Lidholm Orchestral Works
Lidholm’s early output brought into focus, culminating in the magisterial Ritornell
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: BIS
Magazine Review Date: 9/2004
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: BIS-CD1190
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Toccata e canto |
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer Lü Jia, Conductor Norrköping Symphony Orchestra |
Concerto for Strings |
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer Lü Jia, Conductor Norrköping Symphony Orchestra |
Music for strings |
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer Lü Jia, Conductor Norrköping Symphony Orchestra |
Ritornell |
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer Lü Jia, Conductor Norrköping Symphony Orchestra |
(3) Songs |
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer
Ingvar (Natanael) Lidholm, Composer Lena Nordin, Soprano Lü Jia, Conductor Norrköping Symphony Orchestra |
Author: Guy Rickards
The orchestral mastery which Ingvar Lidholm achieved in the ballet Rites and Motus-colores – featured on the previous instalment in BIS’s excellent series (2/04) – is evident in his apprentice orchestral pieces from the mid-1940s. The gentle lyricism and delicate string accompaniments of the Three Songs made the set one of Lidholm’s most frequently performed scores, here beautifully sung by Lena Nordin.
Part of the appealing Toccata e Canto (1944) dates to a schoolboy sketch for incidental music to Alcestis. Both movements betray the influence of Hilding Rosenberg, though the Toccata has a Hindemithian motion and the Canto is decidedly Nielsenesque.
The two-movement Concerto for Strings also derived from an earlier composition, the First String Quartet (1945), which Lidholm compressed in his 1948 reworking. Once more, Nielsen is a dominating influence, especially in the concluding Allegro molto. It is eclipsed in quality, however, by Music for Strings (1952). By this time, Lidholm’s style was more independent – albeit close to that of his friend and colleague, Karl-Birger Blomdahl – but, more importantly, his expressive and technical range had markedly deepened.
Yet all pale beside Ritornell (1954). Do not be fooled by its modest duration or title; this is one of the most important Swedish compositions of the 1950s. If formally too free to be a true symphony, Ritornell has the requisite power and rhetorical gravitas and demands considerable orchestral virtuosity. Lü Jia and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra render it splendidly, though those who remember Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt’s pioneering account with the Stockholm Philharmonic (reissued on Swedish Society – nla) will find this newcomer more expansive and clearly recorded.
Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s remains the most vivid and dramatic account, its final section achieving an even greater sense of climax than here (honours are even in the Toccata e Canto). BIS’s recording is its match if not so intently a sonic spectacular.
Another excellent disc.
Part of the appealing Toccata e Canto (1944) dates to a schoolboy sketch for incidental music to Alcestis. Both movements betray the influence of Hilding Rosenberg, though the Toccata has a Hindemithian motion and the Canto is decidedly Nielsenesque.
The two-movement Concerto for Strings also derived from an earlier composition, the First String Quartet (1945), which Lidholm compressed in his 1948 reworking. Once more, Nielsen is a dominating influence, especially in the concluding Allegro molto. It is eclipsed in quality, however, by Music for Strings (1952). By this time, Lidholm’s style was more independent – albeit close to that of his friend and colleague, Karl-Birger Blomdahl – but, more importantly, his expressive and technical range had markedly deepened.
Yet all pale beside Ritornell (1954). Do not be fooled by its modest duration or title; this is one of the most important Swedish compositions of the 1950s. If formally too free to be a true symphony, Ritornell has the requisite power and rhetorical gravitas and demands considerable orchestral virtuosity. Lü Jia and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra render it splendidly, though those who remember Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt’s pioneering account with the Stockholm Philharmonic (reissued on Swedish Society – nla) will find this newcomer more expansive and clearly recorded.
Gennady Rozhdestvensky’s remains the most vivid and dramatic account, its final section achieving an even greater sense of climax than here (honours are even in the Toccata e Canto). BIS’s recording is its match if not so intently a sonic spectacular.
Another excellent disc.
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