Grieg, Sibelius & Nystroem

Grieg: Six Ibsen Songs op 25; Haugtussa op 67
Sibelius: Four Songs op 36

Katerina Karnéus & Julius Drake

Temple Song at Middle Temple Hall, London 15th Jun 2009

At the opera, we are often apprehensive when before curtain rise an official comes on stage to apologise for the indisposition of a singer who, nevertheless, will bravely appear tonight, etc.

Similar news about Katerina Karnéus - who trained in London at TCM & Guildhall SDM and whose programme unfortunately had to be shortened - caused some rumbles of discontent beforehand (comparisons of singers v. instrumentalists) and Julius Drake explained that she has a cold and that at rehearsal the previous day she'd been unable to sing a note...

The songs of Edvard Grieg (June 15, 1843 - September 4, 1907), the foremost Scandinavian composer of his generation, encompass a wide range of emotional expression and are highly regarded in the vocal repertoire. It being his 266th birthday (!) the Grieg selection was retained intact, but Nystroem and a Sibelius set were omitted from a shortened programme.

Having warmed up with Sibelius, by the end of Haugtussa Karneus was in command of the sudience and of her voice; a substantial cycle and a favourite of Flagstad's (the first of Kirsten Flagstad's recordings of Grieg's Haugtussa, in best voice from 1940, was a favourite record of mine on shellac; re-released on CD - Naxos 8.110725).

As often in like circumstances the singer's indisposition was not evident to us listeners and, having been applauded and congratualted by Julius Drake for lasting the course, Katerina Karnéus disarmingly confessed "I feel fine" and went on to give a couple of encores!

Peter Grahame Woolf

Katerina Karnéus with Julius Drake have recorded Grieg and Sibelius for Hyperion.

Serena Fenwick writes of her Sibelius disc, Hyperion CDA67318: Katerina Karneus clearly loves this repertoire. She controls both the modulation and colour of her voice with great finesse, breathing life into the sound pictures she creates. Sibelius is matchless at descriptive writing: the coquettish tennis game in the Trianon garden, the whispering reeds, the tumbling waterfall that dances like a an elf-king, the leaves falling – are all conjured up – Julius Drake at the piano playing a major part. The Op 50 songs, which are set to German texts, are less successful in my opinion, but the whole CD is very recommendable .

See http://www.templesong.com/ for further events in the Temple Song Julius Drake and Friends series [Editor]