This ‘Peer Gynt’ throws the focus on the music

grieg.jpgMichael Anthony [Minneapolis Star Tribune, 19 October 2005]
As a large-scale season-opener, VocalEssence presented a concert version of Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” by the National Opera of Norway in honor of the 100th anniversary of that country’s independence from Sweden, for a two-night run at the Ordway Center. For the second of the two performances, Wednesday night, Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon was in the audience