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REVIEWS

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8.557834 - NORWEGIAN PIANO MUSIC
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557834


Grieg and his progeny are represented in this charming and colourful program. The center-piece, Klaus Egge's 1944 Concerto for piano and strings, exploits modal harmony in ingenious ways -earthy lyricism spiked with juicy dissonance. The most ravishing music is in the slow movement, where a dreamlike song descends from above in the high strings and piano treble and works its way through Egge's luscious tapestries of sound before burssting into a Bartokian scherzo and an elaborate fugal final.

There are also beautiful monments in the slower sections of Egge's 3 Pieces and Sonata 4 (The Dream Ballade). The closing pieces, Alf Hurum's Aquarelles 2 and Geirr Tveitt's Wedding Bells, recall the lyrical grace of Grieg's Sun Fair and the Snake King, the little gem that opens the program.

Havard Gimse is a master of this repertory, as attested by his recordings of Norwegian music on Marco Polo and Naxos; the solo pieces in particular have sensitive phrasing and a striking, bell-like sonority. The strings of the Trondheim Soloists make a big, robust sound. The concert was recorded in Norway, the rest in Suffolk, UK; the latter has a slightly warmer acoustic, giving Gimse's piano a deep velvet sound. An illuminating and highly enjoyable release.

--Review by Sullivan, American Record Guide, November/December 2007
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8.557834 - NORWEGIAN PIANO MUSIC
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557834

Folk heritage has been either a blessing or a curse to composers down the years, whether of national "epics" such as the Norse sagas or the Kalevala, or the treasury of folk music that all cultures possess. One composer for whom it has been an occasional blessing is the Norwegian Klaus Egge. A new Naxos release of Norwegian piano music performed by Havard Gimse features three folk inspired works, including his First Sonata (1935) and Second Concerto (1944). The latter is subtitled "Symphonic Variations and Fugue on a Norwegian Folktune" and a fine set it makes. Scored for piano and strings, it is based on Solfager og Ormkangen ("Sun-Fair and the Snake King"), which Grieg based the 12th of his 25 Norwegian Folksongs and Folktunes, Op 17 (it opens Gimse's programme). Telemarkian fiddle-playing is evoked in Egge's brief and enjoyable Halling Fantasy (1939) but the most enthralling item is his First Sonata, Draumkvaedet, inspired by the great Norwegian poem (a kind of cross between The Divine Comedy and the Kalevala) telling of a young man's visions of Heaven and Hell, Armageddon and the Last Judgement. The structure of the sonata is musically based but its four movements derive both their atmosphere and material from the poem and several of the traditional tunes that accompanied its recitation. Gimse's splendid recital is completed by three folk-inspired miniatures by Sverre Bergh, Alf Hurum and Geirr Tveitt.

--Review by Gramophone, October 2007

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8.557834 - NORWEGIAN PIANO MUSIC
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.557834

Draumkvaedet (The Dream Ballad) is a 52 verses long poem, telling the story of Olav who slept from Christmas Eve to Epiphany and in his dreams visited the Kingdoms of the Dead, Hell and Heaven. It was sung to traditional tunes and was regarded as a medieval ballad but in reality it was written in the 1890s by Moltke Moe, who was the first Norwegian professor of Folklore. His pretensions were to reconstruct something from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. His sources were however much younger, actually from the 1840s and Moe altered and amended the texts to achieve a coherent narrative. It was very popular during the 20th century and many composers set the text while others used the traditional tunes associated with the ballad. Klaus Egge was one of them in his large Piano Sonata No. 1 from 1933. It is in four movements and the first has a slow introduction, where three melodies are presented, which are the basis for a fantasy on them, as well as on other folk-tunes, in the following movements. The slow movement has an improvisatory feeling, where Egge explores the harmonic possibilities of the thematic material. The short third movement, Scherzo infernale, is a devilish but still restrained interlude before the dancing finale, based on the two-beat Halling dance. This is both atmospheric and invigorating music in a mainly tonal language.

