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The Forgotten Danish Pianist Arne Skjold Rasmussen

Danacord

$24.99 Jan 19, 2024

An unfairly forgotten Danish master pianist!

Arne Skjold Rasmussen was one of the finest Danish musicians and a truly virtuoso pianist. Nerves and the lack of interest in the concert halls kept him away from the audience. As a professor in piano at the Royal Danish Music Academy he was much sought after. The whole idea of making recordings he detested and his discography is small. Here are all the solo recordings he did for the Danish TONO label. There are no concerto recordings and only a small handful of chamber music recordings done shortly before he died.

His Beethoven sonatas, sadly only those on this 2 CD set, are among the most convincing and overwhelmingly authentic. He was brought up in the Carl Nielsen tradition and his rare Nielsen recordings are probably the closest we will ever get to that Danish composer. Extensive notes from the Skjold Rasmussen specialist Jonas Barlyng and the high class transfers by Claus Byrith underlines the importance of this piano release. Remember the other releases in this series 3 sets featuring Danish Women Pianists One with pioneer Danish pianists and now 6 volumes with the great pianist Victor Schiøler.

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The Forgotten Danish Pianist Arne Skjold Rasmussen
Danacord Jan 2024
CD
$24.99

Gísladóttir: Caeli / Bára Gísladóttir, Skúli Sverrisson

Sono Luminus

$10.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 50% Apr 02, 2021

Caeli is spun out of the idea of skies and dimensions merging into a boarderless being boasting of a rich and vivid texture, at times carrying numerous worlds inside at once. During the recording of Caeli, Bára and Skúli would have long discussions about how the world is opening up and how this would and could affect music as well. They like to look at Caeli as a product of this openness - a crystallisation of freedom, exposure and transparency in sound. Bára Gísladóttir (born 1989) is an Icelandic composer and double bassist based in Copenhagen. She studied composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Conservatorio di Musica "Giuseppe Verdi" in Milan and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Bára´s pieces have been selected for festivals such as Dark Music Days, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, International Rostrum of Composers, KLANG Festival, Nordic Music Days and Ung Nordisk Musik. She has received the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation’s Talent Awards, Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, The Reykjavík Grapevine's Music Awards, and has been nominated to the Carl Prize as 'Composer of the year', the Kraumur Music Awards three times for 'Album of the year' and The Icelandic Music Awards twice for 'Piece of the year'. Bára is an active performer and regularly plays her own music, mostly solo or with her long time collaborator, Skúli Sverrisson. In addition to this, she is the double bassist of Elja Ensemble. She has also performed with Ensemble Adapter, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and S.L.Á.T.U.R.. Skúli Sverrisson (born 23 October 1966) is an Icelandic composer and bass guitarist. He has worked with musicians Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Lou Reed, Jon Hassel, David Sylvian, Arto Lindsay, and composers Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhann Jóhannsson, and Hildur Guðnadóttir.

REVIEW:

While each of the 19 ‘movements’ seem sufficiently distinct from each other their individual arcs seem to follow a course of gradual bending and fragmentation. By that I mean that if each of the movements seems to begin and end in the same place, the excursion one experiences en route is abundant in microscopic timbral variety and largely imperceptible flux.

There can be little doubt that Bára Gísladóttir and Skúli Sverrisson are outstanding musicians in every sense; if their virtuosity as players per se takes ones breath away that’s not even the half of it. What is effectively a 130 minute dual improvisation involving a double bass and an electric bass is, in the end, an experience of profundity, wonder, and indescribable beauty. Caeli is all-encompassing and astonishing in a literal sense; at once it can be monolithic and elastic, dark and luminous, purposeful and daydreaming, bold and terrified, triumphant and sad. It’s all on these discs.

