Thorsen:Bergen Phil:Jarvi - Halvorsen: Orchestral Works V

Neeme J�rvi and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra have lifted the lid on one of Norway's�best-kept musical secrets with their series devoted to the orchestral works of Johan�Halvorsen. Now, in this four-disc box set, these fresh and revealing recordings have been�brought together for the first time.�Johan Halvorsen was among the most prominent Norwegian musical figures of his day, not�only as one of the leading composers of his generation but also as a violinist and conductor.�His compositions develop the national romantic tradition of his friends Grieg and Svendsen,�but his was a distinctive style marked by brilliant orchestration which in turn was inspired by�the French romantic composers.�Many of the works in the series reflect Halvorsen's long association with the theatre. The�varied fruits of this career produced such scores as Fossegrimen, the neoclassical Suite�ancienne, the exotic Dance Scene from Queen Tamara, and his Symphonic Intermezzo from�The King, a tone poem much indebted to the musical language of Liszt and Wagner.�The series also includes his output in more traditional genres. Halvorsen composed the three�great symphonies late in his career, the first only at the age of fifty-nine, and they are�strongly in the mould of late romantic composers such as Tchaikovsky, Dvo?�k, and�Svendsen.�Among Halvorsen's many short, stand-alone works are a number of pieces for violin and�orchestra, which reflect Halvorsen's own abilities on the instrument, while drawing on�nationalist influences. The leading Norwegian violinist Marianne Thorsen is the soloist.