"This is the final of seven concerts presenting the complete songs of Edvard Grieg, sponsored by the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society.

During his life, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) acted as an ambassador for Norwegian music to the rest of the western world, bringing the Norwegian sound beyond folk music and into the mainstream of art music to mainland Europe.

The final concert of the Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg will bring 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." (Promo Copy)