– MusicWeb International

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Gísladóttir: Caeli / Bára Gísladóttir, Skúli Sverrisson
Sono Luminus Apr 2021
CD
~~$21.99~~ $10.99

Taylor: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2

Toccata

$20.99 Jun 07, 2024

The music of the English composer Matthew Taylor (b. 1964) manages both to honour tradition and pull out some surprises. Clearly in the tradition that leads from Carl Nielsen through Robert Simpson, the works here observe Nielsen's fondness for dignity of expression, the occasional hint of power tempered by an almost Mendelssohnian lightness of touch - and, here and there, a note of levity: the Sixth Symphony, after all, is dedicated to the memory of Sir Malcolm Arnold. The three concertante works are performed here by musicians whose playing Taylor particularly admires.

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Taylor: Orchestral Music, Vol. 2
Toccata Jun 2024
CD
$20.99

6 SYMPHONIES

Danacord

$36.99 Aug 17, 2018

Louis Glass was a contemporary of Carl Nielsen, however his musical ideals were of the late-Romantic idiom. Like Nielsen he composed six symphonies, but as a composer he was a dreamer and his lush, brilliantly orchestrated works hark back to a time when modernism had no influence. This is the first complete recording of the six symphonies which were played frequently in Denmark, but vanished into the mist of a forgotten world. The splendid Bulgarian orchestra easily identifies with Glass’ musical sound world, stretching back and absorbing the style of the early Richard Strauss. These symphonies were recorded between October 1999 and August 2000, and feature the Plodiv Philharmonic led by renowned conductor Nayden Todorov.

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6 SYMPHONIES
Danacord Aug 2018
CD
$36.99

Norgard: Early Piano Works / Sivelov

Dacapo Classical

SACD

$16.99 Nov 03, 2017

Per Norgard, who turned 85 this year, is widely regarded as the most influential Danish composer since Carl Nielsen. Since the beginning of his career, Norgard has composed music for all kinds of instruments, but the piano is probably the one he has remained closest to. Illustrating the development of the ‘universe of the Northern mind’ as well as early influences by both Bach and Stravinsky, the acclaimed pianist Niklas Sivelov presents a unique portrait of Norgard’s earliest musical thinking, including world premiere recordings of the Sonata determinate, Miniature Concerto G Major and Trifoglio. In fact, four of these six works are dedicated to Niklas Sivelov because Norgard is supremely pleased with Sivelov’s interpretations, making this a uniquely authentic recording.

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Norgard: Early Piano Works / Sivelov
Dacapo Classical Nov 2017
SACD
$16.99

Schumann: Symphonies / Gaudenz, Odense Symphony Orchestra

CPO

SACD

$36.99 Jun 09, 2015

In recent years the young Swiss conductor Simon Gaudenz has made a name for himself, particularly as an interpreter of the Classical-era repertoire. A fresh, new approach against the background of historically informed performance practice characterizes his recordings and concerts. During this same time he was associated with the Odense Symphony based on the island of Funen (the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen and Carl Nielsen!), serving as its principal guest conductor. This orchestra, one of Denmark's premier musical bodies next to the Danish Radio Symphony in Copenhagen, immediately felt that extraordinary things could be realized with this baton-wielding revolutionary. It was agreed that he and the orchestra take on Schumann, the results being this 2CD set of the complete symphonies.

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Schumann: Symphonies / Gaudenz, Odense Symphony Orchestra
CPO Jun 2015
SACD
$36.99

Nielsen, Sibelius: Violin Concertos / Skride, Rouvali, Tampere Philharmonic

Orfeo

$10.49 ~~$20.99~~ Save 50% Sep 25, 2015

Born into a musical Latvian family violinist Baiba Skride won First Prize at the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition, held annually in Belgium. Ms. Skride’s natural approach to her music making has endeared her to some of today’s most important conductors and orchestras. Following her debut at the BBC Proms with the Oslo Philharmonic and Vasily Petrenko playing the Szymanowski Concerto No. 1, The Times noted, ‘Latvian violinist Baiba Skride sailed over the orchestra with long lines of melody, silver and sweet.’ She was immediately re-invited, and at the 2014 Proms played the Stravinsky Concerto with the BBC Symphony and Ed Gardner. Baiba Skride debut recording with Orfeo of the Szymanowski Concertos and Myths was nominated for the 2015 BBC Music Magazine Awards in the Concerto section. For her Orfeo CD follow up she has recorded two Scandinavian violin concertos truly exciting, fresh and innovative – Jean Sibelius’s well-loved concerto and Carl Nielsen’s unjustly neglected companion work – with the Tampere Philharmonic and conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

