Carl Nielsen Symphonies

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  • PJPJ
    Full Member
    • Nov 2010
    • 1461

    I was very impressed by the 3rd, but far less so by the 2nd to which I gave several listens as well as spinning five other recordings. Blomstedt (x2), Jensen, Garaguly and Chung handle the tempo changes making them seem natural. In the first movement Gilbert's roller-coaster approach amounts to unwanted agogic distortion and while he uses a later edition of the score I have to hand I feel the relative tempi as marked don't fit together as they do far more successfully in all of the other recordings I heard. The phlegmatic seems to me to be replaced by the spineless. The third and last movements fare somewhat better, leaving the whole something of a curate's egg, the less good bits too clever by half in this mannered reading, affecting the forward thrust of the work to its detriment. On the other hand, this individual view may well satisfy other listeners far more than it did me.

    I got on rather better with Blomstedt in Copenhagen than SF; firstly, there's more atmosphere and personality in the former's performance and secondly, the recording, surprisingly, is easier on the ear. Jensen, sounding better than expected on Dutton also digs deeper, but it is Garaguly, as ever, who produces goose-bumps and makes me want to shout with joy at the end having witnessed the most intense melancolia of them all in the third movement. I didn't listen this time to Berglund or Schmidt as they'd had recent outings and I still rate these very highly and they are better recorded than Garaguly was.

    Gilbert's recording is sumptuous but as in his interpretation it also seems somewhat over-egged. I was hoping for more natural bloom and ambience but this gets cloudy in the busier passages and some detail goes by the board. Does Avery Fisher really sound like this?

    The 3rd's performance seems to me less affected by all of these points and I'll certainly return to Gilbert's recording of this symphony.

    Comment

    • jayne lee wilson
      Banned
      • Jul 2011
      • 10711

      Fascinating, PJ - thanks... I've never encountered the Garaguly. Has it ever appeared on CD? A brief Amazon search didn't reveal anything.

      Comment

      • HighlandDougie
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 3081

        Unless it appeared as a Turnabout CD (I don't think that it did), the Garaguly was last generally available as a Turnabout LP. I have a feeling that Vox might have licensed it from a third party rather than it being an original Vox production which might explain why it has never appeared as a one of Vox CD reissue. But I might be quite wrong. Anyway, a CD transfer of the LP is available at:



        My vinyl copy of the Garaguly disappeared a long time ago, although I still possess the Markevich 4th on LP.

        Comment

        • Bryn
          Banned
          • Mar 2007
          • 24688

          Just been up into the loft and retrieved my copy of TV 34049DS



          Now spinning from vinyl to hard drive (Alesis Masterlink). My LP sleeve still has the price sticker on it "DIRECTION DEAN STREET £ - 99p".

          There is no indication in the sleeve notes that the recording was licenced by Vox. The copyright notice simply reads "© 1968, Vox Productions Inc., New York, U.S.A."

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          • HighlandDougie
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 3081

            Bryn

            I hope I may be forgiven for being an anorak but I had it in my mind that there was a Danish record label called Fono. I was slightly wrong in that it was called Fona - and it's possible that it licensed this recording from Vox (the original US Vox issue was STPL 512.550) but I think that Vox probably licensed the Garaguly Four Temperaments from Fona.

            See:



            Vox/Turnabout licensed the Fona recordings of Nielsen's Fourth (Royal Danish Orchestra/Igor Markevich) and of Nielsen's Violin Concerto (Tibor Varga/Royal Danish Orchestra/Jerzy Semkow), which were issued in the USA on Turnabout but in the UK by Deutsche Grammophon.

            OK, back to the trainspotting books now
            Last edited by HighlandDougie; 20-12-12, 20:20.

            Comment

            • PJPJ
              Full Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 1461

              I wrote to Vox some years ago about getting a custom-made CD-R:



              but had no luck. I suspect they no longer had the master tape.

              Comment

              • Bryn
                Banned
                • Mar 2007
                • 24688

                I had forgotten (if I ever noticed it previously) what a collectors' item my Turnabout LP is. The labels are on the wrong sides. Offers over £k considered.

                Comment

                • richardfinegold
                  Full Member
                  • Sep 2012
                  • 7656

                  Originally posted by PJPJ View Post
                  I wrote to Vox some years ago about getting a custom-made CD-R:



                  but had no luck. I suspect they no longer had the master tape.
                  Vox has changed hands many times in the last 50 years. At one point one of their owners was attempting to sell the recordings to shoppers in supermarket checkout lines.
                  I agree with most of your analysis Gilbert/2.

