Vacation (Part I): We're Off to the Land of Ice and Snow!

So a certain Shady Dame and I are flying to Scandinavia tonight, for some well deserved R&R. Norway and Sweden, baby!

But I got to wondering. Obviously, Sweden has ABBA and Yngvie Malmsteen. But are there any Norwegian rock bands I should know about?

And then I remembered -- a-ha.



Yeah, right. Way to go, Norway.

I should add that, apparently, Norway also has a flourishing death-metal scene, but of course who gives a shit. That said, a-hah was their biggest international rock export, and to be fair -- "Take On Me" is not a totally terrible song.

In any case, first stop: Bergen.

Which happens to be the hometown and final resting place of one of my favorite classical composers, Edvard Grieg. Whose music, back in my younger days, I actually essayed.

Seriously, I used to be able to knock 'em dead with my rendition of this.



For what it's worth, the fabulous Glenn Gould played it more or less the same way I did, which is to say, much slower than Grieg indicated. Which is also to say that both of us pissed off classical pedant/purists (I"m not gonna name names). In my case, of course, it was mostly from lack of technique.

Dispatches from the fjords continue on the morrow.