Lars-Erik Larsson - Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (Andrew Manze)

Information

Composer: Lars-Erik Larsson

• Symphony No. 1 in D Major, Op. 2
• En vintersaga, Op. 18
• Musik för orkester, Op. 40
• Pastoral
• Lyrisk fantasi, Op. 54

Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra

Andrew Manze, conductor

Date: 2014

Label: CPO

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/lars-erik-larsson-orchesterwerke-vol-1/hnum/1640658

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Review

At the start of his otherwise commendable booklet essay, Christoph Schlüren lists all the dominant Swedish composers of Lars-Erik Larsson’s time, in order to ‘place’ him in context, yet omits curiously the one whose influence is most audible in the First Symphony: Kurt Atterberg. Larsson’s symphony dates from 1927 28, the apex of Atterberg’s fame, and opens almost as a variation of the older man’s Second Symphony. The result is an accomplished if apprentice work revealing many key facets of Larsson’s idiom, albeit without an overly distinctive voice.

Larsson was undoubtedly a musical magpie and he flitted between styles throughout his life. Listeners unfamiliar with the Four Vignettes from ‘The Winter’s Tale’, one of Larsson’s most popular pieces, written 10 years after the symphony, would be forgiven for mistaking these – and the contemporaneous Pastorale (1937), also from a theatre score – as lost incidental music by Sibelius. The writing is undeniably deft, not least in the handling of the orchestra, and full of lyric appeal and charm.

The ‘real’ Larsson can be glimpsed, perhaps, behind the two later works, Music for Orchestra (1949) – with its more angular chromatic lines (showing a familiarity with dodecaphony) – and the quietly beautiful Lyric Fantasy (1967). Music for Orchestra is the one major, mature utterance here and it, the Vignettes and Lyric Fantasy deserve wider currency. They draw splendidly idiomatic playing from the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under the inspiring direction of departing Chief Conductor Andrew Manze, who has developed into one of the most gifted present-day occupants of the podium. CPO’s sound is gorgeous.

-- Guy Rickards, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Jun14/Larsson_orch_v1_7776712.htm

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Aug14/Larsson_orch_v1_7776712.htm

https://www.wtju.net/andrew-manze-leads-larsson-revival/

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/larsson-symphony-no-1-etc/

https://www.amazon.com/Lars-Erik-Larsson-Orchestral-Works-Vol/dp/B00JH53O7A

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Lars-Erik Larsson (15 May 1908 – 27 December 1986) was a Swedish composer. Larsson studied with Ellberg at the Stockholm Conservatory, and with Alban Berg and Fritz Reuter in Vienna and Leipzig. He then worked for Swedish Radio and taught at the Stockholm Conservatory and Uppsala University. His style as a composer is eclectic, ranging from the late Romantic to techniques derived from Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-note system. Larsson wrote for the theatre, cinema and broadcasting, in addition to the more traditional forms of symphony, concerto, chamber and vocal music.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars-Erik_Larsson

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Andrew Manze (born 14 January 1965 in Beckenham, United Kingdom) is an English conductor and violinist. Manze studied violin and worked with Ton Koopman. He began his musical career as a specialist in Early Music, and has recorded commercially as a soloist. From 2003 to 2007, he was artistic director of The English Concert. Outside of the UK, Manze was principal conductor and artistic director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra (2006-14), and has been principal conductor of the NDR Radiophilharmonie since 2014. He has recorded for harmonia mundi, Hyperion, cpo, Onyx and PentaTone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Manze
https://andrewmanze.com/

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