Phils 1: Beach, Halvorsen, Svendsen, Strauss, Jr.

Amy Beach: Symphony No. 2, “Gaelic”
Neeme Järvi, Detroit Symphony
Chandos
Kenneth Schermerhorn, Nashville Symphony
Naxos

A dilemma: Only three recordings have been made of this work; only these two are worth considering, but neither is “desert island” quality. The choice depends upon your tastes. Järvi takes a lyrical, very smooth, long-lined legato approach. The orchestra is world-class, and the sound is rich and lush. The problem is that the work is highly rhythmic, and both the sharpness of the rhythms and the inner orchestral details (especially the woodwinds) are all but buried. Järvi’s approach works best in the second and third movements, though the fourth movement, despite buried details, is a real romp!

Schermerhorn, in the first three movements, digs out those wonderful rhythmic and orchestral details in a very infectious and lovely performance. But he takes the final movement way under tempo, and details and rhythms become buried. Excellent engineering is warm, resonant, and balanced, except that the timpani—an important rhythmic pulse—are barely audible. Also, Nashville’s violins are small potatoes compared to Detroit’s.

In brief: Interpretatively it’s a toss-up. For a lush beauty bath, go with Järvi (a case of “what you don’t know you won’t miss”); for clarity and character, go with Schermerhorn.


Halvorsen: Entry March of the Boyars
Neeme Järvi, Bergen Philharmonic
Chandos 10584

This is the most colorful, liveliest, and best engineered performance I’ve heard. Most of the other works on this all-Halvorsen album would be perfect for a pops concert or for an evening of music in the style of Johann Strauss, Jr. (Symphony No. 1 is meatier). This is Volume I of three on Chandos of Halvorsen’s music, all with Järvi and the splendid Bergen Philharmonic. (Grieg himself was once artistic director of this, his home town orchestra).


Svendsen: Romance for Violin
Henning Kraggerud, violin; Bjarte Engeset, Razumovsky Symphony
Naxos 554497

On this album entitled “Norwegian Violin Favorites,” Kraggerud and Engeset play Johan Svendsen’s Romance for Violin in one beautiful, eloquent, seamless arc. There are also six more works by Halvorsen, a suite by Christian Sinding, and five lovely tunes by Edvard Grieg and Ole Bull—the symbols of Norway’s soul. The violinist and conductor, both about 40, are well-known Norwegians, here serving up lovely miniatures, both joyous and melancholy, splendidly played by Budapest’s best chamber orchestra in rich mellow sound. The album is perfect for a quiet summer evening or a gathering of good friends (or Arild Remmereit’s inaugural concert).


Johann Strauss, Jr: Where the Citrons Bloom; Light As a Feather

Arild Remmereit is right: these are rarely heard works, or, at least, rarely recorded ones. The only one I’ve been able to get my hands on is Karajan on Deutsche Grammophon in Light As a Feather, which isn’t light as a feather. Online, I can find only two albums (at ArkivMusic.com) that have both works: One is “Ultimate Strauss Family,” five CDs on Decca for $20.99 (not to be confused with “The Strauss Family,” six CDs also on Decca for $47.49), both with Willi Boskovsky and the Vienna Philharmonic, neither of which I’ve heard. Also, if you’re hunting for either of these works online or in a library, it helps to know the German titles: the waltz is Wo die Zitronen Bluhn, Op. 364; and the polka is Leichtes Blut, Op. 319.