Somm Recordings launches its new re-issues and historical label, Ariadne, with a spell-binding collection of songs by Edvard Grieg performed by the legendary husband-and-wife team of soprano Carole Farley and José Serebrier conducting the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras. Released by Dinemec Classics in 1998, ‘Carole Farley sings Grieg Songs’ follows Somm’s acclaimed recording of Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Piano Concerto No. 2 by Mark Bebbington. Sensational American soprano Carole Farley brings enormous passion and exquisite poetry to intensely personal songs originally composed for piano accompaniment but here richly orchestrated by José Serebrier. Sung in Norwegian, the sublime result showcases Grieg at his most evocative, Farley at her most expressive and Serebrier at his most nuanced. Grieg orchestrated only a handful of his 180 songs although they lend themselves readily to the broader palette of a symphony orchestra. José Serebrier says: “My choice of songs for orchestration was dictated