He returned to the Halling dance some years later in the Halling Fantasy, which is altogether harsher, Bartók-influenced. It is a two-part invention with one part for each hand. In the Piano Concerto from 1944 he has moved further onto the path of dissonance. Strictly speaking it isn’t a concerto at all, which also the subheading says: Symphonic variations and Fugue on a Norwegian Folktune. Though written as one continuous piece of music one can distinguish four movements: the first four variations constitute the first movement, the next two are the slow movement and a seventh variation is the scherzo, while the motoric fugue is an insidious finale. It is rhythmic and vital music and I don’t believe many will be put off by the partly dissonant language. On the disc these three works are played in reversed order and it would have been a better idea to present them chronologically to better demonstrate the development of Egge’s art. There is a point, however, in the chosen order, where the disc opens with a short piece by Grieg, an arrangement of the folk melody Solfager og Ormekongen, since Egge uses the same melody, albeit slightly altered, for his variations.

The remaining pieces are also based on folk tunes and are attractive. Alf Hurum may not be a household name, not even in Norway. He is probably more known in Honolulu where he moved after marrying a Hawaiian woman and there he founded the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

The last piece, which is a first recording, has an amazing background story. Håvard Gimse has recorded several discs with Geirr Tveitt’s music and on hearing them Ragnhild Nordsjø, who worked with Tveitt, sent this composition to Håvard. It was composed by Tveitt in half an hour on 24 September 1963, sitting in a car outside the church where Ragnhild was to be married. A better wedding-present is hard to imagine! It is beautiful and folk song like but it is Tveitt’s own work and Håvard Gimse plays it delicately – as he does everything on this disc. Having heard him live on several occasions as well as having a number of his discs I knew what was to expect and he is up to his usual high standards, having an unerring sense for the musical phrase. In the Piano Concerto he is excellently partnered by the renowned Trondheim Soloists, directed from the cello by his younger brother Øyvind.

I suppose most readers are unfamiliar with the majority of this music but this disc only shows what many already suspected: that Norwegian music is much more than Grieg. The recording is first class and David Gallagher’s liner notes give much valuable information on the music.

--Review by Göran Forsling, Musicweb International, July 2007
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Norrköping Symphony Orchestra / Andrew Manze / Mozart: Piano Concerto no 20:
“Håvard Gimse gave the concerto a glasclear and transparent reading”
Östgöta Korrespondenten” 22.09.2006

“Håvard Gimse demonstrated how to approach  an Amadeus. His playing was easy and relaxed, just so natural...
The solo-part, full of drama, floating together with the orchestra, created a feeling of  a chamber music performance.
Gimses reading was very  reflective and personal, but not private. I think there were many mature thoughts  behind  this performance.
The links between soloist and orchestra  were flexible and beautifully executed  with  a joint aim in sight.”
Folkbladet  23.09.2006

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City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Honeck / October 2006:
“Schumann´s hugely contrasting Piano Concerto was given a clear-cut and tenderly romantic reading by the Norwegian pianist Håvard Gimse, achieving an almost chamber-music level of intimacy in its quieter moments. Manfred Honeck and the orchestra´s support was also finely drawn and, unusually for a mainstram concerto, most beautifully played”
Birmingham Post,13.10.2005

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Sibelius: Piano Music Vol.5.
Håvard Gimse (piano)
Naxos 8.555853

" In the earlier issues in this series that I have heard, the Norwegian pianist Håvard Gimse has proved a sensitive and imaginative advocate of this repertoire and here he is at his distinguished best. A highly recommendable and rewarding issue."
Performance: *****
Sound: ****

Robert Layton
BBC Music Magazine December 2004

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"New and Old: Orchestral to Opera":
..."I never thought I should say this, but here is a performance of the underrated "In Autumn" that is superior to Beecham's classic account.... Engeset is a very gifted conductor... this version of the Concerto...must be set alongside those of Clifford Curzon with Oivind Fjeldstad and one or two (only) others of that quality. There is no finer version of the Symphonic Dances on CD than this... This disc should be in every collection, ...The RSNO plays brilliantly and the sound is superb. An astounding bargain."
Robert Matthew-Walker, Concert RSNO Proms, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
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«The Observer» 25th May, 2004
Grieg:Piano Concerto/Overture «In Autumn»/ Four Symph.Dances
Håvard Gimse (piano),Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Bjarte Engeset
(Naxos 8.557279)

Also available on SACD and DVD, this blistering performance fulfills the promise shown in the music of their fellow Norwegian Geirr Tveitt by the exiting partnership of pianist Håvard Gimse and conductor Bjarte Engeset. Generating immense excitement from those celebrated opening bars, Gimse proves himself equally capable of delicate lyricism in an exquisite rendition  of the immortal adagio. Coupled with fine playing from the RSNO in the concert Overture «In Autumn» and the four Symphonic Dances Op.64, this is a thrilling addition to the catalogue, suggesting there´s more than merely geographical proximity between the Scottish and Nordic souls.
Anthony Holden

