Icelandic Works for the Stage: Páll Ísólfsson, Jórunn Viðar

by Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra

Overview

Perhaps it was curiosity that put a recording of Icelandic Works for the Stage on classical best-seller lists in the spring of 2023. After all, the flowering of classical music in Iceland in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has given that small country an outsized international influence, although stage works have played only a small part in that flowering. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this release is that the works here are much earlier; the most recent is from 1952, just a few decades after Iceland got its first orchestra (in 1921) and first conservatory (in 1930). One of the composers here, Pall Isolfsson, was the director of that conservatory, while the other, Jorunn Vidjar, was a student there. Can one hear Bjoerk in her music? It is doubtful, but there is a certain elemental quality in the opening nine-minute ballet, Eldur. The works by Isolfsson are incidental music for a play by Henrik Ibsen and a celebration of the centenary of the death of 19th century writer Jonasar Hallgrimssonar. Isolfsson's music owes a lot to Grieg, with more modern rhythmic elements present, as well as some Icelandic folk tunes. Vidjar's two works are hardly more modern, but there is an eclectic quality to all of these out-of-the-way works that carries considerable appeal; one hears hints of Vaughan Williams, perhaps of Peter Warlock, and of American film music. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, under the indefatigable Rumon Gamba, has a relaxed confidence in the music, and nothing here is less than highly listenable. Notes by the great Paul Griffiths are always a plus. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2023
Label:	Chandos
UPC:	0095115531921
Rank:	12092

Tracks

1. Eldur (Fire)
2. Veislan á Sólhaugum for Orchestra~1. Forleikur (Overture)
3. Veislan á Sólhaugum for Orchestra~2. Brúðkaupsmars (Wedding March)
4. Veislan á Sólhaugum for Orchestra~3. Halling (Folk Dance)
5. Veislan á Sólhaugum for Orchestra~4. Bergbúinn (The Mountain Dweller)
6. Veislan á Sólhaugum for Orchestra~5. Marcia funèbre (Funeral March)
7. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~I. Forspil (Prelude)
8. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~II. Mars (March)
9. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~III. Menúett (Minuet)
10. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~IV. 'Þjóðlag' (Folksong)
11. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~V. Vikivaki I. Vivace -
12. Úr Myndabók Jónasar Hallgrimssonar (From Jónas Hallgrímsson's Picture Book)~VI. Vikivaki II. [ ] - Andante assai - [ ]
13. Ólafur Liljurós~[dotted-quarter note = c. 76] - Accelerando - [dotted-quarter note = c. 72] - Poco piu mosso - [quarter-note = c. 76]
14. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = c. 96]
15. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = c. 96] - Poco a poco accelerando e crescendo... - [ ]
16. Ólafur Liljurós~[ ]
17. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = c. 88] - [dotted-quarter note = c. 96] - [quarter note = c. 96]
18. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = c. 144] - [dotted-half note = c. 56] - Tempo I [quarter note = c. 144] - Í marstakt [quarter note = c. 104] - Trio. Tempo di valse -
19. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = c. 60] - [quarter note = c. 72] - Vivo [half note = 126] - [quarter note = c. 160]
20. Ólafur Liljurós~[quarter note = 76] - [quarter note = 84] - [quarter note = 48]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rumon Gamba   Primary Artist,Conductor
Iceland Symphony Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra

Technical Credits

Jonathan Cooper   Editing,Recording Producer,Engineer
Georg Magnusson   Assistant Engineer
Andreas Nilsson   Photography
Jorunn Vidjar   Composer
Finn S. Gundersen   Booklet Editor
Andreas Klatt   Liner Note Translation
Paul Griffiths   Liner Notes
Pall Isolfsson   Composer
Marie-Francoise de Meeus   Liner Note Translation
Sue Shortridge   A&R
Cass Cassidy   Design,Typesetting
Sigrun Edjvaldsdottir   Leader
Lovisa Fjeldsted   Photo Courtesy