Composer Edvard Grieg, the icon of Norwegian music, left his home in Bergen, Norway to study at the conservatory in Leipzig. There he began his formal musical education under the auspices of Ignaz Moscheles (piano) and Carl Reinecke (composition). While in school, the young composer saw the premiere of his first work, his String Quartet in D minor, performed in Karlshamn, Sweden. Despite being diagnosed with a form of tuberculosis, which left himRead more with only one functioning lung, Grieg graduated from the conservatory in 1862. The composer had an intense desire to develop a national style of composition, but recognized the importance of becoming well versed in the work of the European masters, and consequently relocated to Copenhagen, studying with Niels Gade. He was thus able to remain in Scandanavia, while working in a thriving cultural center. In 1867 against his family's better judgment, Grieg married his cousin Nina Hagerup, a talented pianist, but whose vocal abilities enchanted the composer even more. Shortly after their wedding, the couple moved to Oslo, where Grieg supported them by teaching piano and conducting. He and his wife traveled extensively throughout Europe and it was during a period of time spent in Denmark, the composer wrote his landmark opus, the Piano Concerto in A minor. The premiere was given in 1869, with Edmund Neupert as the soloist. The piece was received with an enthusiasm that would attach itself to the composer's reputation for the remainder of his career.
Grieg admired his literary contemporaries and forged a productive partnership with Bjötjerne Björnson, playwright and poet, with whom he staged performances of such works as Before a Southern Convert, and Bergliot. While Björnson struggled with his output, Grieg met and befriended Henrik Ibsen. The forthcoming collaboration would prove significant for both, as Grieg would supply incidental music to Ibsen's Peer Gynt. The premiere was performed to critical acclaim and eventually led to Grieg's scoring of Peer Gynt into Suites 1 and 2 (1888 and 1893 respectively).
As a result of the success of Peer Gynt, Grieg enjoyed tremendous celebrity and continued to travel extensively, often meeting internationally renowned composers such as Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Liszt, among others. In addition to a grant he was awarded in 1874, Grieg was able to earn the majority of his money by adhering to a vigorous schedule of recital tours. He served briefly as the music director of the Bergen Symphony Orchestra, and from 1880-1882, held the same position at the Bergen Harmonien. In 1885, Grieg and his wife relocated once again, this time to his native Bergen, Norway, where he built their celebrated home, Troldhaugen. The property, a popular tourist destination to this day, features a secondary building overlooking the water, which the composer used as his work area, as he could only work in solitude. He and his wife summered in Norway and departed each fall for European tours that would last the remainder of the year. Grieg also conducted extensively throughout his country.
Grieg was adored wherever he traveled and lived at a pace that would eventually catch up with him. Grieg died of chronic fatigue, with much credit given to his lifelong health problems, in his hometown of Bergen.
Norway's most famous composer, dedicated his career to the pursuit of a national sound. The respect he had for his predecessors illustrates the sincerity with which he worked towards this goal. He wrote in the Romantic tradition with, in his own words, the determination to "create a national form of music, which could give the Norwegian people an identity." Read less
Label: Decca
Catalog: 417112
Release Date: 01/07/2009
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Edvard Grieg,
Robert Schumann
Performer:
Jorge Bolet
Conductor:
Riccardo Chailly
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
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Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 17411
Release Date: 10/28/2008
Number of Discs: 14
Composer:
Alban Berg,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Robert Schumann,
Edvard Grieg
...
Performer:
Sviatoslav Richter,
Oleg Kagan,
David Oistrakh,
Mstislav Rostropovich
...
Conductor:
Yuri Nikolaevsky,
Lorin Maazel,
Lovro von Matacic,
Carlos Kleiber
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Moscow Conservatory Symphony Orchestra members,
London Symphony Orchestra,
Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra
...
Label: Emi Classics For Pleasure
Catalog: 28368
Release Date: 10/28/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Robert Schumann,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Pascal Devoyon
Conductor:
Jerzy Maksymiuk
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
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Label: Urania
Catalog: 363
Release Date: 10/28/2008
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Robert Schumann,
Edvard Grieg
...
Performer:
Walter Gieseking
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 06102
Release Date: 09/02/2008
Number of Discs: 7
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Franz Liszt,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Sir Arthur Bliss
...
Performer:
Solomon
Conductor:
Walter Susskind,
Sir Adrian Boult,
Issay Dobrowen,
Herbert Menges
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: London/Decca Weekend Classics
Catalog: 417676
Release Date: 08/05/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Edvard Grieg,
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performer:
Clifford Curzon
Conductor:
Oivin Fjeldstad,
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra,
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: Urania
Catalog: 359
Release Date: 07/29/2008
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Frédéric Chopin,
Robert Schumann,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Dinu Lipatti
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan,
Alceo Galliera
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lucerne Festival Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Urania
Catalog: 356
Release Date: 06/24/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Franz Liszt,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
György Cziffra
Conductor:
Pierre Dervaux,
André Vandernoot
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Paris Symphony Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Sony Classical Essential Classics
Catalog: 731846
Release Date: 05/27/2008
Number of Discs: 11
Composer:
Frédéric Chopin,
Franz Liszt,
Franz Schubert,
Robert Schumann
...
Performer:
Raymond Trouard,
Germaine Devèze,
Herbin,
Clemens Merkel
...
Conductor:
Gustav Cloëz,
Eugène Bigot,
Pierre Dervaux,
Edouard Lindenberg
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 12038
Release Date: 04/01/2008
Number of Discs: 88
Composer:
Johann Strauss Jr.,
Josef Strauss,
E. Nikolaus von Reznicek,
Johannes Brahms
...
Performer:
Karl Leister,
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,
Ernst Haefliger,
Anne-Sophie Mutter
...
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Label: Zyx Records
Catalog: 1017
Release Date: 03/25/2008
Number of Discs: 10
Composer:
Sr. Johann Strauss I,
Edvard Grieg,
Antonín Dvorák,
Johann Strauss Jr.
...
Performer:
Björn Lundgren,
Gerhard Eckle,
Hélène Gàl,
Peter Schmalfuss
...
Conductor:
Peter Falk,
Sven Bengtson,
Anton Nanut,
Frank Shipway
...
Label: Berlin Classics
Catalog: 8413
Release Date: 01/22/2008
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Carl Maria von Weber,
Robert Schumann,
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Annerose Schmidt
Conductor:
Kurt Masur
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: Emi Laser Series
Catalog: 62859
Release Date: 08/20/2007
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Edvard Grieg,
Robert Schumann,
César Franck
Performer:
John Ogdon
Conductor:
Paavo Berglund,
Sir John Barbirolli
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Philharmonia Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Philips
Catalog: 000917202
Release Date: 08/14/2007
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Lilya Zilberstein,
Andrei Gavrilov,
Marianne Eklöf,
Barbara Bonney
...
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan,
Neeme Järvi
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Label: Virgin Classics
Catalog: 91369
Release Date: 08/14/2007
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Edvard Grieg,
Franz Liszt
Performer:
Leif Ove Andsnes
Conductor:
Dmitri Kitayenko
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
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