Wilhelm Peterson-Berger - Symphony No. 5; Violin Concerto (Michail Jurowski; Ulf Wallin)

Information

Composer: Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

• Symphony No. 5 in B minor 'Solitudo'
• Violin Concerto in F sharp minor

Ulf Wallin, violin

Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

Michail Jurowski, conductor

Date: 2005

Label: CPO

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Review

Swedish composer, Peterson-Berger wrote orchestral music that is warm and lyrical permeated with the spirit of Swedish folksong.

That statement is certainly true of this the second ever complete recording of the Fifth Symphony. The first, conducted by Segerstam, was released in 1997 by Bo Hyttner's Sterling label (CDS-1006-2) where the even more generous coupling is the world premiere recording of the First Symphony. After a graciously stop-start little scherzando comes an oboe-ushered andante tranquillo reminiscent of George Butterworth's Banks of Green Willow. It soon develops a Graingerian harmonium tone. The finale is sparklingly rumbustious with folk dance woven around alternating jollity and exciting heroism. The piece ends in a series of silver-dripping bardic harp arpeggios. On balance I prefer Jurowski for his greater vitality; his first movement is five minutes shorter than Segerstam’s. Mind you the tempo indication is con moto tranquillo. The CPO recording is also a shade less transparent than Sterling’s.

The Violin Concerto was completed five years earlier having been started in 1912. Nilla Pierrou recorded it in October 1967. In fact the Pierrou recording is still the only alternative to this new Wallin version. Pierrou is on Phono-Suecia ECHO PSCD 95 (previously released on Swedish HMV LP CSDS 1083) and is coupled with the best of the Peterson-Berger symphonies No. 2 Sunnanfärd (Journey to the South). The concerto has that searching and singing soul we may associate with the Violin Concertos by Delius, Glazunov, Dvořák, sometimes Elgar and, surprisingly often, Bax. A stamping thudding gusto (Dies Irae from Verdi Requiem) forms the backdrop to the opening pages of the finale over which the violin sings - at first peacefully. It then develops a more animated chattering and darting spirit which sounds slightly Chinese (probably influenced by Turandot). In the Pierrou version the soloist is recorded very closely - you won’t miss a detail but dynamic contrast is rather ironed out. That old analogue version has lots of impact and a real grip on your lapels but the orchestra on occasion slips backwards into a generalised focus. Top marks to Phono-Suecia for virile immediacy less so for poetic distance. The CPO recording is projects a string refined audio image.

This is part of CPO's admirable project to record the complete Peterson-Berger symphonies. This instalment represents a resoundingly successful chapter in that process.

— Rob Barnett

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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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