Review: Lindberg & Golijov: The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt et al (Emil Jonason, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra/Lindberg)
Christian Lindberg’s The Erratic Dreams of Mr Grönstedt is named for a Swedish cognac brand, the imbibing of which apparently triggered surreal dreams, which the composer spun into a concerto for Swedish clarinettist Emil Jonason. The concerto comprises a series of scenes from the life of a fictional Mr Grönstedt. Jonason’s clarinet emerges from brooding orchestral depths in The Mirror of Saturn. He’s smooth and flexible as he soars above the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, bringing a bouncy anticipation to Mr Grönstedt Dresses for the Spring Ball. He slashes pointed flourishes across the orchestra’s creeping dissonance in Lisa and the Magic Cape and brings a menacing unreality to the hazy Cadenza: The World of Euphoric Dreams. The finale explodes, the orchestra’s pumping forward-momentum giving way to spacious silence in which Jonason winds eerie solos before an energetic climax. Jonason joins the Vamlingbo Quartet for Osvaldo Golijov’s klezmer-infused The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. The Prelude is hymn-like – Jonason in the caramel low register of the clarinet – while Part II becomes an uneasy, slippery dance (drawing on the melody The Old Klezmer Band) set against menacing string pulses and glimmering harmonics, while the final movements… Continue reading Get…