While no pianist himself, Nielsen wrote for the instrument throughout his career, and this recorded survey ranges from early and vividly detailed miniatures to adventurous explorations of rhythm and harmony in some of his boldest late works. According to the composer and Nielsen expert Robert Simpson, the pianist Arne Skjold Rasmussen was 'by far the greatest interpreter of Nielsen in any medium.' He made both broadcast and commercial recordings of Nielsen's piano music during the 1950s and 60s, but his 1960 survey had long been presumed lost. This new transfer of those sessions for the BBC is made from tapes of the original broadcast, in excellent sound for the period.

Edward Gardner's series of Nielsen symphonies with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra continues with this recording of No. 5, complemented with the overture Helios and the Clarinet Concerto, featuring Alessandro Carbonare as soloist. Nielsen composed Helios in 1903 on a trip to Greece, as his wife, Anne Marie, a sculptor, had won a grant to copy sculptures on the Acropolis. Over it's ten-twelve-minute duration, the work depicts sunrise, noontime, and then sunset over the Aegean Sea, and is one of the composer's most performed works. The Clarinet Concerto dates from 1928 and is cast in one long movement falling into four sections. It is dedicated to Nielsen's friend Aage Oxenvad who gave the first performance. Composed between 1920 and 1922, the Fifth Symphony is unusually laid out in just two movements - the only piece by Nielsen to adopt this structure. Unlike his other mature symphonies, the fifth lacks a subtitle, and so could be considered to be more 'pure music' compared to the descriptive nature of the others. Nielsen described the symphony as 'the division of dark and light, the battle between evil and good' and the opposition between 'Dreams and Deeds'. Considered by many as a "war symphony", Nielsen insisted that he had not been thinking of World War I whilst he was composing the work, but also commented "not one of us is the same as we were before the war".

Jascha Horenstein (1898-1973) was born in Kiev but studied in Vienna. After a move to Berlin, he became Wilhelm Furtwangler's assistant and during the 1920s he conducted both the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. At this time, he came into contact with Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Nielsen. In 1929, Horenstein became the music director of the Dusseldorf Opera but, with the outset of war, he settled in the US. He conducted some of the major orchestras there but returned to Europe in 1947, where he was much in demand including a close association with the LSO. He is best remembered for his outstanding Mahler and Bruckner performances but, being Russian, he conducted Shostakovich who he knew, and because of his early links with Nielsen, both composers were featured throughout his life.

NIELSEN: SYMPHONIES NOS 2 & 5

"Two cycles of Nielsen symphonies are currently underway in Sweden; one from Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (CBS) and the other from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Myung-Whun Chung (BIS/Conifer)...In later life Nielsen was a frequent guest conductor in Gothenburg and as a young man earned his living playing in the Royal Danish Orchestra, whose new cycle begins under Paavo Berglund...The First Symphony, which put Nielsen firmly on the map, must have caused some raised eyebrows in the 1890s since it begins in one key and ends in another! Its joins and seams are clearly visible, but the music is so fresh and so lyrical that one can see why Nielsen always retained a strong affection for it. Berglund's account is infinitely preferable to the Salonen, which is mannered; his finale is rushed at minim = 152 (rather than 120), while the opening is also much faster (120 instead of 104) than the suggested tempo. Conversely, the Andante is dragged (44 rather than 60) and although there are beautiful things here and there, it's difficult, as I said when reviewing the Salonen, ''to sense a deeply held point of view''. After that, the Berglund comes as something of a relief. He is much more straightforward and adheres fairly closely to the marked tempos, and although the very ending of the finale strikes me as a bit headlong he holds the architecture of the symphony together in a convincing way. Phrases are affectionately turned but never pulled out of shape.

The Fourth Symphony comes from a totally different world and reaches a level of violence and dissonance that is quite new in Nielsen's musical language. A glance above shows that there are already four rival accounts, and we can soon expect a fifth from Gothenburg. Again, Berglund scores over his gifted young countryman and the Swedish Radio orchestra in giving us a performance that is generally closer to Nielsen's score though some may find (as I did) that his first movement is fractionally breathless. He is as close to the markings as makes no difference but in his desire to convey the sense of drama and urgency, tends to be impatient to move things on. The second movement is beautifully done and there is much to admire in the third even if Ole Schmidt (Unicorn-Kanchana on CD part of a three-disc set) conveys more of the anguish in the soaring melodic lines. Schmidt reminds us more of Nielsen's own simile concerning the string lines (''like the eagle riding on the wind'') than does Berglund. Of course, the latter is better served by the engineers than was Schmidt in the mid 1970s. However, the finale here in this newcomer poses a major problem. It really does move, and at such speed that one feels rushed off one's feet, particularly in the dosing paragraphs. This alone would, I feel, prevent me from returning to this version very often."

