Ragnhild Hemsing & Trondheim Soloists - Peer Gynt (Arr. for Hardanger Fiddle, Violin and Orchestra)

Adventurousness, boasting and fistfuls of lies... For her second album on the Berlin Classics label, the Norwegian violinist and Hardanger fiddle player Ragnhild Hemsing has taken on one of Norway's most famous and legendary figures: Peer Gynt. She is not part of the original orchestration, but has had selected sections of the Peer Gynt showcase music, op. 23 arranged for her solo instruments hardanger fiddle and violin together with string orchestra - and thus establishes the connection between Peer Gynt's traditional story and Norwegian folk music.

For a long time, Ragnhild Hemsing had wanted to perform the music of Peer Gynt on the Hardanger fiddle: "I thought that parts of the music would fit perfectly on the Hardanger fiddle in combination with solo violin and string orchestra. But I wanted to dive deeper into the material, fully aware that folk music and the Hardanger fiddle were sources of inspiration for it." That Norwegian folk music and the traditional Hardanger fiddle influenced Grieg in his composition is especially noticeable in the title "Morgenstimmung": the first notes of this work correspond exactly to the resonant strings of the Hardanger fiddle: A F♯ E D E F♯.

Originally written not for the stage but as a dramatic poem by the Norwegian national poet Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt depicts the story of the eponymous protagonist who leaves his homeland in search of love and adventure. After many years of wild life all over the world, he returns to Norway an old and broken man - where his lover Solveig welcomes him with open arms and forgives him for his deeds. With his poem, written in 1867, Ibsen confronted the romantic nationalism in Norway. A stage version of the play was written a few years later, at the request of the director of the theatre in Christiania (now Oslo). The commission was given to Edvard Grieg, who - after reviewing the material - found it difficult to set it to music. In Norway, his incidental music, first performed in 1876, was a great success; Grieg, however, doubted that this could also be the case outside his homeland and therefore published two shorter Peer Gynt suites in 1888 and 1893. These were soon to become his most successful works worldwide.

On her new album, Ragnhild Hemsing has not only brought together the story of Peer Gynt with the Hardanger fiddle, but also integrates another aspect of folk music, improvisation: "This is quite natural for me, who have my roots in folk music. This was not notated. I relate improvisation to the freedom I feel in the music and to the tradition I want to bring into the classical genre." Thus, Ragnhild Hemsing's music and her reinterpretation of Grieg's work also mirror Peer Gynt's life: In his longing for freedom and discovering something new, he discovers his connection to his homeland and its traditions. In the end, he reflects on his origins and returns - and yet is influenced by the impressions he was able to gather on his journey through the world.

Ragnhild Hemsing is accompanied on her second album by the Trondheim Soloists, an ensemble with whom she has had an excellent working relationship for some time. The arrangements of the pieces were written - as for Hemsing's first album Røta - by Tormod Tvete Vik. "The Peer Gynt suites now sound in a new guise and with a new sound. A joint, exciting and rewarding exploration process", as the musician emphasises.