Albums

Song of Norway – Jones Beach Marine Theater 1958

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Synopsis

Song of Norway opens with a prologue set in Troldhaugen, just outside Bergen. It is Midsummer’s Eve in 1860 and the poet Rikard Nordraak recounts the legend of Norway. Nordraak is a great friend of the musician Grieg and his sweetheart Nina, and together they look forward to lives extolling the beauties and traditions of their country. In the second scene, Edvard and Nina have misunderstandings, brought about largely by the appearance of an entirely fictional character, the Countess Louisa Giovanni, but at length all is resolved and the sweethearts are married. The glamorous and unconventional Countess exerts a strong fascination for Grieg, however, and he follows her to Rome, ostensibly to study music. There her is caught up in the frivolity of society and becomes increasingly unhappy. When the news of the death of his friend Nordraak arrives, he immediately returns to Norway and rejoins Nina, and devotes his life to fulfilling the dreams they had spun as children. Among his dreams is a “Vision of Norway,” presented in a spectacular skating ballet that ends the production, set to the music of the Piano Concerto in A Minor, which Grieg dedicated to Nordraak.

Credits

Edvard Grieg: John Reardon Rikard Nordraak: William Olvis Nina Hagerup: Helena Scott Countess Louisa Giovanni: Brenda Lewis Mother Grieg: Muriel O’Malley Count Peppi La Loup: Sig Arno Orchestra and singing ensemble under the direction of Lehman Engel

About

In their first effort for Broadway, George Forrest and Robert Wright, two successful Hollywood composer-lyricists, liberally borrowed from Edvard Grieg to create a musical, Song of Norway, that became a hit show in the 1944-45 season. A loose adaptation of the celebrated composer’s life and his struggle to create an authentic Norwegian music, the show starred Lawrence Brooks as Grieg, and was notable for its featured folk dances performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, in a choreography signed by George Balanchine. It opened at the Imperial Theatre on August 21, 1944, and had a run of 860 performances. Though it became a successful film later in years, stage revivals have been infrequent. One of the most enjoyable occurred in 1958, at the Jones Beach Marine Theatre, in Long Island, NY, with a scintillating cast of young Broadway stalwarts that included John Reardon, Brenda Lewis, and Muriel O’Malley, and Sig Arno of the original 1944 cast. With veteran music conductor Lehman Engel at the baton, and Stan Freeman at the keyboards for the concerto piano solo, the show opened on June 22, 1958, for a limited run through Labor Day. First LP release: June 1959