Description: I inadvertently purchased a second copy of this splendid disc, so here it is for your pleasure, still intact in its sellophane wrapper, unopened and unplayed. This review is by David Hurwitz of Classics Today: "On evidence here, Gerhard Schjelderup (1859-1933) was a very good composer. Brand, a “symphonic drama” based on Ibsen, is a 30-minute hunk of post-Wagnerian Sturm und Drang, opulently scored and consistently engaging. The section titles tell it all (the work plays continuously): “Journey through fog and storm to the highest peak”; “Love in suffering and desire”; “All or Nothing!”; “He who has beheld Jehovah must die”; “My God is storm”; and of course, “Death of a hero”. Now come on, admit it–you want to hear this, don’t you? It’s all there: soaring strings and harps, heroic brass chorals, crashing percussion–the works. But more to the point, it’s really well done and thematically attractive.The Second Symphony, despite the title “To Norway”, has few overtly nationalist qualities. It was composed in 1923 (Brand dates from about 1910), and once again the movements have programmatic titles: “The Sea”; “Spring”; “The mountain plateau”; “Up to the highest peaks!”. Schjelderup obviously was into peaks, and once again the symphony has more than its share. There are also a few dead spots, particularly in the first movement–this is a pretty glum, northern-style sea; but the third movement is hauntingly beautiful, and in the finale Schjelderup once again pulls out all the stops with great confidence.The performances are very good. The Trondheim orchestra could benefit from a larger string section and a more massive sonority at the climaxes, but we’re not likely to hear better anytime soon. Such is the quality of the music that it makes little sense to quibble, particularly as the sonics are excellent. If you like late-Romantic, let-it-all-hang-out Germanic orchestral music, you will surely love this disc."
Price: 9.95 USD
Location: San Pedro, California
End Time: 2024-11-09T22:50:05.000Z
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Item Specifics
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Artist: Schjelderup / Trondheim So / Aadland, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra
CD Grading: Mint (M)
Composer: Gerhard Schjelderup
Record Label: CPO Records
Release Title: Brand / Symphony No 2 to Norway
Case Type: Jewel Case: Standard
Case Condition: Mint (M)
MPN: LC 8452
Inlay Condition: Mint (M)
Catalog Number: 777 348-2
Type: CD
Format: CD
Release Year: 2010
Language: English, French, German
Era: 1900s
Style: Symphony
Conductor: Eivind Aadland
Genre: Classical Composers
Run Time: 73:11
Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany
Performer Orchestra: Trondheim Symphony Orchestra
Unit Quantity: 1
