Ellen Nisbeth (viola), Norrköpping Symphony Orchestra / Christian Lindberg
Pettersson
Symphony no.15 (1978)
Viola Concerto (1979)
Fantaisie for solo viola (1936)
BIS BIS 2480SACD [67’37”]
Producers Stephan Reh, Marion Schwebel
Engineers Bastian Schick, Marion Schwebel
Recorded 13-17 January 2020 at Louis de Geer Concert Hall, Norrköpping (Symphony & Viola Concerto); 29 May 2020 at Petruskyrkan, Danderyd, Sweden (Fantaisie)
Written by Richard Whitehouse
What’s the story?
Christian Lindberg nears the close of his Allan Pettersson cycle for BIS with this coupling of two of the composer’s late works, both of which had previously been issued on this label and are now added to its extensive series of recordings with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
What’s the music like?
Although following-on directly from the Second Violin Concerto [BIS2290], Pettersson’s 15th Symphony might be thought of as forming the end of a trilogy with its predecessors (1976 and 1978) – a sequence becoming more compressed in scale as it becomes less volatile in content. At barely 36 minutes No. 15 was its composer’s shortest symphony since the 11th, but this is not to suggest any lack of drama or eventfulness in a score as finds Pettersson grappling with existential issues key to his thinking since at least the Second Symphony of 25 years earlier.
As so often in this cycle, the salient ideas are heard at the outset: here, ejaculatory chords on brass over side-drum, then wistful lines for viola and violin over lower strings. What follows seems less an extended evolution than an elaboration and intensification – during the course of which a more conciliatory mood takes precedence, though the coda proves to be as tonally oblique as it is emotionally ambivalent. Dividing the present recording into 11 tracks enables listeners to navigate their own route through this absorbing and wholly characteristic piece.
The Viola Concerto has a curious history – its existence not even known about until after the composer’s death; its manuscript suggesting a work complete as a formal entity if lacking in textural detail. Whether or not Lindberg had any input in this latter respect, the solo part has been edited by Ellen Nisbeth and hence sounds appreciably more integrated into the musical content than hitherto. Conceptually the work continues from the Second Violin Concerto and 16th Symphony with saxophone [BIS2110] in its eliding between concertante and symphonic domains; such that the viola line can be heard as a motivic ‘backbone’, affording focus to the sparse orchestral texture and channelling its expressive essence to an ending at once forceful yet provisional. Concerto or not, this is a notable as well as valuable addition to its repertoire.
In between these works comes Fantasie for solo viola, composed when Pettersson was in his mid-20s and still a practitioner on this instrument rather than a composer. Alternately soulful and incisive, this is eloquently rendered by Nisbeth and makes a worthwhile inclusion here.
Does it all work?
Yes, assuming familiarity with at least several of Pettersson’s earlier symphonies. In the 15th, Lindberg steers a more cohesive course than does Leif Segerstam [BIS680] or Peter Ruzicka [CPO9990952] with more idiomatic orchestral playing than either. As to the Viola Concerto, Nobuko Imai [BIS480] is no less sympathetic an advocate but her tone is a little too rounded for this music, whose idiom Nisbeth has down to a tee. Sound is comparable to earlier issues from this source in clarity and perspective, with decent booklet notes by Per-Henning Olsson.
Is it recommended?
Indeed. Those who have been following this cycle will be pleased Lindberg has been given the go-ahead to record all the symphonies. With just Nos. 3, 8, 10 and 11 to go, the end is in sight for this traversal of one of the most significant symphonic cycles from the post-war era.
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