Olav Anton Thommessen Veslemøy synsk
Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo) Nils Anders Mortensen (pno)
Lindberg Lyd (F) SACD 2L-078-SABD (120 mins: DDD . Text not included; with bonus Blu-ray disc 124’ . 5.1 DTS HD MA 24/192kHz)
If you think you know the Haugtussa poems from Grieg’s song cycle, think again: he barely scraped the surface
Arne Garborg’s epic poem cycle Haugtussa (‘The Maid from under the Mountain’) is a classic of Norwegian literature, its four volumes covering a vast panoply of human and supernatural interaction, concentrated on the heroine Veslemøy synsk (‘far-sighted Veslemøy’ or ‘Veslemøy the seer’). Love, betrayal, self-sacrifice, redemption, lust, creatures from the underworld and ultimate forgiveness rub shoulders vividly through its pages like a fusion of the Eddas, Peer Gynt, the folk-ballad Draumkvædet and the Divine Comedy. If that sounds unfamiliar from the world of Grieg’s wonderful nine-song cycle this is because the master of Bergen concentrated on just the strand of Veslemøy’s doomed love for Jon, omitting the wider contexts of Garborg’s extraordinary conception.
As Thommessen writes in the booklet, Grieg “had enough material to complete a larger work based on the cycle; I have just taken the liberty of doing the work for him”. The result is four times the size of Grieg’s cycle, a two-hour cycle for mezzo-soprano and piano (not an opera as frequently listed in online retail sites that should know better) comprising 44 songs and a virtuosic piano cadenza (CD2 track 15), though the writing is incredibly demanding for both performers throughout. The musical language is a challenging collage, Thommessen using almost Grieg’s entire oeuvre from Haugtussa to the Opp 13 and 45 Sonatas and Piano Concerto for raw material, yet set in a recognisably post-modernist harmonic framework. (I won’t spoil your fun spotting the quotes but there is a crib-sheet on page 11.)
Marianne Beate Kielland sings, and occasionally speaks and wails, superbly throughout, catching the ardour of Veslemøy’s love for Jon (songs 16 through 21) as beautifully as she portrays the heroine’s slow descent towards the Underworld. This is a nightmarish dream-sequence finally entered in song 34 precipitated by her distress at Jon’s wedding to another two songs before. The radiance of the final pair of songs is entrancing. Mortensen proves a fine partner (and more than a ‘mere’ accompanist), supporting Kielland and exposing Thommessen’s intricate musical web with great clarity. 2L’s sound quality is superb and the set comes with a Blu-ray film of the whole. But this is music to be heard and relished in the imagination. Hugely recommended.
Guy Rickards
The Gramophone December 2011
(Published with Permission from The Gramophone: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/)