A set of symphonies that will last the test of time
Album Of The WeekFrom the Lebrecht Album of the Week:
In 1925, at the age of 60, Denmark’s national composer gave in to depression. “If I could live my life again,” said Carl Nielsen, “I would … take a commercial apprenticeship or do some other form of useful work that would lead to a visible final result. The creative artist’s lot is not a happy one…”
Read on here.
En francais ici.
pictured: Nielsen (r) with Stravinsky
A fine set- but my first choice is still the Sakari Oramo set on BIS.
Still can’t relate to a note of his music. Something beyond my understanding of beauty. But few conductors really love his works. Kudos to them!
My copy of the CD set is coming today. They’ve been available as online downloads for months now. You can also hear them at streaming services.
I love the Nielsen symphonies, #s 4 and 5 above the others.
There’s a wonderful #4 with Luisi on YouTube, which I’m guessing is the source of this recording. I will be interested to see whether it poses a worthy challenge to my favorite: Martinon/Chicago.
And it’s hardly a secret that the DNSO is a great orchestra. Might have been interesting for Luisi to record it in Dallas, though.
I completely agree, one of the most remarkable set, Luisi is inhabited by this peculiar music – who would have bet- and in complete harmony with his new orchestra, like beginning of a romance, just hope it won’t finish as most of them…
Esa-Pekka Salonens recordings with the Swedish Radio is phenomenal. Blomstedt is a Nielsen master, too. And of course Bersteins recording of the 5th.
Recently Sakari Oramo did a fine recording of No. 4 and 5.
But I’ll give Luisi a spin 😉
Perhaps it is nobody’s favorite but the Ole Schmidt set of the symphonies on Unicorn LPs really should be mentioned as it was, I suspect, a set that many of us relied on to get to know all six of the symphonies; the recorded sound was good, and the performances were never less than sympathetic and competent. For particular symphonies I liked my Jascha Horenstein recordings, and it is to be regretted that he did not record (to my knowledge) all six.
Others may (and surely will) disagree but to me the “problem” if it can be called that with the Nielsen symphonies as a whole is that they go from strength to strength and become increasingly interesting and compelling and wonderful and then ….. and then the sixth, which should be a grand summing up and final artistic planting of the flag but to my mind only the first movement serves. It is disappointing, as it would have been disappointing if Vaughn Williams’s last symphony had been his 7th, which could easily have been the case.
It is sad to think that if there could only had been a Nielsen Symphony No. 7, it would have been the greatest of the set.
Imagine if he had been able to complete the other planned wind concertos….
I’ve been listening to these new recordings on Spotify for the past couple of days; they are terrific! Great sound and superb playing. The comment about Luisi bringing his opera sensibilities to the scores is spot on. That’s why so many of the great conductors of the Golden Age are revered: they mostly trained in the opera pit and learned how to navigate the emotional paths in a work. Luisi is in any case one of the most under-valued and unappreciated conductors out there. Can’t wait to hear him tackle Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln in Dallas next year.
Opinion differs substantially from Mr know-it-all on youtube
No one has mentioned the remarkable recording of the symphonies of Nielsen by the American conductor Theodore Kuchar with the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra. It is available on Brilliant Classics. I have many recordings of the symphonies going back to 78rpm days but find none better than Kuchar. This will not stop me from listening to Luigi’s new recording though. I am, after all, 100% Danish.✌️
Just FYI: Bernstein didn’t do a cycle. Sony’s boxed set included a 1st and 6th by Ormandy. I like those recordings (I have them on a single CD), but there are better to be had.