When asked why songs had come to play such an important role in his œuvre, Edvard Grieg once said: ‘I loved a girl with a wonderful voice and an equally wonderful gift as an interpreter.’ The girl in question was Nina Hagerup, later to become Grieg’s wife, and with whom he regularly performed many of his songs - as depicted on the painting on the cover of the present boxed set.
These songs were thus a labour of love for Grieg - not just his love for Nina, but also for the poems that he chose to set: ‘When I compose songs, my principal goal is not to write music but first of all to do justice to the poet’s most secret intentions… If this task is performed well, then the music is successful too.’ The 172 songs that make up this musical treasure-trove have, with some notable exceptions, received less than their share in terms of international recognition, largely due to the fact that the great majority of them are settings of Norwegian or Danish texts.
The present collection includes a 184-page booklet containing all the song texts in the original language with parallel translations into English. The seven discs that make up the collection have previously been released separately, to great acclaim from reviewers around the world: ‘Something of a landmark in the Grieg discography… Monica Groop penetrates the very essence of the Grieg spirit with the artlessness that conceals art’, wrote International Record Review about one instalment, while aBBC Music Magazine review described another as ‘an irresistible new take, thrilling to both the shadows and the bright high-latitude light in this music.’
In her own introduction to the projectMonica Groop writes: ‘I have always felt a special and instinctive affinity for Edvard Grieg and his music … I admire his gift of being able to write simple, natural music and I have sought to preserve this in performance.’ In these endeavours the acclaimed Finnish mezzo-soprano has enjoyed the expert support of three fine pianists: Roger Vignoles, Ilmo Ranta and Love Derwinger.
