Nordic Master Composers: Grieg, Sibelius, Stenhammar, Nielsen

It was with considerable pleasure that I discovered a disc which has probably given me more enjoyment and satisfaction than I can recall over many years past, despite the fact that it features relatively short piano solo pieces by Sibelius and Stenhammar as well as two somewhat longer works by Grieg and Nielsen.The four works on this cd are played in chronological order of composition and Grieg therefore is heard first, with his Ballade in a form of Variations in G minor Op 24 of 1875. The theme is a folk Mountain Song and is followed by fourteen variations and a coda and, as a large scale work, lasting for almost 20 minutes. Its beautiful and sad theme is introduced in 3/4 time by the pianist Maria Kihlgren and at times it is somewhat typical of the style of Grieg’s 66 Lyric Pieces, published in 10 books over a period of 34 years. Maria makes admirable progress through contrasting variations and is very ready to tackle the final variation, which is a huge prestissimo. The theme is pounded in fast octave chords, and climbs up the keyboard, to end with a low octave chord. The theme is finally closed, with a flashback of the first 8 measures, and closes with a G minor chord.Sibelius, a non-pianist composer, nevertheless wrote 150 solo piano pieces despite being much better known as a major writer for orchestra. The Six Impromptus Op 5, from 1893 form a tender, almost 20 minute, collection of great charm. They are marked Moderato, Lento - Vivace, Moderato - Alla Marcia, Andantino, Vivace, and Commodo, and Maria is more than adequately poised to do them graceful and generous justice.All four composers here are better known as orchestral writers, and Wilhelm Stenhammar is no exception. He was very much self-taught and the Three Fantasies Op 11 are early pieces which he wrote at the age of 24. Reckoned to be the finest Swedish pianist of his day, he wrote two piano concertos, four solo piano sonatas and just a few other solo pieces and these Fantasies were the only solo pieces he ever performed in public. Performance here is most splendidly presented.Last on the disc is a longer piece by Carl Nielsen, his Theme with Variations Op 40 of 1916. In the CD booklet describing the pieces, Maria Kihlgren details each of the 15 variations during an interview with Henry Larson (in translation), and during which she says the work is a series of images, full of contrasts and contradictions, with every variation being a little adventure in its own right.I greatly appreciated Maria’s most polished performance of this perhaps more difficult work, as I did for all the pieces here, which were recorded in Swedish Radio’s Studio 2 in late 2019, and with a painting by the artist’s father on the front of the CD booklet. I would not like to be without this disc and recommend it highly.