-- Robert Layton, Gramophone [7/1988]

THE ROYAL EDITION - NIELSEN: S

NIELSEN: SYMPHONIES NO 1 & 6,

NIELSEN: SYMPHONY NO 1, LITTLE

Salonen shows nobility and dignity in this eloquent performance of Nielsen.

...In all three pieces [Esa-Pekka Salonen] gets very responsive playing from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra... [I]t is a pleasure to welcome the present well-characterized performance... I rather like Salonen's youthful, impulsive opening [to The Four Temperaments], which plunges us straight into the action, breathless with anger. It is brisker than the rival versions from Chung and Ole Schmidt... Even if he could afford to give himself more space (and he does steady himself a little later), he captures the choleric character perfectly. He also gives an idiomatic account of the second movement, a lazy waltz-movement portraying a phlegmatic youngster without any apparent care in the world... The most impressive of the four, however, is the melancholic where Salonen shows both nobility and dignity, and secures eloquent and expressive playing from the orchestra... [T]his is without doubt the best thought-out reading of the [Nielsen] cycle and the Stockholm orchestra responds with real enthusiasm... Pan and Syrinx is atmospheric... [T]he Aladdin Suite is imaginatively done and the orchestral playing is excellent. Salonen gets a silky, sensuous quality from the strings and the wind playing is sensitive too. It strikes me as every bit as good as and often superior to Myung-Whun Chung and the Gothenburg orchestra... This issue deserves a warm welcome...

-- Robert Layton, Gramophone [2/1990]

This is the best of Salonen's Nielsen cycle, featuring performances of great thrust and unflagging energy, played with the necessary sharp rhythmic focus, and vividly recorded. The Sixth Symphony comes off especially successfully: Salonen's unsentimental approach does justice both to the "semplice" elements in the opening movements as well as to the grotesque humor of the finale, with the result that the music's tragic outbursts register all the more forcefully. And while there may be warmer versions of the Espansiva on disc (Bernstein, Schonwandt, or Blomstedt), few offer as much visceral excitement or textural clarity, particularly in the first and third movements. If you are looking for this coupling, then having this title available "on demand" from Arkivmusic.com provides a very viable option.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

They're still talking about Bernstein's "Espansiva" in Denmark, and with good reason. While better known for his Mahler, Bernstein's advocacy of Nielsen arguably achieved just as much, alerting music lovers beyond Denmark of a composer of international stature. Not all of Bernstein's Nielsen was equally good. His Second and Fourth symphonies are nowhere near as fine as these two, which are stunning. The "Espansiva" has all of the openhearted warmth that Nielsen requires. Bernstein's tempo in the finale is a touch slow, but grand and celebratory. The sonics were good for their day, and they still sound well.

Bernstein's reading of the Fifth is also magnificent. For sheer excitement it has never been surpassed, particularly in the second movement, which is wildly uninhibited and urgent. In the first movement, outstanding work from the solo clarinet meets a pretty terrifying snare drum cadenza at the climax. Only the sonics, which relegate the timpani to the rear of--somewhere--let the show down a bit, but the drive and communicativeness of the music-making ultimately win the day. This is a great recording, plain and simple, now available "on demand" from Arkivmusic.com.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

"The Hindemith concerto, while not exactly revealing itself as an unregarded masterpiece, gets just the right degree of tempered bombast and pastoralism - suggesting that here is a piece ripe for reassessment."

-- BBC Music Magazine reviewing Sony 64507

"These two concertos are the product of Nielsen's last years: the Clarinet Concerto, surely one of his strangest and most powerful utterances, was written in 1929, only two years before his death, and the Flute Concerto comes from 1927. They are two of the most masterly concertos for their respective instruments (Nielsen whose understanding of the wind was second to none had planned a concerto for each of the wind family) and Robert Simpson rightly calls the Flute Concerto "the richest and most original" written for the instrument...Stanley Drucker gives an intelligent account of his demanding part...Julius Baker is the excellent soloist in the Flute Concerto which he plays with great virtuosity."

