Norwegian Music for String Orchestra - music of Grieg, Kvandal, Nystedt, Gruner-Hegge / Ensemble Allegria

Recommendation

This album of Norwegian music for string orchestra from Lawo Classics was released in the fall of 2013. I put off listening to it for several months, mostly because the opening piece on the program, Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite, Op. 40, is a work not really aligned to the 'discovery' facet of Expedition Audio. I finally did play it recently and thoroughly enjoyed the exceptionally refined performance of Grieg's beloved suite, as well as the three other works for string orchestra on the program. The title of this album is also the name of the string orchestra, Ensemble Allegria.

Ensemble Allegria ('Allegria' being Italian for merriment, enjoyment) is a group of players in their early 20's lead by Concertmaster Maria Angelika Carlsen. These musicians came together initially as students and the Holberg Suite is the music the group cut its eyetooth on. As stated, their performance of the Grieg is splendid, and so is their playing of the other works, compositions engaging in form and content which are right down the E.A. alley.

These three works are products of 20th century Norwegian composers, all writing in a modern style quite similar to one another in terms of harmonic language and tonality. The first is Sonata for Strings, Op. 79 by Johan Kvandal (1919-1999), and heard right on the heels of Grieg's suite, the opening fierce and biting chords let you know you are in for some altogether different listening. This is followed by Elegiac Melody for Strings by Odd Grüner-Hegge (1899-1973), a lyrical adagio that dissolves into a beautiful silence. The concluding work on the program is Concerto Arctandriae for Strings, Op. 128 by Knut Nystedt (b.1915). You can listen to the concluding Allegro Feroce of this work as the second track of the video appearing in the sidebar. The video opens with the first movement Praeludim from the Holberg Suite, where the youthful Ensemble Allegria proves their mettle. In the video below, you can get to know the group a little more intimately, and hear them in a thrilling extract from Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony.

Concertmaster Carlsen writes "Team spirit, laughter, humor, shared effort, and a common goal - the merging of nineteen ardent souls generates positive energy that can be heard in the music". True enough, I do hear something very special here. So, rediscover Grieg's Holberg Suite in what may be the most nuanced performance you'll ever hear, get to know these three other fine Norwegian works for string orchestra, and learn the story behind the exceptional and vibrant Ensemble Allegria.

Album Overview

Allegria is Italian for merriment and enjoyment, and indeed it was the pleasure of playing together that led a group of music students to launch the orchestra in 2007.

For its rapid and resolute development over the past five years, Ensemble Allegria was awarded the Statoil Talent Award for classical music for 2012. The orchestra has been managed independently by its own members since its founding, and the Norwegian Academy of Music has played a significant supportive role. Its permanent concertmaster and artistic director is Maria Angelika Carlsen.

The ensemble is celebrating its fifth anniversary with the release of its debut album, a recording that pays tribute to nineteenth and twentieth-century Norwegian composers, from Edvard Grieg via Odd Grüner-Hegge and Johan Kvandal to Knut Nystedt.

In the words of the orchestra’s own members: We have long wished to offer something special on our debut recording, and we invite the listener into the atmosphere and culture that abides in the orchestra, Ensemble Allegria. The album contains Norwegian music we play often and like very much. The works span a relatively long period of time, approximately 100 years, from Grieg’s “Holberg Suite” to Knut Nystedt’s “Concerto Arctandriae”. We feel the combination of familiar and less familiar works provides a rich blend of what Norwegian composers have to offer. We hope the listener’s enjoyment of the album will equal the pleasure we had in making it.

Source: LAWO Classics

Ensemble Allegria	Ensemble Allegria   Ensemble Allegria is comprised of around 20 musicians between 20-26 years of age. Since its beginning, the orchestra has been managed independently by its own members, with the Nor- wegian Academy of Music playing a significant supportive role. Its permanent concertmaster and artistic director is Maria Angelika Carlsen. - See more at: http://www.ensembleallegria.com/en/historie/#sthash.yRZlgFYY.dpuf
Edvard Grieg, composer	Edvard Grieg, composer   Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum.
Knut Nystedt, composer	Knut Nystedt, composer   Knut Nystedt (born 3 September 1915) is a Norwegian orchestral and choral composer. Nystedt was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, and grew up in a Christian home where hymns and classical music were an important part of everyday life. His major compositions for choir and vocal soloists are mainly based on texts from the Bible or sacred themes.
Johan Kvandal, composer	Johan Kvandal, composer   Johan Kvandal is one of Norway’s most frequently performed composers. The poetic and energetic Nordic music finds audiences from New York, Dubai, Aix-en-Provence and Berlin to Scotland, India and Australia. Kvandal’s production consists of 85 opus for virtually all kinds of ensembles from solo instruments to full orchestra and opera.
	OddGruner-Hegge, composer

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