For "Peer Gynt, " he selected 15 of Grieg's 26 original musical numbers only five from the easy-listening, almost-too-popular "Peer Gynt" suites Grieg extracted from the original in 1888 and 1891.
Having read "Peer Gynt, " and having seen it presented with no more than minimal music, I wish someone could have talked Ibsen into radically reducing and editing the text.
The annual PeerGynt Festival in Norway, which does mount a full, uncut 1876 version, enlists 100 student performers to fill up the ranks, in addition to professional musicians, singers and actors.