A mixture of the familiar and the unusual comprises the first disc listed above. Jarvi conducts a beautifully balanced performance of the Holberg Suite, in which he takes the Sarabande a little more quickly than usual, so that the flavour of an old dance is more strongly conveyed. At once the superlative quality of the Gothenburg string section is apparent, as is the beautifully refined sound obtained by DG's engineers. In the Elegiac Melodies Jarvi does not dig so deeply into the music as some conductors have done, but his interpretations are fresh and expressive. The Two Melodies, Op. 53, are highly effective song transcriptions, while in the two Norwegian Melodies, Op. 63, Grieg turned his attention firstly to an original composition by a Norwegian diplomat, Fredrik Due, and then to a combination of two genuine folk-tunes. The Two Lyric Pieces, Op. 68, were orchestrated from piano originals. All these are skilfully and sympathetically brought to life by Jarvi and the Gothenburg orchestra.
The second disc is more of a hybrid. I wonder whether potential purchasers of Land Sighting and Olay Trygvason really want another version of the two Peer Gynt suites. Five of the eight Peer Gynt numbers are taken from Jarvi's excellent performance of the complete score (referred to above), but three items with vocal contributions in the 1987 recording have been re-made with orchestra alone. For some reason the extracted items sound less well when taken from the broader canvases, and nor is Jarvi quite at his best in the newly-recorded numbers. The general impression is of an efficient, but slightly under-expressive interpretation.
All is well, however, in the two choral works. The brief Land-Sighting was written as part of a fund-raising event for the restoration of a cathedral in Trondheim. Bjornson's poem describes the return to Norway of the Viking King Olag Trygvason in AD995. Grieg's music is plain and starkly expressive, with primary choral and orchestral colours. Jarvi conducts an appropriately strong, dramatic performance, with good solo singing from Hakan Hagegard. Olag Trygvason is also the eponymous subject of Grieg's unfinished opera, with libretto also by Bjornson—the surviving excerpts are played here. Much of the music has a rugged strength which, as in the case of the complete Peer Gynt, completely belies the composer's reputation as a mere miniaturist. Apart from a somewhat wobbly and uncontrolled soloist the solo and choral singing is first rate. Jarvi directs a forthright, clear-cut interpretation, and DG's versions of both vocal works can be recommended ahead of the pioneering Unicorn recordings now on CD (UKCD2058).'