COMPOSERS: Kuhlau
LABELS: Dacapo
WORKS: Elverhøj (The Elf’s Hill)
PERFORMER: Bodil Gøbel, Gurli Plesner, Mogens Schmidt Johansen Danish National RSO & Choir/John Frandsen
CATALOGUE NO: 8.224053 AAD Reissue
The early Danish Romantic Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) wrote his festive Elverhøj (The Elf’s Hill) for a royal wedding in 1828. Still a vibrant national symbol, combining memorable folk ballads with imaginatively orchestrated dances and set pieces, complete with galante hunting horns, rhapsodising flutes, and touches of Weber, Schubert, Rossini, Méhul and ‘Turkish’ music, it offers a wonderful insight into Danish society a century before Nielsen. Frandsen’s is the classic modern recording benefiting from some glorious solo singing. Ates Orga
Kuhlau: Elverhøj (The Elf's Hill)
The early Danish Romantic Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832) wrote his festive Elverhøj (The Elf’s Hill) for a royal wedding in 1828. Still a vibrant national symbol, combining memorable folk ballads with imaginatively orchestrated dances and set pieces, complete with galante hunting horns, rhapsodising flutes, and touches of Weber, Schubert, Rossini, Méhul and ‘Turkish’ music, it offers a wonderful insight into Danish society a century before Nielsen. Frandsen’s is the classic modern recording benefiting from some glorious solo singing. Ates Orga
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:37 pm