This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Reviews for some of the recordings that make up this set:

Symphonies 2 & 3

The New York Philharmonic is a powerhouse orchestra, Nielsen is a powerhouse symphonist, and Alan Gilbert revels in the music’s energy and dynamism. ... 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”. ... 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.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Symphonies 5 & 6

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 ethereal moments and often stark instrumental textures, Gilbert and the orchestra put the meat back on the music’s bony skeleton. … This is fantastic.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Symphonies 1 & 4
These are strong, exciting performances of symphonies that demand the sort of bold muscularity in their execution that these artists offer. In Alan Gilbert’s hands the First Symphony sounds extremely confident and wholly mature. … The performance of the “Inextinguishable” Fourth Symphony also features some really impressive energy and power. In the first movement the brass play with a precision and clarity that few other versions can match, and in the finale the dueling timpani compete with real bravura. … This is a very impressive release.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

The Nightingale String Quartet’s survey of the complete quartet works of Rued Langgaard (1893-1952) heralded the arrival of a major new ensemble and won the maverick Danish composer thousands of new fans. Poised and restrained one minute, wild and emotional the next, Langgaard’s string quartets reveal the composer’s breathtaking originality and individuality, oscillating between luscious Romanticism and outlandish experimentation. They are played with love and understanding on these multiple prize-winning recordings, here gathered together in a single release for the first time. “The Nightingale Quartet understand all these aspects: the provocative vitality, the fragile romantic sensitivity, and the striking intellectual independence behind it all.” (BBC Music Magazine) “Simply breathtaking.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

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Review excerpts of previously released volumes included in this set:


Langgaard: String Quartets V. 1

The performances here are marvelous, make no mistake. The Nightingale String Quartet relishes every bizarre nuance, from the chugging locomotive in the Second Quartet to the “Agitato orribilmente” and “Burlesco rustico” sections of the single-movement Sixth Quartet. But the playing never turns crude, and never indulges Langgaard’s wackier ideas at the expense of solid musical values.

– ClassicsToday


Langgaard: String Quartets, Vol. 2

Besides Langgaard's delightful, fundamentally hospitable music, the NSQ's interpretations are also most commendable. A blend of expressive astuteness and technical self-confidence leaves the whole project smelling aptly of roses.

– Gramophone

ROYAL RECORDER CONCERTOS: MUSIC FROM THE COURT OF KING FREDERIK IV • Bolette Roed (rcr); Arte dei Suonatori (period instruments) • DACAPO 6.220630 (SACD: 75:34)


GRAUPNER Ouverture in F for recorder, strings, and basso continuo. Concerto in F for recorder, strings, and basso continuo. SCHEIBE Concerto a quattro in B? for recorder, strings, and basso continuo. J. G. GRAUN Double Concerto in C for recorder, violin, strings, and basso continuo. ANONYMOUS The Princess’s Suite. SCHICKHARDT Sonata in c for recorder and basso continuo: Più vivace


In her introduction to this SACD, soloist Bolette Roed writes, “Have you ever wondered which music was played on the recorder in Copenhagen at the time when Bach reigned in Leipzig, Telemann in Hamburg, Handel in London, Vivaldi in Venice and Couperin in Paris?” Actually, I haven’t ever wondered that, but now that she brings it up…! The composers represented on this disc (with the possible exception of Anonymous) were not Danes, although their music appears to have been played in Denmark during the reign of Frederik IV, which began in 1699 and ended with his death in 1730. Johann Adolf Scheibe actually lived in Denmark, although he didn’t arrive there until a decade after Frederik IV’s death. Reading the booklet that comes with this release, we learn that the Danish did not have a national Baroque style, but looked, at different times, to France, Italy, and Germany to shape their tastes. The German influence is strongest in the works offered here, with Italy taking a close second, and France third. In fact, if I had listened to this music blind, I would have guessed that Handel or Telemann composed at least some of the movements, if not the entire works.


Diehard Baroque collectors will recognize these names, except perhaps for Johann Christian Schickhardt, who is represented by a single sonata movement as a bonus track. (Dacapo invites you to go to their website and download the rest of the sonata.) Everything is a success here, although some things are more successful than others. I was especially taken by the Vivaldi-like slow movement of Christoph Graupner’s Concerto in F, which has the recorder singing peacefully over an accompaniment of plucked strings. At 1:55, it’s a dainty little thing. Another highlight is the closing “Folie d’Espagne” from The Princess’s Suite , so named because it was assembled from the music collection of Princess Charlotte Amalie, who was Frederik IV’s daughter. In this movement, the famous “La Folia” theme makes an appearance and is subjected to quirky variations. The Suite’s assembly was carried out with taste by Henrik Bøggild, and arranged for orchestra by Maciej Prochaska. The tiny movement by Schickhardt brings the disc to a gentle and wistful close—just perfect. Little on this SACD will quickly impress itself on your memory, but still, this is an excellent disc for late-night listening, as record reviewers of the not-too-distant past used to advise their readers, perhaps euphemistically.


