Johan Svendsen’s four Norwegian Rhapsodies represent his best orchestral work, probably because they used borrowed tunes. He was not a particularly interesting melodist, or orchestrator, or composer generally. His Romeo and Juliet suffers by being compared to, well, anyone else’s, but particularly those of Tchaikovsky and Berlioz. A 12-minute overture in generic Romantic style, it is instantly forgettable. Zorahayda is even duller: it was written to “celebrate”, if that’s the word, the success of Dick and Cosima Wagner in nagging Svendsen’s Jewish wife Sally into converting to Christianity. In the story, a Moorish princess converts to Christianity. Yawn. Still, as I said, the Rhapsodies are lovely and themselves make the disc well worth its modest price, particularly in these sprightly and refreshing performances, brightly recorded. Recommended. [9/29/2009]
