Borgstrøm: Fiskeren (The Fisherman) (Simax Classics)

Hjalmar Borgstrøm (1864 – 1925)
Fiskeren (The Fisherman) (1900)
Thorbjørn – Ketil Hugaas (bass); Karen – Ingebjørg Kosmo (mezzo-soprano); Ragnhild – Eli Kristin Hanssveen (soprano); Erik – Thor Inge Falck (tenor); Sigurd – Kjell Magnus Sandve (tenor); A Doctor – Njål Sparbo (bass-baritone)
Norwegian National Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Terje Boye Hansen
rec. 2008 – 2010, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, Orkesterprøvesalen, Norway
Reviewed as download from press preview
Short synopsis enclosed but no libretto
Simax Classics PSC 1221 [2 CDs: 94]

The name of Hjalmar Borgstrøm may be unknown to most of my international readers – and probably to most Norwegian readers as well. But from the turn of the century to World War II, he was a highly regarded composer and critic in his native country. He was born in Christiania (today Oslo) and studied from the age of 17 under Johan Svendsen and later with the influential L M Lindeman. After Lindeman’s death he moved to Leipzig for further studies, but in his autobiography he writes: “I learned far more from listening to music – at the Gewandhaus and especially at the opera house, where Arthur Nikitsch and Gustav Mahler were both conductors at the time. I was most interested in Wagner.”

Borgstrøm remained abroad until 1903, living also in Berlin and spending some time in London and Paris. During this period, he composed his two operas, of which the second was The Fisherman. Neither of them was performed during his lifetime. It was only in 2002 and 2003 that they were belatedly premiered. His fame rested primarily on his symphonic poems, which were based on literary masters, including a Hamlet. Borgstrøm’s latter-day colleague Arne Nordheim (1931 – 2010) is quoted in the booklet saying: “It is utterly incomprehensible that Borgstrøm has been completely forgotten. His works are of exceptional, international quality. The tonal language is original and is reminiscent of both Wagner and Mahler. … As a stage musician, he anticipates Lloyd Webber, Stephen Sondheim and Egil Monn Iversen. His program music is 20 years ahead of his Norwegian contemporaries, with sophisticated arrangements and a rich, sensual sound.”

That Wagner is a deep influence is very obvious in The Fisherman. The presence of the sea invites comparison with Der fliegende Holländer, maybe also Tristan und Isolde. He employs Leitmotifs and his instrumentation is colourful and expressive. Deep brass illustrates the stormy sea and the tragic development of Thorbjørn’s life, but in several of the more intimate scenes there is a delicious silver sheen that is reminiscent of Lohengrin. There are no traditional arias and duets, but a lot of the music has great beauty, first and foremost in the orchestral writing. The playing of the orchestra is excellent, and it is forwardly balanced, which unfortunately is to the detriment of the voices, as in many places the singers are overwhelmed and drowned by the orchestra. The culprit is probably Borgstrøm himself, who never heard the music and couldn’t adjust the instrumentation.

The plot is as follows – and I quote from the liner notes: “1. Act: Thorbjørn, a wealthy and God-fearing man, loses his entire farm and young son to a landslide. After losing everything, he becomes a fisherman, has a daughter, and lives from hand to mouth for 20 years. One day, he decides he has had enough and makes a pact with the devil for a better life. Later that same day, the usurer Erik comes to demand payment of rent. Thorbjørn ends up promising his daughter to Erik. Thorbjørn tells his daughter Ragnhild, who is left in tears because she has already given her heart to Sigurd.

2. Act: Storm at sea. The usurer Erik’s ship carrying all his wealth is threatened by the waves. Thorbjørn and Sigurd go out to sea alone to save the ship and its cargo. Sigurd saves Thorbjørn from drowning, but the ship is lost.

3. Act: Thorbjørn is ill, has lost everything and wants to die. The usurer Erik appears. Thorbjørn sees his deceased son in a vision and asks his family for forgiveness. They cannot grant him this, only God can. Thorbjørn dies.”

Indeed, a vale of tears is depicted, and it requires a cast of dramatic and expressive singers, which, to a large extent, it gets. The main character, Thorbjørn, is a really meaty role for a Wagnerian bass of stature. It could have been written with the mighty Norwegian bass Ivar Andrésen in mind, provided he had been born twenty years earlier. In reality, he was born in 1896, and thus belonged to the same generation as Alexander Kipnis and began his international career in the 1920s. But Ketil Hugaas is a worthy substitute. He has the dramatic power and the deep blackness of tone, and also the warmth and nobility of this many-sided character. I heard him in several big roles at the Stockholm Opera, where he was a prominent member of the ensemble from 2000 to 2008, so it came as no surprise that he was an ideal interpreter of this role. Karen, Thorbjørn’s wife, is also convincingly portrayed by Ingebjørg Kosmo, leading mezzo-soprano at the Norwegian Opera since 1997. She is impressively powerful, as is Eli Kristin Hanssveen in the role of Ragnhild, Thorbjørn’s daughter. Hers is primarily a coloratura voice with roles like Zerbinetta, Valencienne (Die lustige Witwe), Musetta (La bohème) and the Queen of the Night on her CV. Of the two tenors, the bad guy in this opera, Erik, is sung by Thor Inge Falck, equipped with a typical Mime-voice, which fits the schemer like a glove. Kjell Magnus Sandve, who sings Sigurd, has had an international career. In the 1990s he was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera and guested in several of the important opera houses in Europe. Here he often sounds worn and strained and has problems being heard over the orchestra, but his is still a heroic performance.

Is Fiskeren an unfairly forgotten masterwork? Maybe not, but it is a highly professional composition, and I derived a lot of pleasure from it. Norwegian operas are thin on the ground, and Arne Nordheim’s enthusiastic judgement is a good reason to give it a listen. The all-too-brief synopsis is not of much help in following the drama in detail but for those who read the languages, I have been sent a German libretto with a Norwegian translation, as per this link: Fiskeren Libretto original.doc (dropbox.com)

Göran Forsling

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