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Nielsen, Sibelius: Violin Concertos / Skride, Rouvali, Tampere Philharmonic
Orfeo Sep 2015
CD
~~$20.99~~ $10.49

August Enna: Kleopatra / Odense Symphony Orchestra, Joachim Gustafsson [2 CDs]

Dacapo Classical

$26.99 Nov 20, 2020

Treason, desire and murder - served on a silver platter of glorious Romantic music from 1894 in this world premiere recording of a stirring opera about the murderous plot against Kleopatra, fabled Queen of the Nile. Beautiful melodies, alluring harmonies and tense leitmotifs, all expertly put to use by probably the most celebrated Danish opera composer of his time, August Enna. Born in Nakskov, Enna made his compositional debut in 1892 with The Witch, which was followed by several popular operas, songs, two symphonies, and a violin concerto. His work is strongly influenced by the music of Wagner, which can be heard in the present recording. He himself was a major influence on Danish composers, such as Carl Nielsen.

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August Enna: Kleopatra / Odense Symphony Orchestra, Joachim Gustafsson [2 CDs]
Dacapo Classical Nov 2020
CD
$26.99

Complete Works for Solo Piano

Kontrapunkt

$22.99 Oct 06, 2000

Poul Schierbeck (1888 – 1949) studied composition with Carl Nielsen. Unlike his vocal works which are relatively known, the piano works recorded here have been unjustly neglected. The major part of the piano music is from the early years of Schierbeck’s career as composer, who otherwise studied law and served as an artillery lieutenant under the First World War. Some of the works here have never been in print and all of the works are recorded for the first time. Denmark’s foremost pianist Tove Lønskov made a thorough research of Schierbeck’s piano works and presents here her superb interpretation of them. Unlike his vocal works which are relatively known, the piano works recorded here have been unjustly neglected. The major part of the piano music is from the early years of Schierbeck’s career as composer, who otherwise studied law and served as an artillery lieutenant under the First World War. Some of the works here have never been in print and all of the works are recorded for the first time. Denmark’s foremost pianist Tove Lønskov made a thorough research of Schierbeck’s piano works and presents here her superb interpretation of them.

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Complete Works for Solo Piano
Kontrapunkt Oct 2000
CD
$22.99

The Launy Grøndahl Legacy, Vol. 1 / Launy Grøndahl, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra [2 CDs]

Danacord

$18.99 Oct 02, 2020

Danish conductor and composer Launy Grøndahl (1886-1960) was the leading figure developing the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra all from the very first beginning of the orchestra in the 1920s until his retirement in 1956. He worked closely with composer Carl Nielsen and his recording of the Nielsen 2nd and the 4th Symphonies are now the benchmark for how these works should be heard. The new series of album releases will contain every single recording which can be found of Grøndahl, both live and studio recordings as well as his commercial releases. New digital transfers and extensive booklet notes. Volume 2 is in preparation for a September 2020 release and will have Launy Grøndahl conducting Grøndahl, 2 albums with his own orchestral works. Another first ever release.

