Grieg: Songs

Hyperion is delighted to present a disc of Grieg’s songs. Grieg’s sheer range as a song-writer—from the shortest settings, folk-like and immediate, to the depth of distinctive inspiration that runs through every bar of the major cycle Haugtussa—places him without question among the finest masters of the genre. Arne Garborg’s verse-novel Haugtussa created a deep impression on Grieg. The resulting marriage of poetry and music is one of the miracles of the nineteenth-century song-cycle genre. Many regard this work as Grieg’s masterpiece: it is certainly one of the greatest song-cycles for the female voice ever written, revealing the composer at the very height of his powers.

These matchless examples of Scandinavian Romanticism are performed by the partnership of Swedish mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus and pianist Julius Drake, who drew great critical acclaim for their disc of Sibelius songs.

CDA67670  65 minutes 56 seconds
DAILY TELEGRAPH CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK
‘In the mezzo-soprano of Katarina Karnéus, Hautgussa becomes a darkly erotic tale … Julius Drake provides the watery undercurrents for Karnéus's eloquent En svane and Med en vand ...
‘Swedish mezzo Katarina Karnéus is as eloquent and impassioned an advocate of Grieg as she was of Sibelius in her first recital for Hyperion. Her flavoursome voice can soar and flare thrillingly  ...
‘It is Karnéus's ability to characterize a song quite as much as the beauty of her singing that makes this CD so rewarding’ (International Record Review)