Laura Loge: Grieg, Ibsen, and Solveig’s Song

Laura Loge, Nordic operatic soprano.

Edvard Grieg, Norway’s greatest composer. 

Henrik Ibsen, Norway’s greatest playwright. 

A trio that comes together through Ibsen’s play, Peer Gynt, and Grieg’s incidental music for that play.  Laura sings the role of Gynt’s long and abiding love, Solveig. 

Join us as we learn how Laura first sang Solveig’s song at the age of 14, and how this music followed her as she studied Norwegian, Italian, and classical music to become a talented, accomplished classical singer, sharing her love of Greig through concertizing and school outreach.  

In this podcast Laura gives a brief summary of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, originally a hero from Norwegian folklore, who became the basis of Ibsen’s anti-hero in his legendary Norwegian play.  We also learn more about Grieg’s music in general and the magic and images it creates of the Norwegian landscape, nature, and folklore.

We finish the podcast with Laura’s performance of Solveig’s song  (from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite #2)  in 2017.  Check out the episode website for links to more of Laura’s recordings, websites, photos etc. at nordicontap.com/laura-loge-grieg-ibsen-and-solveigs-song . 

Links

Lisa Bergman, the former artistic director of the Mostly Nordic concert series that Laura now leads, is well-known to listeners of Seattle classical music station, KING-FM. I used to look forward to hearing her 2-minute feature every evening at 6 pm, called Explore Music, where she told “fun facts and stories” about classical pieces and often then played them. She is humorous, engaging, and fun to listen to because she’s such a great storyteller.

Laura’s website at lauraloge.com shows her concert engagements, samples of her work, her two CDs, her bio, and contact information. This includes Laura’s concert series in Sept of 2022, The Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg #7.

The Northwest Edvard Grieg Society that produces concerts and many things Grieg; see their schedule on this website.

Laura Loge attended Skogfjorden Norwegian language camp in northern Minnesota, part of the Concordia Languages Villages. Both Laura and I have greatly enjoyed being taught Norwegian and Norwegian music from the counselor Tove Dahl at two different camps, and Tove is now director of Skogfjorden. Listen to our interview with Tove called Dean of Language Camp.

Laura mentioned her mother, an award-winning piano teacher, and father, a retired-physician and Norwegian language speaker, that are part of who she is today. You can meet them in our podcast interview called The House that Ron Loge Built: The Stabbur.

Laura is fond of Grieg’s Op. 33 (The Vinje Songs), which she has performed many times over the years. Here are two of Laura’s recordings, Ved Rondane (at Rondane), and Våren (Spring, or ‘Last Spring’), both accompanied by pianist Sandra Morgensen. The Vinje Songs are part of the Sept 2022 concert installment (#7) in the Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg.

If you wish to hear Laura sing Solveig’s Sang again, here’s that recording with the Wenatchee Valley Symphony in 2017. The lyrics in Norwegian with English translation can be viewed here.

To hear the most famous parts of Grieg’s music for Peer Gynt, check out this video of the Peer Gynt Suites #1 and #2. Here you can catch the well-known Morning Mood, The Hall of the Mountain King, and finally, at the end of Suite #2, Solveig’s Song.

Lisa Bergman, the former artistic director of the Mostly Nordic concert series that Laura now leads, is well-known to listeners of Seattle classical music station, KING-FM. I used to look forward to hearing her 2-minute feature every evening at 6 pm, called Explore Music, where she told “fun facts and stories” about classical pieces and often then played them. She is humorous, engaging, and fun to listen to.