This new SACD release from the enterprising Norwegian label 2L presents the 
Kristiansand Wind Ensemble, successor to the Norwegian Army Band, in a 
refreshing program of marches, from Saint-Saëns' Marche Militaire Française to 
Grieg's Funeral March for his dear friend, the composer and nationalist Richard 
Nordraak (1842-1866).

In between, there is an engaging Children's March by Percy Grainger, a 
wonderfully exhilarating Military March by Richard Strauss, a somewhat goofy one 
by Prokofiev (and a goofier one still by Charles Ives), and much more besides. 
This is not a march album like the woofer blowers Telarc once routinely produced 
to strut their digital stuff, with explosive bass drums and blaring brass. 
Instead, it is, as much as a band can be, a thing of subtle beauty.

Of course, when the tempi are up, and the drums and brass are roused to the 
occasion, as at the opening of Barber's Commando March from 1943, they make 
superb sounds that will test the best audiophile systems, especially those that 
have committed to the SACD format. The recordings, made in the Kristiansand 
Cathedral, take volume exceptionally well, and bloom out magnificently into 
their 5.1 surround configuration as they do.

The performances are a match for the repertoire, slightly understated but full 
of power and joy when needed, and the extensive liner notes are a joy. 

  --Laurence Vittes