Stenhammar: Sången, Reverenza & Romeo och Julia Suite

In a way it is odd that Stenhammar may be best known for a comparative trifle - the Entr'acte from the huge cantata "Sången" (The Song). This is an encore for basically all Swedish orchestras touring abroad. So why limit oneself to recording just that? Well, because the Cantata demands quite big forces - 4 soloists with demanding parts and 2 choruses on top of a quite large orchestra. It has only been commercially recorded once before, by Herbert Blomstedt. Recording the work has been on Neeme Jarvi's wish list for decades. All the better now that, when he has turned 80, he was finally able to fulfill his dreams, and with extremely good forces at that: four brilliant soloists, the two choruses and Stenhammar's own orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony in their great hall. Concert Master Sara Troback does pride to the Two Sentimental Romances and the group has something as edifying as a very large movement for oboe solo in the Suite. The recording includes live material, and all the necessary performance tension and musicality pervade these readings.