-- Gramophone Reviewing original LP, CBS 72639

When Danish composer Carl Nielsen finished his Third Symphony, he spoke of the first movement as "a gust of energy and life-affirmation blown out into the wide world" and called the finale of his Third Symphony "a hymn to work and the healthy activity of everyday life" - truly a sense of optimism all-too-rare for us denizens of the 21st century! So, why a four-hand arrangement of an orchestral score you ask? In the days before mechanical recordings, four hand arrangements were both a delightful social activity and an invaluable means of making large-scale works available to gifted amateurs who might not otherwise have opportunity to hear them in concert as well as promote them to conductors and concert programmers. As pianist Rikke Sandberg and Nielsen scholar Niels Bo Foltmann describe in the booklet notes, the discovery of the manuscript of Nielsen's OWN arrangement "Sinfonia Espansiva" was itself a tale of luck and diligent librarianship. Also included on this all WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING album are 2 works from Nielsen's Opera Saul & David, arranged by Nielsen for piano duet, and an oddity recently discovered in the archives of the Tivoli Amusement Park, the original four-handed sketch for the Hojby Rifle Club March composed by Nielsens' father, and arranged by Carl Nielsen/Kristoffer Hyldig. We hope that you will enjoy this first recording of Carl Nielsen's own four-handed piano music arrangement of his orchestral works, brought brilliantly to life through the musicianship and scholarship of Rikke Sandberg and Kristoffer Hyldig. Recorded by Preben Iwan in the DXD audio format (Digital eXtreme Definition, 352.8 kHz/32bit) and, available in the Dolby Atmos format on streaming platforms.

"With his invigorating, revelatory Sibelius cycle behind him, Osmo Vänskä turns now to that other great Nordic composer, Carl Nielsen, and tackles his series of six symphonies for BIS, this time with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He loses no time getting into his stride with a muscular yet lyrical first movement to No. 1, aptly characterising its unusual marking Allegro orgoglioso' (the latter word means 'proudly'). The second movement, too, begins with ravishing intimacy but builds to a powerful climax." -- Barry Millington, BBC Music Magazine [reviewing Symphonies 1 & 6, also available as Bis 1079]

"...There is exhilaration, warmth and a kind of optimism through gritted teeth in the closing pages of the Fifth Symphony, but they only just counterbalance the violence, desperation and general unease. The ‘Melancholic’ slow movement of No. 2 is as dark as I can remember, and there are even premonitory hints of it in the preceding ‘Phlegmatic’ movement – to say nothing of the unsettling reminder just before the end of the ‘Sanguine’ finale. But it’s the Fifth that makes the more powerful impression – as it should. Listening to Vänskä’s performance one is continually reminded that it was written in the aftermath of the First World War. It’s as though Nielsen were asking how one could continue to be positive in the face of such revelations of ‘senseless hate’. The result is a performance that grips as a musical structure, an emotional journey and a philosophical statement... [T]here is simply no other version of No. 5 on disc that’s as convincing and compelling as a whole statement. ...And No. 2 can hold its own even against the excellent Blomstedt recording on Decca – superbly recorded, and with more sensuous charm, but perhaps a little too cosy in comparison. There’s nothing comfortable about this Nielsen." -- Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine [reviewing Symphonies 2 & 5, Bis 1289]

"How do you know that a new recording really has what it takes? For a critic the best answer is probably when he finds himself sneaking time out of his reviewing schedule to listen to it again – and again. Which is what has been happening for me with Osmo Vänskä’s Nielsen Fourth. It isn’t just that it’s powerfully conceived and compelling from first to last (and excellently recorded); the further the performance progresses, the more urgent and moving becomes that sense of what Nielsen called ‘yearning for life, for life’s essence’... [T]he sense of heroic, furious determination grows towards the finale, and is vindicated at the close as the great first movement melody re-emerges through fusillades of hostile timpani (in tune, for a change)... Vänskä’s account of the Third Symphony is almost as convincing. The first movement has terrific energy, and the finale benefits from Vänskä’s rugged determination. But impressive as the slow movement is, I miss the sense of awe, spaciousness and ultimate rapture in Herbert Blomstedt’s version – still my top recommendation. It’s a close-run thing, though, and Vänskä does have a particularly convincing view of the symphony as a whole statement. It’s the Fourth, though, that makes this disc a must-have." -- Stephen Johnson, BBC Music Magazine [reviewing Symphonies 3 & 4, Bis 1209]

Carl Nielsen has sometimes been described as the most underrated composer of the 20th century, but most critics would certainly agree that his Six Symphonies, composed between 1891 and 1925, belong to the great classics of their period. Osmo Vänskä's cycle of the works with the BBC Scottish SO was recorded after his landmark series of the symphonies of Sibelius and before his highly acclaimed cycle of those by Beethoven. Originally released on three separate discs, these accounts of the Danish master's works were received with great interest by the reviewers, with the performance of the Fourth being described as 'of great character and fire' in International Record Review, the recording of Symphony No.5 called 'a first choice, full of intensity' in BBC Music Magazine, and the Sixth accorded reference status in Répertoire. For this boxed set edition, three shorter orchestral works have been included, namely the concert overtures Helios and Saga-Dream, and the 'pastoral scene' Pan and Syrinx. In these previously unreleased recordings, Vänskä conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, which he led for twenty years and with which he has enjoyed such notable successes in music by Sibelius, Kalevi Aho and Rautavaara.