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The Launy Grøndahl Legacy, Vol. 1 / Launy Grøndahl, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra [2 CDs]
Danacord Oct 2020
CD
$18.99

Knut Vaage: Chamber Works

LAWO Classics

$18.99 Jul 24, 2020

The three works on these recordings seem to traverse, in sequence, three of the primary realms of human experience: Body, Spirit and Mind. However, as Carl Nielsen pointed out in relation to his second symphony, The Four Temperaments, the principal characters of each movement are, at times, interspersed with hints of the other temperaments. The same is the case with Bumerang, Rabalder and Svev, the three remarkable compositions by Knut Vaage on this album. There are elements of the intellectual in the very physical Bumerang. Rabalder gives the impression of being the most physical of the three, until we realize it is set out as a spiritual journey from noise to silence and their attending emotional states. The physical and the spiritual visit themselves upon the predominantly cerebral Svev.

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Knut Vaage: Chamber Works
LAWO Classics Jul 2020
CD
$18.99

Halvorsen, Nielsen & Svendsen: Music for Violin & Orchestra / Kraggerud, Engeset, Malmo Symphony

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Feb 10, 2017

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

In his day, Johan Halvorsen was one of Norway's most talented violinists and an internationally renowned conductor and composer. With its beautifully lyrical themes and Norwegian character including Hardanger fiddle effects, his Violin Concerto was described by contemporary critics as "an outstanding work" and performed to great acclaim in 1909. It was considered lost, only to be rediscovered in 2015 in the archive of its original soloist. With its equally confident opening and symphonic proportions, Nielsen's Violin Concerto combines emotive power with a delightfully pastoral character, while Johan Svendsen's spontaneously inventive and melodic Romance has become one of his best-loved works.

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REVIEW:

This release really deserves wide attention, for it contains something rather rare: the world's recorded premiere of a major lost violin concerto, that being Johan Halvorsen's 1909 Violin Concerto, Op. 28. The work sounds less like Grieg than like a Norwegian version of Josef Suk, with strong folklore elements.

It's joined with Carl Nielsen's Violin Concerto, a work matching the Halvorsen well with its mix of dance rhythms and serious virtuosity. Svendsen's Romance is a tuneful interlude that likewise deserves a revival.

A highly enjoyable release, and a must for lovers of Scandinavian music.

– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

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Halvorsen, Nielsen & Svendsen: Music for Violin & Orchestra / Kraggerud, Engeset, Malmo Symphony
Naxos Feb 2017
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Instrumental Concertos
Kontrapunkt Apr 1997
CD
$22.99

Schumann: The Roots & The Flower - Counterpoint in Bloom / Christensen

OUR Recordings

$10.99 ~~$21.99~~ Save 50% Sep 03, 2021

Although Robert Schumann’s public role in the Bach revival is less well known than that of Felix Mendelssohn, Bach’s music would play an influential effect throughout his life. Schumann would in turn, arrange and perform many of Bach’s works including adding piano parts to the Solo Violin Sonatas and Cellos Suites and trumpets to the St. John Passion! In 1843 he and Clara rented a custom-made pedalflügel - a dreadnought of an instrument combining a Friedrich Wieck grand piano with a pedal keyboard that enabled Schumann’s to play Bach’s organ music at home. During one of his periodic bouts of depression, Schumann became gripped by what he called Fugenpassion and shortly thereafter his obsession with Bach would blossom in the Canons and Fugues of Opp. 56 and 58. The curious name of this album references Carl Nielsen’s advice to fellow composer Ture Rangström, namely, to get down to the roots of a piece so that it would truly flower. And so following Nielsen’s advice, acclaimed organist Jens E. Christensen, a master of styles ancient and modern, dug deep to uncover the roots of Schumann’s imagination for this truly extraordinary program, a lovingly cultivated German-Danish, Piano-Organ, Baroque-Romantic hybrid, that will no doubt become a perennial favorite for fans of Schumann’s most florid contrapuntal creations.

