The Human Condition: Vinje & Benzon
Resonance at Soma Towers, Bellevue (map)
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Tickets available here.
Virtual and Live tickets: $25 general
Nordia House, Nordic Northwest, Portland (map)
Thursday, September 15, 2022 at 7:00 pm
Tickets available here.
$35 General, $25 NN Members, $5 Arts for All
For our final concert of the Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg will bring all three artists together to perform some of Grieg’s most poignant songs to texts by A. O. Vinje and Otto Benzon. Soprano Laura Loge will sing Grieg’s beloved Vinje Songs opus 33 plus a few posthumously published songs and baritone Alan Dunbar will sing Grieg’s two final sets of songs with texts by Otto Benzon, opuses 69 and 70. Grieg’s songs to Vinje texts bring into perspective his fascination with the complexity of the human condition, highlighting the dichotomy set forth in Vinje’s poetry. The Benzon songs bring us into Grieg’s last and most experimental period of his composition career, hinting at what would have come had he lived another twenty years: impressionism and expressionism. Of course, Knut Erik Jensen will return to amaze us all with his virtuosity and amazing subtlety, perfectly suited to Grieg’s musical style.
This is the final of seven concerts presenting the complete songs of Edvard Grieg, sponsored by the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society.
Here’s a little teaser for this concert:
Eit Syn ( A Vision) Op. 33, no. 6
Laura Loge, soprano & Sandra Mogensen, piano
from their CD Songs and Piano Music of Edvard Grieg: Op. 33 & 66
Available here.
Laura Loge, soprano 
Alan Dunbar, baritone 
Knut Erik Jensen, piano
Grieg’s Vinje songs always hit me hard, especially Op. 33. There’s something about how he captures that tension between longing and resignation that feels so honest. I got into a long discussion about this kind of emotional duality in art over on Choicer Voicer recently. Wish I could catch the Portland show.
Grieg’s Vinje songs always hit me hard — there’s something about how he captures that push-pull in human nature that feels so ahead of its time. I got into his music through a weird path, actually started with party games like mimic party online and somehow fell down a classical rabbit hole from there. Wish I could catch this final concert in person.
I’ve been slowly working through Grieg’s song cycles myself, and the Vinje opus 33 really does hit differently once you sit with the text. Curious how the Benzon sets will sound live, since folks always mention that experimental late style. I actually stumbled on some visual interpretations of Grieg’s mood pieces over at image to image AI a while back, which made me hear the piano parts a bit differently.
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