The ARUNDO quintet shines with virtuosic expressiveness and a variety of sounds in the classical lineup of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn. On its second CD, "Saga," the ensemble brings to life four varied worlds of sound that immediately stimulate the imagination. Claude Debussy's colorful re-creations of a bygone ideal, Carl Nielsen's play with the diversity of human characters, and Lalo Schifrin's reinterpretation of the New Orleans style have long accompanied the ensemble and have become part of its own history as "heartfelt pieces." As with the highly acclaimed debut CD, "Origin," the ARUNDO quintet has commissioned a new work from the American composer Kevin Beavers: The "saga" continues…

For this second instalment in their Nielsen cycle, Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by the flautist Adam Walker for a programme that combines the Flute Concerto, the Third Symphony, and the tone poem Pan and Syrinx. Nielsen began work on the Third Symphony in 1910, some seven years after he had completed his second symphony ‘The Four Temperaments’, and the work was premièred in Copenhagen in 1912. In his album note, Paul Griffiths describes the work’s eventual title, ‘Sinfonia espansiva’ as a fifth temperament – Joviality. In the second movement, uniquely in his symphonic output, Nielsen calls for (wordless) voices – solo soprano and baritone. It was also the first of his symphonies to be commercially released on record – Erik Tuxen conducting the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Composed in 1926, the Flute Concerto is a late work, and demonstrates Nielsen’s stylistic evolution towards the new modernism. The soloist engages in repeated interactions with other instruments within the orchestra, most notably the clarinet and the bass trombone. Pan and Syrinx dates from 1918, and is based on the ancient legend which tells how the amorous god Pan invented the pan flute whilst pursuing the nymph Syrinx.

From the outset of his career, Jean Sibelius was recognized as an outstanding representative of a musical language perceived as typically Finnish. In Finland, the dawn of the 20th century saw a veritable outbreak of nationally inspired artistic activities., It was a time of cultural and national self-discovery for Sibelius, too. He allowed himself be stimulated by the whole of Finland’s folklore tradition, without resorting to specific examples of folksong.

For many years, Carl Nielsen was viewed outside his native Denmark as the poor cousin of his more famous Scandinavian counterparts, Grieg and Sibelius. Yet his achievements as Denmark’s greatest symphonist of the 20th century were, if anything, even more remarkable than the successes of his geographical neighbors. Nielsen’s symphonic output is some of the most remarkable of its time.

The Norwegian conductor and composer Johann Svendsen was born in 1840 in Christiania (now Oslo). in 1867, he finished his Symphony No. 1, a work that Grieg later described as showing scintillating genius, superb national feeling and really brilliant handling of an orchestra. In 1872 Svendsen returned to Christiania beginning a fruitful period that saw the creation of his Symphony No. 2 in B flat major Op. 15.

Hugo Alfven's First Symphony (1897) has a melancholy Sturm und Drang mood that recurs at intervals in his later compositions, but there is also a life affirming side that flourished in his Second Symphony, two years later. Of his Third Symphony, he stated "it depicts neither concrete nor abstract. It is an expression of the joy of living, an expression of the sun-lit happiness that filled my whole being.”

Wilhelm Stenhammar's Symphony Op. 34  saw the light of day in 1907, dedicating it to “my dear friends, the members of the Goteborg Symphony Orchestra.” He was to remain its chief conductor until 1922. That symphony, which had its first performance under the composer’s direction in 1915, was in fact Stenhammar’s second and is today called Symphony No. 2, even if the composer himself never gave it that number.

Edvard Grieg’s Symphony in C minor, which the composer withdrew, saw scholar after scholar writing about it disparagingly, with much discussion of the its style, all too often based on the question: what are its unoriginal or unsuccessful features? But it was Grieg himself who began the tradition with his admonition that it “must never be performed”. Now, however, very few feel, on moral grounds, that the work should not be performed.

