PEER GYNT IN FAVOUR

The Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg is a part of mine and my countrymen's DNA profile. In other words; I know it well and I love it. In other words; the music here is so familiar territory that I will automatic compare Aviva's version to other versions. Read: Traditional orchestral versions.

Aviva is threading the same paths as Little Tragedies and Senmuth is walking down. This is not the type of walk in the wild I enjoy. The landscape is cold and desolate, draped in plastic and synthetic material. In short; the sound is anything but organic. And yes, this is a one man band from Russia. A country that has given our world a lot of fantastic big orchestral music and other fantastic art.

My big gripe with this album is the synthetic sound given the exceptional good Peer Gynt Suite. It kills the good in this piece of music. Yes, the Peer Gynt Suite is much molested by bands and keyboards fanatics alike. In particular, In The Hall Of The Mountain King. But Aviva has taken this molestation to another level. There are some good pieces of artistic creativity scattered around this album. But I would mostly say that this album is pretty bad. I also regard this type of music as muzak. That means music for airports and shopping malls. I am not impressed by this album at all.

2 stars