Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Volume 2

Ballade, Op. 24; Lyric Pices: Op. 12 Nos 1, 3, 5, 8; Op. 38 Nos 1, 2, 4, 5, 6,7; Op. 43 Nos 1, 2, 4; Op. 47 Nos 1, 3, 4, 6, 7; Op. 54 Nos 2, 3; Op. 57 Nos 3, 5, 6; Op. 62 Nos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6; Op. 65 Nos 1, 4, 5
Op. 68 Nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Op. 71 Nos 1, 6, 7.

Peter Donohoe
Chandos CHAN 20464(2)
chandos.net

Peter Donohoe, born in Manchester in 1953 and schooled at Chetham's, Leeds University, the RNCM and, in Paris, under Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod, has long been ranked among the leading keyboard artists of his generation, admired for his musicianship, versatility and a technique that rarely falters — Musical Opinion once struggled to imagine anyone bettering him. All of that is evident in this new release, which follows his first instalment of Grieg's Lyric Pieces (CHAN 20254, 2022 read my review here: Classical Music Album: Grieg Lyric Pieces Vol 1) and brings together the remaining thirty-nine miniatures and the Ballade, Op. 24.

Grieg, born in Bergen in 1843 and long celebrated as Norway's National Composer, turned to the piano throughout his career but had little appetite for the German sonata, preferring instead the short forms he called Lyriske stykker — published across ten volumes and steeped in the folk idiom of his homeland. Donohoe has resisted the temptation to record them in sequence, instead ordering the pieces to his own design.

The gamble pays off. This second volume is every bit as delightful as the first, with poetry springing from Donohoe's fingers with a delicacy that borders on illusion — his left hand so controlled you barely notice its work until you try to imagine the music without it. A hauntingly beautiful waltz gives way to a captivating account of Drømmesyn, its trills delicate to the point of weightlessness, its close nothing short of magical. Throughout, you find yourself breathing in time with the music, feeling the tension the moment it arrives; Donohoe's control never wavers, which is exactly what one expects from a pianist of his standing.

Troldtog showcases his formidable technique. Erling Dahl Jr's booklet notes conjure the trolls emerging from the mountainside at sunset to spend the night in mischief, racing to return before daybreak lest they turn to stone — and Donohoe makes you feel every stride of that midnight march, drawing out the harmonies and rhythms with real superiority. There's colour everywhere, especially in the upper register of the Steinway Model D he plays here, and charm in every piece; the music's expressive character comes through in flawless intonation and in Grieg's unmistakable sonorities.

Sylfide, with its lopsided triple-time melody, is captured with just the right playfulness and caprice, while Halling, rooted in Norwegian folk dance, shares enough of its melodic contour and rich texture with Wedding Day at Troldhaugen to feel like a distant cousin.

Just when you think this mesmerising journey has shown you everything, it closes with Efterklang. The piece shares its material with Arietta, the one that launched the whole cycle, yet here the same E flat major idea returns transformed — richer in harmony, subtler in its progressions, and recast in waltz time. Twenty-four years and sixty-four pieces separate the two: Op. 12 dates from 1867, Op. 71 from 1891, and together they trace the full arc of Grieg's musical and personal development.

It's a fitting place for Donohoe to leave us — Grieg's cupboard is all but bare now, and one can only hope he finds another composer's shorter works as fertile a home for his particular gifts.