| Review by mandel January 9, 2005 (3 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Another good multichannel SACD from Naxos. The strings sound reserved but warm, fitting the music perfectly. The disc begins with the Concert Overture: In Autumn which, to quote the sleevenotes, depicts "the autumn as a time of destructive death and decay, but also of harvesting and cyclical coherence". Mixes Grieg's usual descriptive talent with an energy that begs for comparison to Wagners Overtures.
A good performance from the orchestra of Grieg's best known work, the Piano concerto In A Minor. On the whole a good effort from the pianist too, though in comparison to an old RCA Philippe Entremont vinyl, the timing of the piano playing is, in parts, a little unnatural. They both pull the tempo about a lot but Entremont does it a lot better, the end of Allegro Moderato on this SACD in particular feels a little forced. On the whole though the performance is quite good and the piano is well balanced with the orchestra on the recording.
The Symphonic Dances contain some very poetic music, the spirit of which is well represented by the performance. Wonderful dynamics and well orchestrated. Clocking in at just over half an hour, this and the Concert Overture (plus the very reasonably Naxos pricetag) make this SACD a very worthwhile buy. Just don't lose that old copy of the Piano Concerto In A Minor just yet.
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| Review by Luukas February 11, 2014 (1 of 7 found this review helpful)
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Naxos label's Grieg Series is good way to listen Norwegian composer's masterworks. This disc is very interesting: it contains Grieg's favorite Piano Concerto Op. 16, Four Norwegian Dances Op. 64 and concert overture In Autumn. Håvard Gimse is excellent virtuoso pianist: the whole concerto's total time is only 29 minutes. The first movement's famous main theme is performed very well, and Gimse plays movement's difficult cadenza with virtuoso and fire. Second movement's dreamy begin and horn's beautiful melody is also very good. And the last dazzling movement is very effective.
Four Norwegian Dances are written originally for piano, and Grieg orchestrated these marvelous works later. The first dance's energic main theme is performed very strongly, and Henry Woods Hall's acoustics is good. The second dance is very beautiful: oboe's gentle thema sounds very good, much better than Ole Kristian Rood's performance with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (BIS Records). The third dance is funny and Engeset understands fourth dance's dramatic sections.
I haven't SACD version of this release, but it sounds very good on CD. Very good introduction to Grieg's music! Buy and enjoy!
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