As for the Piano Concerto, I cannot recall a more impressive account than Engeset and Håvard Gimse shared with Tim Handley in May 2003 in Glasgow´s Henry Wood Hall. Put your hat and coat on now and head for your record shop!
Denby Richards, Musical Opinion, 1/07/04
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Sweep away the glitz that usually surrounds the Grieg concerto, and you have this gorgeous performance from the young Norwegian pianist, Havard Gimse. Delicacy and superb technique are used to shape the music with such affection, the piano nicely integrated with the warmth of orchestral playing.
David Denton, Yorkshire Post, July 2004
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JEAN SIBELIUS: PIANO MUSIC, VOL. 5
Håvard Gimse, piano (Naxos 8555853)

9 Artistic Quality / 9 Sound Quality

Volume Five in Naxos' complete Sibelius piano music cycle is given over to miniatures, most of which fall within modest technical and registral parameters. Although they were intended for home consumption by amateur pianists, a sensitive and imaginative professional like Håvard Gimse can really make these pieces sound vital and characterful. He does marvelous things. For instance, his angular, push/pull rubato in the Impromptu (Op. 99 No. 4) and varied phrasing of No. 12's dotted rhythms underline the music's superficial resemblance to Schumann. The controlled vehemence he brings to the five Op. 101 pieces admirably downplays their sometimes-mawkish melodic invention. And Gimse is fully attuned to the quirky harmonic twists and turns permeating Op. 103 and 114 (these sets might be described as chips off the blocks that fashioned the composer's Sixth and Seventh Symphonies). In short, collectors who've acquired previous volumes of this excellent series need no further recommendation.

— Jed Distler, Classicstoday.com

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4/5 stars
The music here is not typical Sibelius. Indeed, I would defy anyone to identify the composer in a blind test (and assuming no prior familiarity with them). Still, they are pleasant enough, unfailingly tuneful, occasionally creatively descriptive as such characteristic pieces often are

(as, for instance, in 'The Fiddler' and 'The Storm' from 'Five Characteristic Impressions'). The style is somewhat akin to similar kinds of pieces by Grieg or the young Busoni. For what they are, Havard Gimse does a fine job of playing them, hence the four-star rating.
— Scott Morrison, Amazon.com
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CLASSICAL MUSIC: Another Nordic Deity
How frustrating life must be for a young Norwegian pianist in the age of Leif Ove Andsnes, the puckish star omnipresent on today's classical stages. How do you set yourself apart? Is there room on the world stage for another Norwegian keyboard celebrity?
For answers to those questions one could easily look to the humble, 37-year-old pianist Håvard Gimse, Norway's most legitimate Andsnes rival and his stylistic antithesis. The steadfast talent is known for large outputs of Scandinavian music on the Naxos label. But, on the evidence of his New York recital debut at the Frick Collection on Sunday, he deserves to be considered no less than another young Norwegian piano deity.
A blond, stoic man with giant hands and a powerful frame, the only aesthetic quality Mr. Gimse shares with the lithe Mr. Andsnes is Scandinavian simplicity. Both musicians favor clean lines, but Mr. Gimse's strong, cedar sounds don't sing, dance, and twirl. Instead, they are patient, powerful, thinking explorations that often seem wonderfully detached and always retain an element of melancholic struggle. On Sunday these characteristics were evident in a program of lesser-known Scandinavian piano music and one modern Russian warhorse.
Mr. Gimse began his recital with five short pieces from "Variations on a Folksong from Hardanger", by the modern Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt (1908­81). Tveitt is something of a rare treat today because he didn't like to publish his many works (piano sonatas, concertos, symphonies, ballets, operas), and eventually lost most of them in a 1970 house fire.
Thankfully, some of this music ‹ made of mystical Scandinavian dances written with polytonal tendencies and syncopated rhythms ‹ still survives, and has recently entered the repertoire of a few Scandinavian musicians. In Mr. Gimse's relaxed hands, the Variations received a clear interpretation, with dramatic musical chiaroscuro, very little sustain-pedal, and burly rhythmic resolve.
Next were two more Scandinavian rarities - this time, from time-tested greats: Sibelius's "Kyllikki", Opus 41 and Grieg's "Ballade", Opus 24. The former is a set of three lyric pieces that image the tale of a girl kidnapped and then abandoned by Lemminkäinen, a Finnish folk character. Mr. Gimse milked the piece's grand pause, and surprised the audience with warm, pensive harmonies one second and blisteringly frigid trills the next.
The Grieg ‹ which is actually a series of variations on a simple theme, not a narrative ballade ‹ came off as it should: Chopinesque and nostalgic in the manner of Grieg's famous piano concerto. But most exciting were Mr. Gimse's power runs: Riding them with the ear was like fast mogul-skiing. By the time the pianist came through this obstacle course, the recapitulation of the theme was no longer as innocent as it was in its original incarnation.
Displaying a bit of versatility, Mr. Gimse finished his recital with Prokofiev's unyielding Piano Sonata No.8. Here he showed that folksiness isn¹t his only forte: He gave the complex, contrapuntal first movement a wellmuscled reading that clarified the composer¹s angular tendencies.The second movement wasn¹t as balletic as it often is played; instead, it was slightly weighty.The last movement Vivace was a militaristic romp played fast as ever and punctuated by a gritty middle section of sarcastic rhythms and finished off with a raucous explosion.
For an encore Mr. Gimse offered a rendition of a famous Grieg dance marked by an almost maniacal sense of propulsion and grandiose brawn. It was clearly what the audience wanted, and who could blame him for doing what he does best? Yet what I¹m more curious to hear in the future is more of Mr. Gimse¹s extra-Scandinavian musical adventures. With the future New York concert dates this debut is likely to bring him, who knows what awaits us?
The New York Sun; Date: Dec 2, 2003   Section: Arts & Letters;  By ADAM BAER

