The intention of this record seems to be to provide a pleasant, undemanding programme of Norwegian music, with a mixture of short pieces, some familiar and some pretty well unknown outside Norway. Fair enough, and in this context the inclusion of Grieg's music was a must, but was it really for the best to offer yet another version of the Peer Gynt Suite, when less well-known items by the composer could have been explored? The point is underlined, unfortunately, by Per Dreier's dull, unimaginative conducting—in fact, performances throughout the disc do not rise above the merely efficient, though much of the music itself is mediocre. Only Halvorsen's evocative Danse visionaire (preceded by his jolly Entry of the Boyars) comes anywhere near Grieg's level of inspiration. Svendsen's Variations on a Norwegian Folk Tune show a certain individuality, however, and his other two pieces have a pleasing, cheerful vigour.
The most obscure composer present is Halfdan Kjerulf, whose explorations of Norwegian folk-music in the earlier part of the nineteenth century have won him a niche in that country's musical history. His modest little Wedding in Hardanger was originally written for male choir. Ole Bull's Solitude has an appropriate air of wistfulness, but the real disappointment lies in nondescript pieces by Rikard Nordraak whose death in his early twenties created muci grief in the heart of his friend Grieg.
The recording is very clear, but rather lacks depth and body.'