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4.5
This SACD is titled At Home with Hugo Alfvén: Songs and Piano Pieces, and the program is lovely. To emphasize the meaning of the title, Peter Friis Johansson plays on the composer’s own piano, a Hamburg Steinway from 1910. Alfvén was an extremely important figure in Swedish music over a long span of time. He was born in Stockholm in 1872, a quarter century before the death of Brahms, and he lived until 1960. He was a composer, violinist, conductor, writer, a gifted painter, and an advocate for other Swedish composers, too. His music remained in the late-Romantic style throughout his life, some of it influenced by Swedish folk music. He wrote five symphonies as well as many other orchestral works, alongside many songs and piano pieces. The idea of combining Alfven’s songs and piano pieces on one disc is a very appealing one. As a longtime fan of Alfvén’s music I was very much looking forward to this program. I wish I could recommend it with enthusiasm. Swedish soprano Elin Rombo has absorbed the music and sings it with great understanding and dramatic effect. As an example, the fourth of the Seven Poems by Ernest Thiel, “Du är stilla ro” (You are calm), is sung in a hushed tone that reflects the text perfectly. In the next song, “Jag längtar dig” (I long for you), Rombo intensifies her tone to convey a sense of longing. Throughout, Rombo invests the music with meaning. Unfortunately, her voice is not an attractive one. Her tone, particularly in the upper middle and upper registers at mezzo-forte or louder, seems to be produced largely in the throat. The voice tightens up, and a heavy tremolo distracts from the music’s line. Probably Alfvén’s most popular song is “Skogen sover” (The forest sleeps), and if one has heard it sung by Jussi Björling, Håkan Hagegård, or Anne Sofie von Otter, Rombo’s unsteady vocal production simply won’t satisfy. Pianist Peter Friis Johansson is a sensitive accompanist and plays the more exuberant songs with plenty of flair. Excellent program notes, complete texts and translations, and BIS’s usual warm and naturally balanced sound are all assets. Because one’s reaction to singers is probably the most highly personalized of all listener tastes, you might wish to sample this release to see if you find Rombo’s singing more appealing than I do. I love everything else about the disc, particularly Johansson’s playing in the solo piano pieces.
