Trolling for Peer Gynt
(first published in The Cincinnati Post May 26, 2005) Paavo Järvi: Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Grieg, "Peer
Gynt." Baritone Peter Mattei. Soprano Camilla Tilling. Mezzo-soprano Charlotte
Hellekant. Ellerhein Girls’ Choir. Estonian National Male Choir. Virgin
Classics. A Troll the record bins June 7 for this stunning new release from
Paavo Järvi and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. This is the team that produced the 2004 Grammy-winner "Sibelius
Cantatas" with the Estonian National Male Choir and Ellerhein Girls’ Choir (also
for Virgin Classics). They’re back with a trio of splendid soloists, Peter Mattei as the
errant ladies’ man Peer, Camilla Tilling as Solveig, the girl back home, and
Charlotte Hellekant as the Bedouin seductress Anitra. "Peer Gynt" is one of the most popular scores in classical music.
Written as incidental music for the 1876 play by Henrik Ibsen, the work is best
known for the two suites Grieg extracted from it. He wrote 26 numbers in all
(the suites comprise only eight) and you can hear 20 of them here in some of the
most vivid performances on disc. (CSO music director emeritus Jesus Lopez-Cobos
led a similar version in 1992 at Music Hall with narrator Werner Klemperer.) It begins with the boisterous "At the Wedding," where Peer
inhospitably abducts the bride, and the viola gets to do the "fiddling" (the
violin gets two chances later). You can feel the bride’s pain in the aching,
pounding music of "Ingrid’s Lament," and Järvi builds "In the Hall of the
Mountain King" to a furious climax before coming down to earth in the soft,
solemn "Ase’s Death" (Peer’s mother). Mattei’s rakish baritone in "Peer Gynt’s Serenade" contrasts
beautifully with Tilling in her lovely "Solveig’s Song," while Hellekant (heard
with Järvi and the CSO in Sibelius’ "Kullervo" in September) gives full voice to
the seductive Anitra in "Arabian Dance." Lesser known numbers include the wryly humorous "Peer Gynt and the
Woman in Green" (the troll king’s daughter), "Peer Gynt at the Statue of Memnon"
(reminiscent of the temple music in Mozart’s "Magic Flute") and the touching, a
capella "Whitsun Hymn" as Peer is returning home to Norway. The familiar "Morning Mood" chirps merrily, the "Storm at Sea"
rages with wind-whistling fury, and "Solveig’s Cradle Song" with Tilling and the
choirs casts a final, tender benediction. Note: Järvi will lead the CSO in selections from "Peer Gynt" Nov.
17-19 at Music Hall.