Wilhelm Stenhammar - Sången; etc. (Neeme Järvi)

Information

Composer: Wilhelm Stenhammar

• Suite from Romeo och Julia, Op. 45 (arr. Hilding Rosenberg)
• Reverenza (original second movement of Serenade, Op. 31)
• Two Sentimental Romances, Op. 28
• Sången (The Song), symphonic cantata, Op. 44

Mårten Larsson, oboe

Anders Jonhäll, flute

Sara Trobäck, violin

Charlotta Larsson, soprano

Martina Dike, alto

Lars Cleveman, tenor

Fredrik Zetterström, baritone

Children’s Choir of Norrköpings Musikklasser

Gothenburg Symphony Choir & Vocal Ensemble

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Neeme Järvi, conductor

Date: 2018

Label: BIS

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Review

Wilhelm Stenhammar established the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra as one of the finest in the Nordic region as its first Chief Conductor (from 1907), while Neeme Järvi arguably turned it into one of the finest in Europe during his own reign, which ended in 2004. Not that this selection of works shows it off to the highest degree. All were born of Stenhammar’s tenure at the ensemble but none reaches the heights of the composer’s best works – his two piano concertos, Sixth String Quartet or Second Symphony, for example.

The main event is Sången, a two-part cantata that celebrates the birth of song and then erects a temple ‘legitimised solely by the power of music’ to it (Signe Rotter-Broman’s critical booklet note), in which a final orgy of poetry and music ensues. The score has passing, rousing brilliance but is generally more problematic, from the Arcadian nature of Part 1 to the congested triumphalism of Part 2. If it’s possible to be too inspired, Stenhammar is here. The performance less so. There is some slightly uneven, woolly choral singing and, on the whole, Herbert Blomstedt in Stockholm offers that bit more choral brightness and slow-burning atmosphere, particularly at the Intermezzo that launches Part 2.

At the other end of the compositional scale, Stenhammar’s music for Per Lindberg’s 1922 production of Romeo and Juliet has the distillation and one-mood-per-movement of Sibelius’s theatre scores. It is a slim but effective pastoral lined with tragedy. The influence of Sibelius (it’s worth remembering that both he and Carl Nielsen cleaved to Stenhammar’s Gothenburg orchestra while escaping criticism at home) is also felt in the cross-hatched textures, lingering brass chords and treatment of a small fragment as a fertile theme in the charming Reverenza, formerly the second half of the Serenade. The Two Sentimental Romances do what they say on the tin, with particularly sweet-toned playing from concertmaster Sara Trobäck.

— Andrew Mellor

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Wilhelm Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. Born in Stockholm, he studied music in Berlin and was initially influenced by German Romanticism. Afterwards, he sought a more Nordic voice, drawing inspiration from Carl Nielsen and  Jean Sibelius. Stenhammar composed two completed symphonies, six published string quartets, two piano concertos, four piano sonatas, a violin sonata, as well as many songs and choral works. He was Artistic Director of the Gothenburg Symphony from 1906 to 1922, and was also considered the finest Swedish pianist of his time.

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Neeme Järvi (born June 7, 1937 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Evgeny Mravinsky and Nikolai Rabinovich, among others. Järvi was Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Gothenburg Symphony (1982-2004), Royal Scottish National Orchestra (1984-1988), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1990-2005) and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2012-2015), among others. He made over 400 recordings for labels such as BIS, Chandos and Deutsche Grammophon and best known for his interpretations of Romantic and 20th century classical music.

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