Peter Herresthal (violin) and Jakob Kullberg (cello) (Nocturnal Movements), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / John Storgårds

Nørgård
Lysning (2006)
Symphony no.8 (2011)
Three Nocturnal Movements (2015)

BIS BIS-2502 [54’20’’]
Producer Hans Kipfer Engineers Matthias Spitzbarth, Håkan Ekman (Nocturnal Movements)
Recorded 29 & 30 August 2019 (Nocturnal Movements), 4 & 5 February 2022 2022 at Grieghallen, Bergen

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

His activities as a composer may effectively have ceased, but Per Nørgård (1932-) remains a defining figure in post-war European music and this latest release from BIS collates three wholly characteristic pieces, including a double concerto which is also his last major work.

What’s the music like?

Playing a little over 25 minutes, the three movements of the Eighth Symphony each pursues its intriguing take on an established form (sonata, ternary then rondo) which emerge with a renewed fluidity and flexibility. The opening movement continually evolves its main ideas   in a gradual if cumulative curve of activity, culminating in the heightened crystallisation of motifs on tuned percussion. The central Adagio emerges across densely luminous waves of sound that recall earlier Nørgårdian practice from an arrestingly new perspective; one whose expression admits an almost confiding intimacy. The finale deftly complements this with its artfully ratcheting percussion and infectious rhythmic gyrations on route to a coda of purest radiance; the fitting close to a symphonic cycle that ranks with the finest of the post-war era.

A crucial factor of Three Nocturnal Movements is its having been a collaboration with cellist Jakob Kullberg and developed from the viola concerto Remembering Child of three decades earlier. The outcome comprises two substantial movements that frame a ‘nocturnal’ cadenza. The opening Allegro finds the solo instruments deeply embedded within an orchestral texture whose clarity enables motivic interconnections to emerge with due precision, underlining the airy momentum which carries this music towards its predictably unexpected close. Whatever its provenance, the central Andante is of a piece with those on either side – its limpid gestures and intonational punning a throwback to this composer’s preoccupations from more than half a century earlier, but now imbued with an aura no less affecting for its valediction. The final (undesignated) movement is the most demonstrative with its frequently percussive outbursts and those abrupt though never jarring changes in course that keep the attentive listener fully attuned to a discourse such as builds incrementally toward its wistfully fulfilled conclusion.

The earliest work here, Lysning makes for an ideal ending. Its title translating as ‘Glade’, this is the last of its composer’s pieces for strings and takes the Nordic miniature as template for a study in discreet yet potent contrasts of sonority and emotion that lingers long in the memory.

Does it all work?

Yes, not least because Peter Herresthal and Jakob Kullberg have premiered earlier concertos by Nørgård for their respective instruments, while John Storgårds had previously recorded the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and gave the premiere of the Eighth of which he is dedicatee. This recording ideally complements that from Sakari Oramo (Dacapo 6.220574), focussing less on its overall symphonic cohesion than on the continual unpredictability of its renewed Classicism, and it is difficult to imagine more persuasive readings of the other works.

Is it recommended?

Very much so, in the hope Storgårds may yet complete his Nørgård cycle with the First, Third and Seventh Symphonies. Sound is up to BIS’s customary standards in clarity or perspective, while Kasper Rofelt’s annotations evince long familiarity with the composer’s unique idiom.

Listen

Buy

You can explore purchase options for this recording at the Presto website. Click on the names for more on the artists – John Storgårds, Peter Herresthal, Jakob Kullberg and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra – and for more on the composer Per Nørgård

Published post no.2,166 – Thursday 2 May 2024