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Schumann: The Roots & The Flower - Counterpoint in Bloom / Christensen
OUR Recordings Sep 2021
CD
~~$21.99~~ $10.99

My Heart and I - Songs by Clara Schumann & Nancy Dalberg

Danacord

$18.99 Feb 06, 2026

Nancy Dalberg's (1881 - 1949) songs were written in the period from 1909 to the beginning of the 1930s, and through her choice of lyrics she tells a lot about herself and her life. She grew up in a prosperous entrepreneurial environment, and early on she developed skills as a pianist. In 1901 she married First Lieutenant Erik Dalberg, who also had a significant artistic vein, and a few songs were thus written together. Due to an arm disease, however, she had to give up becoming a concert pianist, and with Johan Svendsen and especially Carl Nielsen as teachers, she acquired from 1909 on the compositional skills that, in addition to the songs and other smaller works, led to her string quartets and orchestral works, thus three of her songs are also available in an orchestral version. With the very personal choice of 47 mainly Danish poems, her songs take up a considerable amount of space, and she provoked her contemporaries with a sometimes quite rich piano accompaniment, whereby the soloist and pianist became more equal in the performance. The lyrics range widely from the cheerful to several more serious lyrics that revolve around the family and marital dreams that remained unfulfilled due to her lifelong health challenges and her husband's increasing mental illness, of the present selection, 9 songs have not previously been recorded.

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My Heart and I - Songs by Clara Schumann & Nancy Dalberg
Danacord Feb 2026
CD
$18.99

Mix & Match

NIELSEN, C.: Orchestral Works
Chandos May 1994
CD
$21.99

Famous Flute Concertos / Jean-Pierre Rampal

ERATO

$44.49 Aug 25, 2023

A household word when speaking of repertoire, legendary flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal devoted just as much effort to establishing the masterpieces in their rightful place as to unearthing countless works from the baroque, classical and romantic eras. As far as concertos are concerned, cornerstones by Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi thus gained worldwide fame, and it went the same way for Ibert, Jolivet and Nielsen. Unfailing lyric sense, purity of style, magnificent tone, grace of phrasing, fabulous virtuosity, tremendous commitment... Critics, colleagues and the public were all running out of superlatives. Immediately valued as references, his recordings still fascinate and often leave the listener exhilarated. This 12 CD set tries the challenge of surrounding these marvels with some of the most dazzling rediscoveries, offering famous and less famous music, but equally glorious interpretations.

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Famous Flute Concertos / Jean-Pierre Rampal
ERATO Aug 2023
CD
$44.49

Hindemith, Ligeti, Nielsen: Wind Quintets / Vienna Quintet

Nimbus

$20.99 Feb 01, 2004

Let me say it right off the bat: I absolutely loved this CD, and I’m betting that you will, too. I have been enthralled with Hindemith’s Kammermusik ever since I acquired the complete set of works collected under that title in Riccardo Chailly’s 1992 two-disc Decca release. Seven works in all make up the series. Six are essentially chamber concertos, each featuring a different solo instrument: piano in the op. 36/1, cello in the op. 36/2, violin in the op. 36/3, viola in the op. 36/4, viola d’amore in the op. 46/1, and organ in the op. 46/2. The seventh, op. 24/1, is for 12 solo instruments. That leaves the op. 24/2 for five wind instruments heard here, to which Hindemith gave the title Kleine Kammermusik. Technically speaking, it falls outside the set of seven the composer designated Kammermusik, but in style it shares much in common with its siblings. Written in 1922, it is a delightful thing, peppy, perky, and playful, with just enough of those Hindemithian sour notes thrown in to give the piece a lemony zest. The Six Bagatelles by György Ligeti (b. 1923) is a fairly early piece written between 1951 and 1953, while the composer was still living in Hungary. The work is based on six movements from Ligeti’s Musica ricercata, and is clearly indebted to neo-Classical models, particularly Bartók and Stravinsky. Do not expect anything like the later spatial and spectral tone-cluster music that made Ligeti famous in the West.

