Grieg: Songs

When it was released in 1993, this album of extraordinary songs—by turns passionate, melancholy, poetic and deliriously romantic—came as a revelation to listeners who’d only known Grieg for Peer Gynt and the Piano Concerto. Von Otter’s performances, supported at the piano with endless sympathy and imagination by her long-term musical collaborator Bengt Forsberg, provide the most delightful imaginable guide to this unfamiliar but enchanting musical world. The songs themselves range from fresh folk-flavoured settings of Hans Christian Andersen to the high romance and psychological complexity of the mythic cycle Haugtussa—all brought vibrantly to life by Von Otter’s luminous voice and matchless dramatic flair.