This boxed set of Grieg’s complete orchestral works is a celebration of the composer’s rich and multi-faceted aesthetic. Grieg was an idealistic humanist whose music and writings underlined a harmony between humans and nature. The sense of nostalgia and ‘postcard lyricism’ often associated with him belies the wild energy also present in his music – its primeval force, pessimistic emotions and tempestuous Romanticism. Thanks to Bjarte Engeset’s carefully researched and widely admired performances, Grieg’s complex musical universe can here be appreciated in full.

As usual with first symphonies (think of Gade, Berwald, Alfven, Atterberg, Glazunov, Dohnanyi, Kalinnikov), Svendsen’s is of abundances of freshness, confidence in expression and form (or structure), a certain level of innocence, and surefootedness in orchestral resourcefulness, even if the ideas remains fledging as far as personality is concerned (Mendelssohn’s influence looms quite a bit here). After all, his symphony is a student work, written while he was still studying at the Leipzig Conservatory). His music is highly engaging and sparkling, the ideas nicely tight, controlled, and memorable. Its premiere on October 12, 1867 was such a success that Edvard Grieg unfortunately withdrew his symphony he had written in 1864 & forbade it from ever being performed. It gained a foothold in the repertoire of Scandinavian countries, but not well played elsewhere.

Like most of his contemporaries, Grieg was motivated by the popularity of works for string orchestra. Apart from his familiar and often-performed Op. 40 Holberg Suite, Grieg also turned to his own music – songs and piano miniatures – on several occasions to make even more arrangements for string orchestra. Grieg's ideal sound for these works was not of a small, intimate chamber ensemble, but a full, rich, symphonic string sound. The Malmö Symphony Orchestra under conductor Bjarte Engeset produces just such a sound: vibrant, shimmering violins; assertive, powerful violas; and articulate, resonating cellos and basses.