This brilliant disc duplicates (in the piano concertos) repertoire already recorded by Naxos, also extremely well. Differences are slight, with BIS enjoying a marginal advantage thanks to superior recorded sound and an orchestra perhaps a bit more in touch with the idiom, though this is less important in the works under consideration here–none of these pieces relies to any special degree on Norwegian folk styles. The early First Piano Concerto is a short (20-minute) three-movement piece in slow-fast-slow form that isn’t one of the composer’s more memorable creations. Still, the music makes attractive listening and an ideal introduction to the two larger works.
Piano Concerto No. 4, subtitled “Northern Lights”, is a masterpiece that stands in relation to Tveitt’s other works somewhat as does Martinu’s equally evocative Fourth Piano Concerto (subtitled “Incantations”). Both employ a more modern idiom to create a mysterious, otherworldly universe of sounds, one that pianist Hakon Austbo inhabits with a remarkable degree of sympathy and virtuosity. This really marvelous piece belongs in the collection of anyone who enjoys good modern piano concertos, and frankly you should have both this and the Naxos recording, for there’s more to this music than any single version can completely reveal.
The Turtle is an amazing solo cantata with an English text very surprisingly taken from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. What is less surprising is the fact that Tveitt’s sensitivity to nature translates so well from the mountains and fjords of Norway to the deserts of the American West. Now I have to confess that I loathe Steinbeck, particularly in passages such as this one, which describes a turtle crossing a road and almost getting squashed by a truck, surviving to drop some grass seed stuck in its shell in the dirt on the other side. But I also have to admit that taken out of context this makes for a terrific musical setting, similar in conception to works such as Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. It’s colorful and utterly mesmerizing, and Ingebjorg Kosmo sings it beautifully.
If you’ve been captivated by Tveitt’s music, then you certainly will want this disc even if it involves some duplication of repertoire. It represents the final release in the Stavanger Symphony’s terrific series of Tveitt recordings, and we can only hope that as more music is rescued from the ashes of the devastating fire at the composer’s home that destroyed the majority of his scores, Ole Kristian Ruud, his excellent band, and BIS will be there to capture the moment. [8/10/2004]