I am of two minds when it comes to Carl Nielsen (1865–1931). Hearing his name so often in hyphenation with Sibelius (like Debussy and Ravel), I could not imagine how or why anyone would pair these two composers who sounded to me so utterly different in style and musical speech. Moreover, I was (and still am) a Sibelian to the core, and I was mystified that Nielsen, who seemed quite the inferior of the two, could be held up as an equal. Well, that was a long time ago, and before I really applied myself to learning Nielsen’s music. I still believe that Sibelius was the greater of the two composers, but they are so different from one another that comparisons are not very instructive. I have long since come to appreciate Nielsen for the individual and special voice that was his.

His Wind Quintet, op. 43, from 1922, is testament to that unique voice. At nearly 25 minutes, it is a substantive and masterful work. The concluding Theme and Variations movement, especially, is not only a brilliant display of wind-writing technique, but really beautiful and moving music.

What can I say about the Quintett Wien? These five musicians are more than masters of their craft; they come together as a perfectly blended ensemble that breathes as a single living organism. Truly magnificent. Nimbus captures them in an acoustic that is open and radiant, but not reverberant. I know that I will be playing this CD many times over.

Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

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Hindemith, Ligeti, Nielsen: Wind Quintets / Vienna Quintet
Nimbus Feb 2004
CD
$20.99

Rontgen: Wind Serenades / Linos Ensemble

CPO

$18.99 Mar 27, 2012

RÖNTGEN Serenade (Wind Quintet). Serenade (Wind Septet). Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon • Linos Ens • CPO 777 127-2 (60:15)

As Jerry Dubins reviewed this disc at some length in Fanfare 36:1, I will make this relatively brief, wanting only to register some degree of dissent from his overall negative judgments. Basically, Dubins liked the rather Brahmsian early Serenade, op. 14, but dismissed the later wind quintet Serenade as a “frivolous, frothy fluff piece” and called the Trio “a work of modest means and even flimsier substance.” He concluded, “If you’re new to Röntgen ... I’d strongly suggest that you start with almost anything else by him than the disc at hand.” I must beg to differ with him regarding the latter two works. While these are indeed occasional pieces rather than major masterworks, they are all ingratiating and provide charming and rewarding listening. While the major influence on the late serenade is indeed, as Dubins notes, Richard Strauss—the clarinet at the opening is reminiscent of that in Till Eulenspiegel , and the end of the third movement sounds much like the music for the little Moorish servant boy from the final bars of Der Rosenkavalier —it also follows in the footsteps of Nielsen’s Quintet. Adjectives that spring to mind are saucy, insouciant, cheeky, and mischievous. It is constructed in a cyclic pattern with a return in the last movement to material from the first movement. The Trio is even closer to Nielsen’s ambit in the more craggy melodic contours and unexpected harmonic twists of its three brief movements. The connection is not surprising; not only was Röntgen an enthusiast for Scandinavian culture, who wrote a biography of his friend Edvard Grieg, but he also played in a string quartet with Carl Nielsen in 1892. It would be interesting to know of any further connections between them. I do admit to being less fond of this piece than of the two serenades, as the slow movement is uningratiating.

I do agree with Dubins regarding the high caliber of the playing of the Linos Ensemble, although in the Trio I do find the oboe to be a bit harsh and off in intonation (perhaps the instrument simply needed to be swabbed out). The recorded sound and booklet notes meet CPO’s usual excellent standards. For those who are particularly fond of the genre of wind serenades, this disc is a welcome addition to its not very sizeable repertoire.

FANFARE: James A. Altena

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Rontgen: Wind Serenades / Linos Ensemble
CPO Mar 2012
CD
$18.99

Symphony 6

Kontrapunkt

$22.99 Sep 15, 1995

This release completes the highly acclaimed Nielsen symphony series performed by Odense Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Edward Serov. All six symphonies are supplemented by smaller orchestral works which were rarely recorded or premier recordings. The recordings took place over the three year period from 1993 - 1995 in Odense. Earlier releases: 32157 Symphony 1, 32178 Symphony 2, 32203 Symphony 3, 32193 Symphony 4, 32171 Symphony 5.

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Symphony 6
Kontrapunkt Sep 1995
CD
$22.99