A short time ago I reviewed one SACD released on Lawo, by the duo Marianne Beate Kielland and Nils Anders Mortensen. This release had as a mission statement to reflect the three song sycluses with lyrics by Garborg, Vinje and Ibsen beeing most faithful to Ibsen's intentions. And here Simax comes  along with the CD Grieg Unheard, with much of the same song material, and marketing saying "Grieg like you never heard him before." This will be fun!

There are some elements both in marketing, cover and choice of recording studio that in advance could lead to a suspicion that this release is one of the many that break genre boundaries - that there is talk of an interpretation which is in the border area to modern music forms. Not so, interpretations are safely within the classic. When the music still meets the expectations of the title, this is due to a combination that it is partially divergent arrangements, and that there are some very fiery interpretations. Grieg Songs with turbo, one might say. 

iRagazzi consists of the opera singers Marius Roth Christiensen, Hallvard Djupvik, Henrik Engelsviken, Carsten Stabell, Yngve Søberg, Ole Jørgen Kristiansen, Espen Langvik, Ketil Støa .

The packaging is as usual from Simax great with their Digipack cover, and this time in addition an extra exciting cover. The only thing I wish for the improvement, is documentation of soloists for each track and where the various songs are recorded.

Five of the songs are taken from the song cycle Vinjesongs. These are together with Stamborgsrim from Ibsen songs that also appear on the aforementioned release from Lawo, and thus directly reference for these songs. The first of these is A View (Eit Syn), which is a great interpretation. It is performed slightly faster than the reference, and is also a pretty hefty interpretation. Langs ei Å is far more similar to the interpretation of Kielland / Mortensen.

One of the coolest (or rather hottest)interpretations in this publication are undeniably Vinje song Fyremål . Very high speed and temperature makes that it almost catches fire here. We are also on the borderline of what tempo the song can tolerate, but it copes! An almost reckless piano from Reza become an important ingredient in this interpretation, a piano that completely running wild after soloist has ended.

Ibsen song Stamborgsrim is one of the very finest performances on this release, and among my definite favorites. It forms also a great lyrical contrast to the previous hefty Fyremål .

Spring (Våren) has guest appearances by Nina Gravrok and Prima Donna. This is a technically very good performance, but for me it is something that does not match the mood of this song. It does however in the case of Ved Rondane, despite a slightly faster pace than in the reference. 

A new highlight comes in Zur Rosenzeit . Here too careful impressionist vibrations. THe sound here differs partly from the rest, which makes me suspect that this is recorded in Grieg's home at Trollhaugen. I miss documentation on location for the various songs.

The beautiful closing piece Arietta is in memory of Trude Larsen and go after a minute's silence into a great interpretation of Evening Song for Blakken (Kveldssang for Blakken).

The sound of Grieg Unheard is great. The recordings are done three places - The Opera House in Oslo, at Lommmedalen Church, and at Trollhaugen. There are some variations in the sound of the different songs that it is extremely little bold to assign recording location. The perspective is all very good. 

Grieg Unheard was just so different that it should be. There are plenty of songs that provide a refreshing reinterpreting. And I also find interpretations where I still prefer more conservative recordings. Then it's really great that we can have them both. And if you are in tune with Grieg's songs, this is definitely one of the recordings you can not miss. Highly Recommended!

More information at Simax Classics

Songs of Grieg Unheard.

1 Inga Litimor 02:04                                                                              EG 168 (no opus number)

2 Jeg Elsker Dig 01:40                                                                           (Hjertesangene – Opus 5)

3 Eit Syn 01:29                                                                                        Vinjesangene – Opus 33

4 Langs Ei Å 02:45                                                                                  Vinjesangene – Opus 33

5 Guds Sønn Har Gjort Meg Fri 02:39                                                 Op. 74: 4 Salmer fritt efter gamle norske Kirkemelodier

6 Fyremål 03:00 (vinjesangene)                                                           Vinjesangene – Opus 33

7 Stambogsrim 02:05                                                                            Ibsensangene – Opus 25

8 Jeg Lagde Meg Så Sildig 03:51                                                          Op. 30: Album for Mannsang

9 Verdens Gang 01:10                                                                           Op. 48: Seks Sange (oversatt av Nordahl Rolfsen)

10 Våren Feat. Nina Gravrok & Primadonne 05:25                         Vinjesangene – Opus 33

11 Ved Rondane 02:53                                                                          Vinjesangene – Opus 33

12 Zur Rosenzeit 02:58                                                                          Op. 48: Seks Sange (oversatt av Nordahl Rolfsen)

13 Arietta (For Trude Larsen) 02:32                                                    Op. 12: Lyriske stykker, Hefte I