EDVARD GRIEG (1843–1907)
HELGE EVJU (b. 1942)

CARL PETERSSON, piano

"The concerto by Helge Evju, which is based on the fragments Grieg left for his unfinished second piano concerto, is a work to which I have become seriously committed. The piece fills me with awe for Helge Evju and his subtle orchestration: he handles this Grieg orchestra with deftness, showing sensitivity to Grieg’s essential strength as a miniaturist; nothing in the accompaniment overwhelms…Evju and Grieg are well matched. The resultant tone is completely Nordic, with its contrast of singular melancholy tempered with bursts of unbridled joy." - Carl Petersson

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About this Recording

Edvard Grieg first met Percy Grainger in London in 1906 and the two became good friends. Grieg invited the ‘Young Apollo’ to spend the summer of 1907 with him at Troldhaugen where they revised the famous Piano Concerto in A minor. Their alterations resulted in the final edition ‘sanctioned by Grieg himself’. Norwegian composer Helge Evju’s Piano Concerto has taken up the challenge to compose a work based on incomplete concerto fragments by Grieg, creating a romantic and beautiful companion.

PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 16
(REVISED BY P. GRAINGER)
1
I. Allegro moderato – Animato – Meno allegro –
Animato – Tranquillo – Tempo I – Animato – Meno
allegro – Adagio – Presto – Andante – Lento – In
tempo I (Cadenza) – Tempo I – Poco più allegro
(11:36)
2
II. Adagio (06:01)
3
III. Allegro marcato – Poco più tranquillo – Tempo
I animato – Meno allegro – Tempo I – Quasi presto –
Andante maestoso (09:34)
PIANO CONCERTO IN B MINOR (FRAGMENTS)
4
I. Moderato – Allegro non troppo – Molto allegro –
Meno mosso (02:34)
EVJU: PIANO CONCERTO IN B MINOR
(ON FRAGMENTS BY E. GRIEG)*
5
I. Moderato tranquillo – più mosso, scherzando - Molto
tranquillo – tempo giusto – Tempo I (05:41)
6
I. Scherzo: Vivace – In pochiss. meno – Tempo primo –
Cadenza a piacere – Quasi tempo primo del concerto
(04:10)
7
III. Adagio (05:21)
8
IV. Cadenza: A piacere – Poco allegro, appasionato –
Molto tranquillo, senza rigore – Tempo
approssimamente del finale – Tempo giusto – Poco
meno – A tempo (02:43)
9
V. Finale: L’istesso tempo – Un pochiss. meno, ma
sempre vivace – A tempo – Stringendo – Presto assai
– Maestoso – Presto assai, come prima (04:14)
10
6 POEMS, OP. 25: NO. 4. MED EN VANDLILJE (WITH A
WATER LILY) (TRANSCR. H. EVJU FOR PIANO)* (02:11)
11
6 SONGS, OP. 48: NO. 6. EN DRØM (A DREAM)
(TRANSCR. H. EVJU FOR PIANO)* (02:33)
* WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDINGS
TOTAL TIME: 78:24
Listen to an excerpt from Piano Concerto in B Minor – II. Scherzo

CARL PETERSSON

Born in 1981 in Lund, Sweden, Carl Petersson started to play the piano at the age of fifteen. Ten years later he graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where he completed both his studies in piano and pedagogy with José Ribera. During his studies he took part in numerous international master-classes in Denmark, Sweden and Israel. Four times in succession he won a scholarship to the Tel-Hai International Piano Master-Classes, where he studied with Pnina Salzman, Victor Derevianco, Emanuel Krasovsky, Staffan Scheja and Nicolai Petrov.

Visit his website: http://carlpetersson.com/en/

KERRY STRATTON

In the course of his international career Kerry Stratton has conducted orchestras in Europe, North America and Asia including the Czech Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the Moscow symphony, the Prague Radio Orchestra, and many others.With a particular fondness for Czech music Stratton won the 2000 Masaryk Award for his services to Czech and Slovak culture and was decorated by the Czech government in 2007 at the Cernin Palace,Prague, with the Gratias Agit Award. Currently he is conductor and music director of the Toronto Concert Orchestra.

PRAGUE RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

One of the leading Czech orchestras, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) is also one of the oldest. Thanks to its imaginative programming and ever improving artistic standards it has earned an important position in Czech concert life. The PRSO’s tradition dates back to 1926 and is linked to the early broadcasts of the station Radiojournal. Guest conductors have included Václav Talich, Václav Neumann, Libor Pešek, Charles Munch, Franz Konwitschny, Hermann Scherchen, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Charles Mackerras.

PRAGUE RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

One of the leading Czech orchestras, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) is also one of the oldest. Thanks to its imaginative programming and ever improving artistic standards it has earned an important position in Czech concert life. The PRSO’s tradition dates back to 1926 and is linked to the early broadcasts of the station Radiojournal. Guest conductors have included Václav Talich, Václav Neumann, Libor Pešek, Charles Munch, Franz Konwitschny, Hermann Scherchen, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Charles Mackerras.

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