Wilhelm Peterson-Berger - Symphony No. 4; Suites (Michail Jurowski)

Information

Composer: Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

• Symphony No. 4 in A major, 'Holmia' (Stockholm)
• Törnrossagan (The Story of the Sleeping Beauty)
• Frösöblomster (The Flowers of Frösö)

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

Michail Jurowski, conductor

Date: 2001

Label: CPO

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Review

This disc is a charmer. Wilhelm Peterson-Berger’s Fourth Symphony, subtitled “Holmia”, evokes the sites and sounds of his native Stockholm. It’s a light, carefree work mixing hearty Germanic and Swedish folksong with touches (very light touches, mind you) of “American” urban jazz. Premiered in 1930, the symphony attracted much criticism due to its perceived lack of seriousness, but I find its unpretentious simplicity and sense of fantasy entirely in keeping with the subject matter. A city couldn’t ask for a more affectionate tribute.

The Sleeping Beauty Suite and Frösöblomster (Flowers of Frösö) also represent the best in Romantic light music. Their inconsequentiality may sound somewhat faded today, but only if you insist on holding them to a standard of depth that they neither claim nor aspire to. What really matters is that all of this music revels in tunefulness, boasts attractive instrumental sonorities, and avoids dullness at all costs. As with all the discs in this series, Michail Jurowski and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra play the pants off these delightful works, keeping them moving and communicating their innocent joy in music well made. CPO’s recording sounds marvelous, too.

— 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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