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Håvard Gimse / Thüringer Philharmonie /  9-10.April 2003 / Ravel: Klavierkonzert  G
"(Gimse) bewies eine klar differenzierende,perlende Anschlagskultur, nützte seine Soli durchaus zu poetischer, doch vollkommen diziplinierter Brillianz. ..im Presto-Finale,den Esprit Ravels mit leichtigkeit,Ironie und Delikatesse zu untermininieren. Wie  allerdings  Gimse es danach  noch schaffte, ein so konzentriertes, kraftraubendes Albeniz-Stück als Zugabe zu spielen, bleibt rätselhaft"
TLZ Kultur 12.4.03

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Havard Gimse / Wigmore Hall, London
Rarely is a pianist so at ease as Havard Gimse. The mechanics of playing seemed to come naturally, so that he could concentrate on listening to himself. The first half of his programme particularly invited this attentive quality, with the strange Norwegian resonances of five folk-song arrangements by Geirr Tveitt (1908-1981), and the rather stop-start set of variations, forever fading wistfully, that make up Grieg's misleadingly titled Ballade. The theme was so delicately played, so subtly suggestive, it seemed a pity to embark on the variations at all, and Grieg didn't have a talent for building big structures.

Sibelius, who did, reputedly disliked the piano, even though he wrote a great deal for it; the first two of his Three Lyric Pieces, Op 41, sounded like transcriptions of orchestral music, with a lot of tremolando. Though Gimse was especially interesting in quiet music, he packed a punch here. And after the interval, he gave us a serious and expressive performance of Chopin's 24 Preludes, thought through as a spiritual journey, from the spontaneity of the preamble to the passionate grandeur of the final piece.
-Independent  London 18.03.2003, By Adrian Jack

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More Gramophone Critics´Choice for Gimse
Grieg: Piano works | Håvard Gimse | NAIM CD059

"In a rather lean reviewing year, in terms of the overall quality of dics to have come my way,there are few candidates for the annual spotlight. One disc, however, stands out in the memory. and returning to it after some months it re-emerges with calm distinction. Håvard Gimse´s disc of lesser-known Grieg, comprising Norwegian folk dances and song transcriptions, is a recording of consummate artistry; wether in melting lyricism or in folksy rusticity, Gimse´s playing (and his choice of repertoire) is not about self-glorification, yet the expressive purity and musical integrety he exudes make this disc deeply fulfilling"
Tim Parry - Gramophone December 2002

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Håvard Gimse (piano) /  Bjarte Engeset (conductor) / Royal Scottish National  Orchestra.
Characterful accounts of bright,colourful concertos from a great but unsung Norwegian.
"(The fifth pianoconcerto) would, I am sure, go down a storm at the Proms, especially in so a peruasive a performance as Gimse´s here. Bjarte Engeset directs the RSNO very sensitively. Warmly recommended."
- Guy Rickards, Gramophone June 2001

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