Maria Badstue – review of the concerts in Tours on Classykeo
“Grieg Alert: The Norwegians Are Back in Tours!”
The first time Norwegians landed in Tours was in 853. They didn’t leave the best memories behind. Luckily, a lot of water has flowed under the bridges of the Loire since then. The good news: they’ve traded their weapons for instruments, and they’re here to play the music of Edvard Grieg under the baton of conductor Maria Badstue, joined by pianist François Dumont.
A New Norwegian Saga in Tours If Viking leader Hasting were to return to Tours aboard his drakkar, he’d be in for quite a surprise. First, upon seeing the city he once pillaged and burned, now rebuilt—bigger and more beautiful than before. Then, upon hearing his compatriot Grieg performed at the opera.
“By Odin! These Touraine folks sure hold no grudges! All right then. I’ll buy a bottle of wine and head back home.”
Indeed, Edvard Grieg’s music has that evocative power that invites nostalgic daydreams, tinged with pride. And who better to lead the Orchestre Symphonique Région Centre–Val de Loire through this Nordic epic than Danish conductor Maria Badstue, who trained at the Norwegian Academy of Music? Her path echoes that of Grieg himself—initially close to the Danish “Scandinavist” composers J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels Gade, whom he later distanced himself from to pursue a more distinctly Norwegian sound, infused with folk inspirations.
It’s Beautiful, It’s Beautiful… It’s Boreal
Of course, one can’t speak of Edvard Grieg without thinking of his famous Morning Mood from Peer Gynt, performed here in its orchestral suite version. Never mind that the piece actually depicts a sunrise in the Moroccan desert: in the popular imagination, its melody irresistibly conjures up Norwegian fjords.
Next comes the celebrated Piano Concerto in A minor, delivered with verve by François Dumont, whose crystalline phrasing reveals the music’s traditional accents.
The second half of the concert features an early work—the Symphony in C major, which Grieg himself had forbidden to be performed during his lifetime. One can hear traces of Beethoven, and above all Mendelssohn, though not much that sounds particularly Norwegian. Its final movement, however—triumphant and joyful—is worth the journey before heading home, on foot or by drakkar, with a soul as serene as after a long voyage.
