Stenhammar: Sangen [symphonic cantata] / Reverenza / Romeo and Hulia / Romances

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, and I happen to know that it has been on Neeme Järvi's wish list for decades. All the better now that, when he has turned 80, we were finally able to fulfil 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 splendid concert hall. Concert Master Sara Trobäck does full justice to the Two Sentimental Romances and we have something as unique as a movement for oboe solo in the middle of the Suite. The recording includes live material, and all the necessary performance tension and musicality pervade these readings' - Robert von Bahr, CEO of BIS Records.