole orchestra bubbles with good humour and bucolic
wit.
The shortest work on the disc is another gem. Again, clearly
taking his model from Grieg’s arrangements for strings
- the Elegiac Melodies - Halvorsen arranged the traditional
melody The Wedding of Ravens in the Grove of the Crows.
Here Halvorsen’s skills as an arranger, orchestrator,
and transcriber are clearly displayed. He chooses a very simple
theme-and-variations form which subtly alters the bed on which
this very beautiful melody lies. It is the kind of piece perfect
for string orchestras looking to get away from the inevitable
Holberg Suite again. Just time to mention the musical
bon-bon Bryllupsmarsch (wedding march) which is the only
piece in this programme to make use of the excellent violin
playing of Marianne Thorsen. Recording dates indicate that this
was taken from the same sessions as Volume 2 but such is the
consistency of this series that it makes for a enjoyable filler
in the best sense.
Enjoyment is the key word too for the final item - Bergensiana
- Rococo Variations. If proof were needed how superior this
performance is to earlier ones this piece provides it. In the
Simax performance I have to say it barely registered on my consciousness
at all even though it featured the same orchestra. Here it emerges
as an orchestral showpiece of the highest order. It is performed
annually by this orchestra to open the Bergen International
Festival so it is a work they have in their bones - and doesn't
it show. This is a brilliant concoction by Halvorsen consisting
of a theme and six variations lasting little more than ten minutes.
Good humour is the order of the day with Halvorsen shamelessly
- and quite deliberately I'm sure - parodying everything from
Brahms' Academic Festival Overture to Tchaikovsky's
Rococo Variations. Add to that some striking pre-echoes
of Britten's Young Person's Guide and a theme un-nervingly
like 'My Darling Clementine'. The bibulous bassoon variation
with grunting basses and a nonchalant xylophone is genuinely
entertaining as well as quite brilliantly played. Following
on from this is a mandolin waltz-serenade of delightful banality
which Halvorsen skilfully follows with the emotional heart of
the work - a beautifully lyrical string-led song without words.
As well as showcasing the individual brilliance of the orchestra
this piece demonstrates just how fine the Chandos engineering
is as well as the superb concert hall acoustics. Again, it has
to be said that Järvi steers an ideal path between the
witty and the rhetorical that this piece needs. What a great
end to a disc that will bring pleasure to many.
Would I say any of this music is 'great'? - probably not - but
it does delight by the sheer quality of its craftsmanship and
ear-tickling melodies. Given that there are no more Halvorsen
Symphonies to provide a backbone to further volumes I hope Chandos
will continue to explore incidental music scores. If you have
not yet tried this series I would suggest this is the best place
to start full to the brim as it is with utterly beguiling music,
but I would be willing to bet that if you like what you hear
volumes 1 and 2 will be added to your collection soon!
Nick Barnard
Marianne Torsen (violin: March); Ragnhild Hemsing (Hardanger
fiddle: Fossegrimen) 
