Carl Nielsen
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Nielsen: Symphonies No 1 & 6, Etc / Ormandy, Philadelphia
The Complete Piano Music of Carl Nielsen
Five Nordic Masters: Svendsen / Stenhammer / Nielsen / Sibel
Nielsen: Flute Concerto, Clarinet Concerto & Aladdin Suite / Coles, van de Wiel, Jarvi, Philharmonia
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REVIEW:
Paavo Järvi presides over a splendidly stylish and invigorating Nielsen anthology featuring the Philharmonia at the top of its game throughout. Both concerto performances deserve the widest plaudits. First-rate annotations and production values add to the attractions of a thoroughly recommendable release.
– Gramophone
Nielsen: Ophelia Dances / Christensen, Rasilainen, Aarhus Symphony, Arhus Sinfonietta
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REVIEW:
The Ophelia Dances is certainly strange and interesting music, more “ambient” in sound but still well structured beneath its odd sonorities. Though apparently a continuous work, it is clearly composed in discrete movements, placing the accordion in the midst of bitonal swirls of sound and pungent brass and string interjections.
The Symphony No. 3, written in 2010, uses a sort of musical “big bang” at the outset, followed by “stuttering fragments” which “muster to initiate the development of the symphony’s vertical structure, supported by foundations in the form of tectonic pedal notes.” This is indeed a technical description of what happens, but the listening process is more emotional and therefore more fascinating.
A strange sort of album, then, yet fascinating and certainly worth a listen!
– Arts Music Lounge
Nielsen: Chamber Works For Violin And Strings
Nielsen: Cantatas / Holten, Knudsen, Andersen, Hedergaard
NIELSEN-BANGERT Cantata for the Opening Ceremony of the National Exhibition in Aarhus NIELSEN Music for Hans Hartvig Seedorf Pedersen’s Homage to Holberg. Helge Rode’s Prologue to Shakespeare: Ariel’s Song. 1 Cantata for the Annual University Commemoration • Bo Holten, cond; Ditte Højgaard Andersen (sop); Mathias Hedergaard (ten); 1 Palle Knudsen (bar); Jens Albinus (nar); Aarhus Cathedral Ch; Danish Natl Op Ch; Aarhus SO • DACAPO 8.226079 (65:52 Text and Translation)
Cantatas by Carl Nielsen? Yes! Surprised? So was I, and I’m sure you’ll be too. One reason they aren’t known is that they were composed for specific celebratory functions whose initial presentation was interrupted by speeches, cheering, polka bands, more speeches, and lots of drinking. Not exactly an atmosphere conducive to great art. Add to that the fact that Nielsen didn’t want to compose some of them, had to work with an over-verbose librettist in one (and assigned half the composition duties to one of his pupils, Emilius Bangert), and carried on a running argument with the committee that commissioned it over the libretto of another, and you can well imagine that these aren’t among the composer’s best works.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that they’re bad pageant music—certainly not as bad as Beethoven’s Wellington’s Victory, which the composer practically laughed at until it turned out to be a really popular money-maker—but the music is only occasionally interesting because the texts are only occasionally interesting. In the first cantata, the Nielsen-Bangert collaboration written in 1909, the most interesting piece by far is No. 4, the one that the two composers split pretty much down the middle (Nielsen wrote the first 117 bars, Bangert the rest). Bangert’s other contributions, Nos. 2, 3, and 7, are by no means “bad” music—the older composer supervised his pupil’s compositions and possibly made suggestions—but they lack character and originality. It’s the age-old battle between craft and art.
The second cantata on this album is in fact the last one composed, in 1923. This is mature Nielsen, and since he had a strong affinity for Holberg anyway, having set his text for the opera Maskerade to music almost 20 years earlier, his heart was really in it. The beginning is not promising—it starts with a pompous brass fanfare in the same vein, and even the same key, that ended the last piece of the previous cantata—but it soon develops into interesting music. Nielsen himself said, “It is … a shame that this music is only for this particular occasion, but it is constructed in such a fashion that it can be performed repeatedly and in other circumstances [emphasis mine].” The first movement features a quartet of Muses; here, soprano Andersen is joined by soprano Eline Denice Risager and mezzos Birgitte Mosegaard Pedersen and Bolette Bruno Hansen. The second soprano and mezzo are not terribly good, but they get by. The second movement features a baritone solo; the third is purely choral.
This is followed by one excerpt, a tenor solo, from a cantata celebrating the tercentennial of Shakespeare’s death (1916). It is so isolated because it was published and performed separately after the event, primarily by Danish tenor Anders Brems. It’s a very nice piece that, unfortunately, is sung by Hedergaard with unsteady tone.
