Berlin Classics has assembled an inexpensive and varied collection of greatest hits by Scandinavian Romantic and post-Romantic composers, some very well-known (Grieg and Sibelius) and some more obscure (Berwald, Svendsen, and Sinding). In addition to the diversity of composers, the collection includes a variety of genres, including tone poems, concerti, chamber music, and orchestral and vocal incidental music. The performances, by a number of German orchestras and ensembles, are mostly very fine. The atmospheric reading of two movements from Peer Gynt by the
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by
Václav Neumann includes "Solveig's Song" in German translation, which detracts from the Scandinavian atmosphere the album otherwise succeeds in conveying. Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela is played with color and nuance by Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by
Paavo Berglund, and the performances of the same composer's Finlandia and Valse Triste, played by the
Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester led by
Kurt Sanderling, are satisfyingly full-blooded.
Egon Morbitzer is a sensitive soloist in Johan Severin Svendsen's Romanze for violin and orchestra. Although the recordings were made over several decades in a variety of settings, the sound is consistently clean and warm. The set is a bargain for any listener looking for an attractive assortment of characteristic Scandinavian music.