Arte dei Suonatori is a Polish ensemble. Their contribution features lively rhythms and light textures—all the better not to bury Bolette Roed’s instrument. As for Roed, her temperament is a little reticent, but she has excellent control over her difficult instrument, and makes many a pleasant and intriguing sound. I’m not sure how “royal” these concertos truly are, but if you give them your attention, the performers will make you feel like a king.


FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle

Rasmussen: The Ballad of Game & Dream

Rued Langgaard’s string quartets are passionate works from the eccentric composer’s youth. This third and concluding release in the Nightingale String Quartet’s acclaimed CD series presents the premiere recording of Langgaard’s very first string quartet, which the composer began at the age of 21 in 1914. Like the subsequent quartets it is shot through with moving musical references to the fateful summer the year before, when the composer met the (hopeless) love of his life.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

The music of Jesper Koch (b. 1967) is in a constant and fruitful dialogue with the past. Often melodious with tonal connotations and with a dreamlike quality that seeks to escape from reality in the cello concerto Dreamscapes, feels at home in oases of happiness and nostalgia in the violin concerto Arcadia Lost. And finally, the clarinet concerto Lonesome deals with different aspects of loneliness. The three concertos are presented here in world premiere recordings featuring the soloists they were written for. They, in turn, share a deep connection with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, always close to the composer's heart. Born in England, conductor Justin Brown studied at Cambridge University and Tanglewood Institute with Seiji Ozawa and Leonard Bernstein. Internationally acclaimed in both the symphonic and operatic repertoire, Justin Brown is General Music Director of the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in Germany and was Music Director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in the United States.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This album, performed by the Danish National Choirs, under the direction of Michael Schonwandt, Phillip Faber and Susanne Wendt, features 25 choral arrangements of the most popular pieces by Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). Featured among the 25 tracks are popular works such as "Den danske sang er en ung, blond pige" and "Solen er sa rod, mor", alongside lesser-known pieces such as his proposal for a new Danish national anthem. The Danish National Vocal Ensemble is made up of 18 full-time professional vocalists. Since their 2007 debut, the ensemble has tackled all styles of music, from Baroque, to Romantic, to modern. The ensemble was recently awarded the Diapason d’Or for a recent release.

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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

Damkapellet is a music collective formed in 2016 to bring diversity to the Danish music scene by highlighting and performing music by artists who define themselves as women, non-binary or transgender. Demiurge, the collective's debut album, presents Damkapellet’s unique approach to music-making with a carefully assorted programme that treads gentle lyricism and bold creative outbursts in equal measures.

Christopher Rouse (b. 1949) has served as the New York Philharmonic’s second Marie-Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence, serving there from 2012 until 2015. Three of the works on this release, the Fourth Symphony, Prospero’s Rooms, and Odna Zhizn, were composed for the Orchestra and Music Director Alan Gilbert. All four tracks on this album are world premiere recordings. Christopher Rouse is a highly awarded composer and has received both the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award and the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He has served as composer-in-residence for the Indianapolis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony.

“Chris Rouse is one of the most important composers working today. He shapes the sound and the emotional flow of his music in a way that only great composers can... His music is very telling and thoughtful about the human condition in a way that is fairly unique today.” - Alan Gilbert

The prizewinning Copenhagen Piano Quartet presents works by composers cosmopolitan and conservative, but each brimming with charm. German-born Friedrich Kuhlau was a leading figure in what posterity has dubbed the Danish Golden Age. From the outset, Kuhlau stated that he intended to write three piano quartets. With this new release, Kuhlau's complete piano quartets are available in recordings by the young and rising Copenhagen Piano Quartet. Kuhlau declared his Piano Quartet No. 3 'my best to date,' speaking of a large-scale work of drama offset by grace and highlighting the composer's contrapuntal gift. Otto Malling was a Danish composer and organ player and the pupil of JPE Hartmann and Niels W Gade. In 1903 Malling wrote his one and only piano quartet, which was also his very last chamber work to compose. The work by 'The Danish Saint-Saens,' as he was affectionately called by some of his peers, presents a perfect picture of this master craftsman's clarity and concision while showing tantalizing signs of his sensuality, too.