Broadcast performances of the Fifth and Sixth symphonies complete a Sibelius cycle within the Thomas Jensen collection on Danacord. Their dramatic sweep and control demonstrate the conductor’s special affinity with this music, which he played under the composer’s direction as a cellist. Jensen worked tirelessly for Danish composers throughout his career; this volume includes newly published performances of works by three composers, now almost unknown outside their home country, who emerged from the shadow cast by Carl Nielsen to write in a distinctively individual but still quintessentially Danish idiom.

Nielsen’s epic Violin Concerto was premiered in Copenhagen in February 1912, by violinist Peder Møller. Nominally the work is set in two movements; both open with a slow section and move to a faster one. Whilst unusual, this could be seen as a more usual fast – slow – fast three movement form, but with an extensive slow introduction to the first movement. The music moves quickly from one idea to the next, and overall has a bold, playful and optimistic feel. In stark contrast, although written only a few years later, the fourth symphony is more cohesive and unified as a work.

Written against the background of the first world war, the work is a celebration of life itself. Just before the premier in 1916, Nielsen described it as: ‘Music is Life, and, like it, inextinguishable.’ Composed in the usual four movement form, each movement continues from the last without a break. The final movement features two sets of timpani battling each other across the orchestra. The recording was made in Bergen’s Grieghallen, in Surround Sound, and is available as a hybrid SACD and in Spatial Audio.

REVIEWS:

Nielsen's Violin Concerto couldn’t have a better advocate than James Ehnes: strong in his lyricism when he needs to be, alert to all dynamics and a sense of fantasy which is outstanding in the two cadenzas.

-- BBC Music Magazine

James Ehnes – that most elegant and unflashy of players – seems to relish all that is unexpected about the piece...Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic give it real backbone and play like its greatest champions.

-- Gramophone

In Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, Gardner succeeds handily. The orchestra plays outstandingly well for him in all departments and he keeps the symphony moving. This is appropriate because all the movements are connected. I found his slightly quicker tempo for the second movement convincing with the woodwinds as delectable as one would expect and the dynamics quieter than in some recordings.

-- MusicWeb International

Among the early 20th century composers involved in the transition from romanticism to modernism, Carl Nielsen was particularly conspicuous for his originality which deviated from everything known and was perceived at the time as downright provocative. Today we see in Carl Nielsen’s six symphonies – all as strikingly different from one another – consistent genre contributions of unique and outstanding importance. Yet Nielsen’s international breakthrough only began in the 1950s and today his works are still far from being commonplace in our concert halls. The Symphony No. 4 was considered by the composer himself as one of his best works and it is until today one his most performed ones. The Symphony No. 2 was inspired by paintings in a pub, showing grotesquely exaggerated depictions of the four human character archetypes. Listeners shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a lot more humor at play here than is apparent in most other works.

The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1945 and in the following seven decades became one of the most important musical ambassadors of Germany. World-renowned conductors, as well as some of the world’s greatest soloists, have been guests, including: Carlos Kleiber, Kurt Sanderling, Maria Callas, Yehudi Menuhin, Alfred Brendel, and Lang Lang. Sir Roger Norrington has worked at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at the English National Opera, with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Wiener Philharmoniker, the Concertgebouw Orchester as well as many renowned British and American orchestras.

The First and Fourth symphonies of Jean Sibelius, in previously unpublished live recordings from the early 1960s, are major additions to the recorded legacy of Thomas Jensen. As a young cellist, Jensen had known and played under both Nielsen and Sibelius, and his interpretations of their symphonies are stamped with authority: respectful of the score while seeing deep inside its mysteries. This is the thirteenth volume in Danacord’s renowned Thomas Jensen Legacy series and also includes recordings of Nielsen's Fifth and Sixth symphonies by Jensen with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

A Gramophone Editor's Pick, shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards!

Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius, alongside Grieg the two giants in Nordic classical music, were both born in 1865. Both also received their first musical training on the violin, earning valuable insights when it came to writing for the instrument. Their respective violin concertos were composed some six years apart – Sibelius’ in 1904-05 and Nielsen’s in 1911 – and belong to the most performed works of either composer. They are nevertheless as different from each other as are the artistic temperaments of their makers. While retaining the traditional three-movement concerto form, Sibelius composed something closer to a Late-Romantic orchestral tone poem giving the orchestra unusual prominence. Nielsen on the other hand opted for an unconventional form, reminiscent of the Baroque concerto grosso: the spiky, neoclassical work is nominally in two movements, but with each movement having a slow and a fast section. These works are here performed by Johan Dalene, the Swedish-Norwegian winner of the 2019 Nielsen Competition. The present disc is the 21 year old violinist’s third release on BIS, following a recording of the Tchaikovsky Concerto described as ‘one of the finest violin débuts of the last decade’ in BBC Music Magazine, and an all-Nordic violin-and-piano recital awarded distinctions such as Diapason d’or and Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice. Dalene is given the expert support of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds, incidentally a violin soloist in his own right.

REVIEWS:

"Dalene returns to a work we already know he excels in, and this deeply intuitive, instinctive and empathetic recording again demonstrates his remarkable touch and feel, and the way he balances discipline and playfulness." -The Sunday Times

"For my money, there’s no finer coupling of these highly contrasting yet much-associated concertos on record. I suspect the individual performances could well prove superlative for many listeners, too." -Gramophone

This delightful and lighthearted album features virtuoso clarinetist David Shifrin performing Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concerto in a newly arranged accompaniment for chamber orchestra. The dramatic work unfolds unpredictably in short, contrasting episodes that allow the soloist to explore a range of moods and colors. We are then treated to Nielsen’s charming Six Humorous Bagatelles, written for his children. From the simply put “Hello, Hello” to the final “Musical Clock,” these endearing pieces radiate good humor and adventure. Nielsen’s early Fantasy Pieces with their varying moods and harmonic twists reveal Nielsen’s romantic side, and his Serenata in Vano for wind quintet shows off Nielsen’s affinity for wind instruments and his quirky, playful sensibility. “If there is a bel canto school of clarinet playing, Shifrin is surely its finest exponent.” (The Los Angeles Times)

These are intense and memorable performances with an outstanding, exciting and colourful ‘Sinfonia espansiva’ and a ferociously energetic, yet life-affirming ‘Inextinguishable’ Symphony No. 4. All in all, a distinguished, top drawer set.

-- MusicWeb International

The recently released second volume of the Carl Nielsen symphony cycle from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Sakari Oramo has already met with acclaim similar to that for the first disc: ‘an ideal blend of fieriness and loving care’ was how the performances of the First and Third Symphonies were characterized by a reviewer on Norddeutscher Rundfunk, and on BBC Radio 3 CD Review the disc was described as ‘an impressive second volume from what's turning into a must-hear Nielsen cycle.’ The last instalment of the cycle opens with the composer’s Symphony No.2, ‘The Four Temperaments’, dating from 1901–02. Its origins were in an allegorical picture Nielsen came across in a country inn, illustrating the four temperaments of man as defined in Greco-Roman medicine: anger, apathy, melancholy and carefree abandon. But Nielsen was incapable of drawing anything other than a rounded character-portrait, and consequently the fiery first movement also allows for lyrical episodes, there are moments of stoic nobility in the melancholy, and the march that conclude the sanguine finale is imbued with a certain dignity. 23 years later the composer completed his sixth and final symphony, giving it the subtitle Sinfonia semplice (Simple Symphony). In the meantime, the Fourth and Fifth symphonies had brought Nielsen the greatest measure of professional recognition he ever enjoyed in his lifetime. In spite of its subtitle, Symphony No.6 baffled reviewers as well as audiences, however. When beginning to work on it Nielsen had envisaged a work that would be ‘quite idyllic in character’ – something that is borne out by the opening bars. But by the time he arrived at the last movement, Theme and variations, the work had taken a different course, and as Nielsen later told a friend, the ninth and last variation, scored for tuba and percussion, represents ‘death knocking at the door’.