The Cantata for the Annual University Commemoration , written in 1908, is the only one of Nielsen’s cantatas written for a recurring occasion. It is one of the most thoughtfully composed, and most cantata-like in alternating sung recitatives accompanied by piano with full choral-orchestral passages. Again, ignoring the text, this is music that could be performed to other texts for other occasions. There is an unusual touch of harmonic darkness to the music of the second number, where Nielsen also cleverly integrated the piano used in the recitative into the orchestral fabric; during the second recitative, the piano’s role expands into almost song-cycle-like accompaniment. This is a truly inspired bit of writing. Toward the end of the movement, the piano’s role changes again, accompanying four horns in concerto fashion before the chorus returns, then remaining as a prominent instrument along with the full strings. A slow tempo, muted violins, and ostinato bass create a mysterious mood in No. 3.
What amazed me the most about these works, particularly the last two, which are pretty good and original music, is the fact that in each case Nielsen was forced to work on a short deadline, barely more than two or three weeks. His lack of interest in the Aarhus cantata undoubtedly led to his creating the shallowest music. As to the performances, they are absolutely first-rate except for the aforementioned unsteadiness of tenor Hedergaard and two of the lady Muses. Andersen has a very light-toned, pretty Bach-Mozart-type soprano voice. Although baritone Knudsen also shows some signs of unsteadiness, he is generally very good. Diction is crystal-clear. Both the Aarhus Choir and Orchestra and the Danish National Opera Chorus are rock-solid, transparent in texture, and firmly committed to giving the best performances they can. Conductor Holten walks a fine line between creating excitement commensurate to the occasions in question and delivering excellent, well-contoured performances, and he succeeds handsomely in this task. And, happily, the sonics are crystal-clear, no muddiness of sound. If you can ignore the bombast of the first cantata, then, this is a worthy addition to your Nielsen collection.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 / Oramo, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic

This is very, very good. We seem to be going through a particularly satisfying period as regards Nielsen symphonies on SACD. First we had Gilbert’s cycle with the New York Philharmonic on Dacapo, and now we have this sterling second installment of Oramo’s, containing the First and Third Symphonies. Both works receive marvelous readings, with world class playing from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and interpretations that propel the music forward with all of its muscular energy and lyrical intensity.
The First Symphony is, in this respect, perhaps a more remarkable (but not “better”) performance than the Third. Usually the work gets damned with faint praise: “early Nielsen;” “Brahms praised it;” and the like. Here the music sounds fully mature, the outer movements played with such verve that their tendency towards formal stiffness simply vanishes. The highly developmental third movement that does duty for the scherzo, also sports an unusually wide range of mood, with Oramo’s attention to accent and phrasing paying big dividends. If you have ever had doubts about this symphony, this performance may well erase them.
The “Espansiva” also packs quite a wallop. Its high octane opening gestures enlivens the entire movement, nowhere more so than in the grand waltz at the heart of the development section. The pastoral second movement is magnificent: the string playing has tremendous intensity, and there’s also an unusually bold contribution from the brass when they finally have the opening tune. Soloists Anu Komsi and Karl-Magnus Fredriksson aren’t highlighted unduly. Their wordless vocalize merges with, and emerges from, the surrounding texture with a naturalness that’s memorably poetic. In the last two movements, once again Oramo’s punchy accents and rhythmic drive create powerfully satisfying and idiomatic results.
BIS’ engineers have, as expected, achieved tactile, glowing sonics, placing the orchestra in a warm and open acoustic space and capturing every textural detail with just balances and palpable presence. It’s a good time to be a Nielsen fan.
-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Nielsen: The Symphonies / Vanska, Lahti SO, BBC Scottish SO
"...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.
Nielsen: Symphonies 2 & 6 / Oramo, Royal Stockholm
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’.
NIELSEN: Chamber Music, Vol. 1
Nielsen, C.: Symphonies, Vol. 1 - Nos. 1 and 6, "Sinfonia Se
Nielsen: Songs For Choir / Ars Nova Copenhagen
“It is strange that when I write these simple melodies, it is as if I am not the composer – it is people from my childhood or the Danish people who want something through me.” Thus said Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), who was devoted to renewing the Danish song tradition and whose melodies are still at the heart of Danish community song today. On this recording, Ars Nova Copenhagen presents a selection of Nielsen’s most popular songs under conductor Michael Bojesen.
Nielsen: Complete Wind Chamber Music / Bergen Wind Quintet
Carl Nielsen: The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection
Nielsen, C.: Maskarade (Masquerade)
Nielsen, C.: Symphonies, Vol. 3 - Nos. 4, "The Inextinguisha
Nielsen: Choral Works / Danish National Choirs
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REVIEW:
Performances throughout are excellent. The variety offered by the different types of choir is part of the pleasure of the music, but even within choirs of similar type, there is considerable variety.
– MusicWeb International
Nielsen: Songs, Violin Sonata No. 2 & Commotio
NIELSEN: Sommerfugledalen
Nielsen: Works for Violin, Vol. 2
MASKERADE (OPERN (GA),DEUTSCH)
Nielsen: Complete Works for Violin Solo and Violin and Piano
Nielsen: Symphonies No. 5 & 6 / Gilbert, New York Philharmonic
REVIEW:
Nielsen was a high energy composer, perfectly suited to a “muscle” orchestra like the New York Philharmonic. Listening to these two performance we are reminded how the world of classical recordings has been taken over by orchestras of the second rank–professionally adequate, ambitious, able to fund their own recording programs and often to get released on major labels, but singularly lacking in the sort of corporate virtuosity and ensemble balances at all dynamic levels so tellingly in evidence here. If you like your Nielsen big, bold, and gutsy, then this is the cycle you need to own.
