Wilhelm Peterson-Berger - Symphony No. 2; Violin Romance (Michail Jurowski; Ulf Wallin)

Information

Composer: Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

• Symphony No. 2, 'Sunnanfärd' (The Journey to the South)
• Romance in D minor for violin and orchestra
• Oriental Dance
• Førspel till 'Sveagaldrar'

Ulf Wallin, violin

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

Michail Jurowski, conductor

Date: 1998

Label: CPO

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Review

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867-1942) was one of the first generation of Swedish composers who brought their country’s musical culture into the 20th century. Like his colleagues Alfvén, Rängstrom, and Atterberg, he began writing in the late-Romantic, quasi-Wagnerian style that in his youth appeared to be the height of modernity, and bitterly opposed virtually all later musical trends. He was best-known as a miniaturist–a composer of songs and short piano pieces, but he did write in larger forms with varying degrees of success. Two problems that all of these composers shared, at least regarding their big orchestral productions, are a primitive sense of form combined with a genuine disdain for counterpoint. In other words, their music consists entirely of self-contained tunes married to highly colorful accompaniments. The success or failure of the piece depends entirely on the quality of the tunes, the variety of the accompaniments, and on the composer’s ability to create sufficient rhythmic variety to sustain a long symphonic movement. Peterson-Berger’s Second Symphony, subtitled “The Journey on Southerly Winds”, does better than most, having all of the positive qualities of his style and few dead spots. Much of the credit belongs to Michail Jurowski; this music needs passionate advocacy from a conductor not afraid to whip up a climax, and that’s just what he provides. As the shorter works all show the composer at his amiable best, this is a very successful disc that lovers of late Romantic music are certain to enjoy.

— David Hurwitz

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Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (27 February 1867 — 3 December 1942) was a Swedish composer and music critic. Born in Ullånger, he studied at the Stockholm Conservatory and later in Dresden. Influenced by Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg and Swedish folk music, Peterson-Berger composed five symphonies, five operas, choral works, songs, chamber music and piano pieces. His most famous works are three albums of national romantic piano pieces entitled Frösöblomster (Flowers of Frösö), which capture the spirit of the Swedish landscape. Peterson-Berger was also a respected though very controversial and conservative music critic.

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Michail Jurowski (25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who based in Germany for most of his career. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory and began his career as an assistant to Gennady Rozhdestvensky at the Moscow Radio Symphony. After relocating to Germany in 1989, he held leading positions with several orchestras, such as the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (1992–98), the Leipzig Opera (1999–2001), and the WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln (2006–08). Jurowski made many first recordings of rarely performed music by Rangström, Peterson-Berger, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, among others.

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Ulf Wallin (born 1960 in Växjö) is a Swedish classical violinist. He studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Since 1996, Wallin has held a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Wallin has performed globally with prominent conductors and chamber musicians, appearing at esteemed venues and festivals. A prolific recording artist, he has made numerous radio, and television appearances and more than 50 CD recordings  for BIS, cpo, EMI and BMG labels. Wallin plays a violin by the Venetian master Domenico Montagnana from 1746.

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