The massive popularity of Grieg’s Piano Concerto contributed significantly to his renown, marking a high point in his early period. This is a truly Romantic concerto with parallels to Schumann in its emphasis on melodic lines. The overture In Autumn has an air of Mendelssohn in its sense of drama combined with a ‘union of merry and serious elements’ that characterise the season. The Two Lyric Pieces and the Old Norwegian Melody with Variations provide an attractive mosaic of Norwegian mood pictures.

This release appears newly minted alongside its companion Grieg discs from Utah, VOX-NX-3039CD with the popular Peer Gynt Suites, as well as VOX-NX-3038CD with the Symphonic Dances and other orchestral works. These recordings have been widely admired since their first appearance, appealing both to the nostalgic and the inquisitive amongst discerning collectors.

This release joins our previous re-releases of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and other orchestral works with the Utah Symphony conducted by Maurice Abravanel, considered ‘undoubtedly an event of significance, [featuring] impressive performances of Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces, which demonstrate the outstanding skills of the conductor and the orchestra’ (Online Merker).

The Utah Symphony’s reputation as one of the nation’s high-ranking orchestras (Esquire’s Martin Mayer called it one of the ten best in America) was the result of the dedicated work of Maurice Abravanel, who was its Conductor and Musical Director for 32 years. Under his baton it received ovations throughout the US and in the music capitals of Europe for its concerts, and critical acclaim throughout the world for its impressive list of recordings on several labels.

Grant Johannesen was one of America’s most important and distinguished artists. Harold Schonberg of The New York Times wrote that, ‘One is apt to forget how strong a technician Mr. Johannesen is, because he so seldom engages in sheer display. He remains one of the finest American pianists and is a superior musician. Few pianists give so satisfactory a recital.’ The eloquent and colourful mid-1970s recording of the Grieg Piano Concerto with Johannesen and the Utah Symphony will have been a reference version for many in its day, and it still retains a powerful attractiveness even amidst stiff competition.

These Vox Audiophile Edition recordings were first released in 1976 on a quadraphonic LP pressings QSVBX 5140 and QTV-S 34624. They also appeared in the 1990s as part of a 2 Disc VoxBox edition CDX 5048, but the vintage nature of these and numerous other Vox label releases have made them less easily obtainable and certainly less of a bargain than they were. In any case these recordings have been given a new lease of life by going back to the original Elite Recordings master tapes, which have been newly transferred to CD in 192 kHz/24-bit high definition.

The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

‘Standing today as my personal fave, the late Maurice Abravanel whose ’76 Utah set on Vox made him yet one of the few to comprehensively record Grieg up to that point – produced a recording that, at first hearing, made me stand up alone in my room to shout bravo.’ – The Classical Music Guide Forums