                  Comment

                  • reinerfan
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 106

                    Originally posted by HighlandDougie View Post
                    Unless it appeared as a Turnabout CD (I don't think that it did), the Garaguly was last generally available as a Turnabout LP. I have a feeling that Vox might have licensed it from a third party rather than it being an original Vox production which might explain why it has never appeared as a one of Vox CD reissue. But I might be quite wrong. Anyway, a CD transfer of the LP is available at:



                    My vinyl copy of the Garaguly disappeared a long time ago, although I still possess the Markevich 4th on LP.
                    Many thanks. I can now dispense with my battered Turnabout LP.

                    Comment

                    • Barbirollians
                      Full Member
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 11669

                      As I only had the original 1 and 6 and the Decca Double of the 4 -6 I bought second hand online for a song a copy of Blomstedt's SFSO 2 and 3 .

                      The recording quality is stunning . I cannot see any need for remastering this at all though it they could make it even better then fabulous but it is difficult to hear how .

                      The performances are , as has also been suggested - marvellous especially No2 .

                      Comment

                      • Hornspieler
                        Late Member
                        • Sep 2012
                        • 1847

                        I have just come late to this thread, so I have read it right through from the beginning.

                        I am a little confused by the references to the LSO/Davis recording. Are we talking about Colin Davis or Andrew Davis?

                        There is a world of difference between the interpretations of the two and also of my personal opinion of their conducting charisma (for want of a better word)

                        Personally speaking, I don't decry Nielsen's symphonies - it's just that, for me, they don't ring a bell.

                        Possibly, a diet of Nielsen symphonies under the baton of the late Harold Gray with the CBSO has affected my taste buds. I will try coming back to these works (hate the silly titles) with an open mind in the coming year.

                        HS

                        Comment

                        • ferneyhoughgeliebte
                          Gone fishin'
                          • Sep 2011
                          • 30163

                          Originally posted by Hornspieler View Post
                          I am a little confused by the references to the LSO/Davis recording. Are we talking about Colin Davis or Andrew Davis?
                          Sir Col, HS: the LSO Live CD coupling the Fourth and Fifth: as good a disc to get any bells ringing, I would suggest.
                          The London Symphony Orchestra inspires hearts and minds through extraordinary music-making – with concerts at home in London at the Barbican Centre and LSO St Luke's, on tour around the world, and online.


                          Sir Andy, afaIk, hasn't recorded any Nielsen ... In the spirit of Christmas, I won't add any comment!
                          [FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]

                          Comment

                          • Barbirollians
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 11669

                            Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                            Sir Col, HS: the LSO Live CD coupling the Fourth and Fifth: as good a disc to get any bells ringing, I would suggest.
                            The London Symphony Orchestra inspires hearts and minds through extraordinary music-making – with concerts at home in London at the Barbican Centre and LSO St Luke's, on tour around the world, and online.


                            Sir Andy, afaIk, hasn't recorded any Nielsen ... In the spirit of Christmas, I won't add any comment!
                            Please don't put ideas into Chandos's head .

                            Comment

                            • PJPJ
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 1461

                              Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                              Sir Col, HS: the LSO Live CD coupling the Fourth and Fifth: as good a disc to get any bells ringing, I would suggest.
                              The London Symphony Orchestra inspires hearts and minds through extraordinary music-making – with concerts at home in London at the Barbican Centre and LSO St Luke's, on tour around the world, and online.


                              Sir Andy, afaIk, hasn't recorded any Nielsen ... In the spirit of Christmas, I won't add any comment!
                              Two of the three discs have been released (I think they're excellent), and the third should appear soon. The concerts from the Barbican were all broadcast.

                              Sir Colin Davis came to these works in the last few years and successfully in the view of many.

                              Comment

                              • salymap
                                Late member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 5969

                                Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post
                                Sir Col, HS: the LSO Live CD coupling the Fourth and Fifth: as good a disc to get any bells ringing, I would suggest.
                                The London Symphony Orchestra inspires hearts and minds through extraordinary music-making – with concerts at home in London at the Barbican Centre and LSO St Luke's, on tour around the world, and online.


                                Sir Andy, afaIk, hasn't recorded any Nielsen ... In the spirit of Christmas, I won't add any comment!
                                Oh yes he has... I have 2 Nielsen symphonies. No 2 [inherited from a late relative] BBCSO conducted by Andrew Davis. BBCMM103 1992.

                                No 4 BBCSO conducted by Osmo Vanska. A DVD from the Proms 2005 Also from the BBCMM

                                Haven't played either for years so can't comment on the performances. Latter DVD coupled with Beethoven PC4

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