This doesn’t mean that Gilbert and his players are in any way crude. The opening of the Fifth Symphony emerges with gossamer delicacy, and the solo wind playing is as sensitive as one could wish. But the hostile snare drum entrance carries real menace, while the movement’s adagio second half, beautifully spun out by the strings, features the best percussion cadenza since Horenstein, leading to an absolutely apocalyptic climax. Similarly, Gilbert brings thrilling energy to the start of the second movement. The ensuing quick fugue isn’t as swift as some, but the orchestra’s weight of tone, its attention to detail, makes the music unusually vicious, while the race to the closing bars has seldom sounded more exhilarating.
The Sixth Symphony can come off as sort of a bitter, denatured coda to the previous five. Again, without minimizing the work’s etherial moments and often stark instrumental textures, Gilbert and the orchestral put the meat back on the music’s bony skeleton. The climax of the first movement is really terrifying, the Humoresque vividly grotesque. In the Adagio “Proposta seria,” the strings dig into their parts with painful intensity, leaving a finale in which Gilbert ensures that each variation has its own vivid character. The wacky waltz, even in it’s ghostly early stages, seethes with a latent energy that makes sense of the violent eruptions from the brass and bass drum that rip it apart shortly afterwards.
One textural note: these performances seem not to be using the latest Critical Edition of the symphonies–you can tell from the fact that the loud timpani triplets are still present towards the end of the finale’s opening section, to cite one example. This is not a wrong decision; the Critical Edition took an excessively dogmatic view in its efforts to present Nielsen’s first thoughts, eliminating revisions based on the practical realities of performance, even if these were accepted–whether tacitly or explicitly–by the composer. Nielsen was never faced with a situation like Bruckner’s, in which a crew of well-meaning but misguided supporters altered and manifestly falsified the basic text. Additions and modification to his scores were limited mostly to small but sometimes telling details, such as the additional timpani part just mentioned.
The excellent live sonics add to the tactile immediacy of the performances. If the foregoing sounds as though this team saved their best for last, well, I would say that they did. One quibble though: the booklet notes, by Jens Cornelius, are surprisingly poor. He seems to think that the snare drummer in the Fifth Symphony is a timpanist, and his language is both pretentious and stilted. Normally I wouldn’t care or mention it, save for the fact that it seems so odd and uncharacteristic. Never mind, it’s the music that matters, and about that there can be no question whatsoever. This is fantastic.
– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 / Gilbert, New York Philharmonic
"I’m sure that Nielsen’s time is coming, and I’m looking forward to sharing this wonderful music with the audience." - Alan Gilbert 2011 = "Mr. Gilbert drew colorful, glittering and full-bodied playing from the musicians." - The New York Times, concert review of Nielsen's Symphony No. 3, June 2012 = “Music is life, and like it inextinguishable,” said the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). With indomitable courage and infinite curiosity Nielsen developed into one of the 20th century’s greatest symphonists, after being raised in the Danish countryside as the son of a poor folk musician. With this new series of recordings, Nielsen crosses the Atlantic as the New York Philharmonic and their Music Director Alan Gilbert shed new light on the composer's uniquely Nordic symphonic sound. = ABOUT THE NIELSEN PROJECT = This is the first volume of the new recording series of Denmark's national composer Carl Nielsen's complete symphonies and concertos by The New York Philharmonic and their chief conductor Alan Gilbert. All works are recorded live during the New York Philharmonic's concert series in Avery Fisher Hall which has already impressed critics and audiences alike.
REVIEW:
As already suggested, Gilbert’s interpretations take no prisoners, and frankly that is just what Nielsen needs. The Allegro collerico opening of “The Four Temperaments” is really ferocious, the finale almost giddy. And yet, Gilbert’s tempos in the Andante pastorale of the “Espansiva”, or the Andante malincolico of the “Temperaments”, are also perfectly judged, sensitive, and expressive. The former, especially, reveals a combination of tranquility and flow unique in the work’s discography. The string playing is particularly beautiful here, and the Philharmonic’s woodwinds, solo oboe especially, do themselves proud in music that often relies on their artistry and character. Gilbert also very convincingly paces the tricky finale of the same work, with its hymn-like main theme that still has to sound “allegro”.
Dacapo, of course, already has an excellent Nielsen cycle—indeed, the reference edition—in its catalog, featuring Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (also available on Naxos). So the question must be whether or not this newcomer is distinctive enough to warrant the duplication, and the answer is a definite “yes”. Gilbert reveals a genuine affinity for the music, and Nielsen’s athleticism suits the orchestra very well indeed. If this series keeps up as it has begun, it’s going to be stupendous.
-- ClassicsToday.com
