Carl Nielsen Symphonies

[Barbirollians]

Karajan's Nielsen 4 seems to be passed over a lot nowadays but I recall it being " the version " in the 1980s

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Karajan's Nielsen 4 seems to be passed over a lot nowadays but I recall it being " the version " in the 1980s

I love it in spite of its flaws as a reading, and it's one of the best-sounding of his Digital recordings. The Berliners' woodwind playing in the Second Movement is far from the peasant sound that Nielsen probably had in mind, and that GP between the third and last movements gets less convincing with each playing, but there is a power and surge in this performance that brings its own compensations and sheds light on different aspects of the work. The Timpani battle is as good as any I've heard.

[amateur51]

I love it in spite of its flaws as a reading, and it's one of the best-sounding of his Digital recordings. The Berliners' woodwind playing in the Second Movement is far from the peasant sound that Nielsen probably had in mind, and that GP between the third and last movements gets less convincing with each playing, but there is a power and surge in this performance that brings its own compensations and sheds light on different aspects of the work. The Timpani battle is as good as any I've heard.

The BPO of the period must have been thrilled and delighted to see that Nielsen score appear on their music stands after decades of mittel-european stuff. No wonder they 'went for it'

[BBMmk2]

Did a bit of a search for this. I see that LSO live have issued Sir Colin's cycle as a box set now! £17.99 direct from LSO!

[jayne lee wilson]

Did a bit of a search for this. I see that LSO live have issued Sir Colin's cycle as a box set now! £17.99 direct from LSO!

See the Gramophone Reviews for 4/11, 4/12 and 5/13... I'm afraid it's a bit of a mixed bag, bbm, with the best of it being 1, 4 and 5 (according to David Fanning).
Philip Clark (who had attended the concerts they were drawn from) was very critical of 2 & 3 and I have to say, having bought the 24/96 download of No.2 on its release, I agree...
Very, very dull. Sorry!

[HighlandDougie]

I've been much enjoying the BBC PO/Storgårds cycle which was on Radio 3 recently - which will no doubt appear sometime soon on Chandos. I don't suppose that anyone will ask Thomas Søndergård to record a cycle (unless Linn steps in) but I thought that his performance of the 5th with the BBC NOW from last year's Proms was as good as any I've ever heard.

[johnb]

See the Gramophone Reviews for 4/11, 4/12 and 5/13... I'm afraid it's a bit of a mixed bag, bbm, with the best of it being 1, 4 and 5 (according to David Fanning).
Philip Clark (who had attended the concerts they were drawn from) was very critical of 2 & 3 and I have to say, having bought the 24/96 download of No.2 on its release, I agree...
Very, very dull. Sorry!

I need to listen to the Colin Davis/LSO performances again, though I greatly enjoyed them when they were broadcast on R3. My rather idiosyncratic feeling is that so many recordings of Nielsen are very hard driven and try to bludgeon you into submission. (I guess this is the accepted standard of how they should be played.)

[richardfinegold]

See the Gramophone Reviews for 4/11, 4/12 and 5/13... I'm afraid it's a bit of a mixed bag, bbm, with the best of it being 1, 4 and 5 (according to David Fanning).
Philip Clark (who had attended the concerts they were drawn from) was very critical of 2 & 3 and I have to say, having bought the 24/96 download of No.2 on its release, I agree...
Very, very dull. Sorry!

I had one disc from that series and gave it away. I concur with Jane .

[french frank]

Monday's Live in Concert (16 March), c. 8.25:

Nielsen (transcr. Abrahamsen): Symphony No 6
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Manze (conductor)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053c10q

Please, what does 'transcr. Abrahamsen' mean ('an enlightening transcription by the deeply thoughtful composer, Hans Abrahamsen')?

[Bryn]

Monday's Live in Concert (16 March), c. 8.25:

Nielsen (transcr. Abrahamsen): Symphony No 6
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Manze (conductor)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053c10q

Please, what does 'transcr. Abrahamsen' mean ('an enlightening transcription by the deeply thoughtful composer, Hans Abrahamsen')?

Wait 'till next Monday and let your ears and brain decide.

Alternatively or maybe even this.

[french frank]

Wait 'till next Monday and let your ears and brain decide.

So, definitely Abrahamsen rather than Nielsen?

http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/46122

[Bryn]

So, definitely Abrahamsen rather than Nielsen?

http://www.musicsalesclassical.com/composer/work/46122

Well I had in mind the Schönberg chamber versions of Mahler, etc.

[BBMmk2]

Well not as if I don't have a very good cycle of these symphonies, I do have Herbert Blomstedt's Decca SFS recording! So I could look and maybe wait until something else for comparison turns up?

[jayne lee wilson]

"Nielsen: Symphony No.6 (for Chamber Orchestra of 18 Players, transc. Hans Abrahamsen)"

...is what it says on the BBCSSO webpage for Monday's concert... Intriguing enough to take a listen. And you've got the Stenhammar for the purposes of instant gratification, so...

[french frank]

"Nielsen: Symphony No.6 (for Chamber Orchestra of 18 Players, transc. Hans Abrahamsen)"

...is what it says on the BBCSSO webpage for Monday's concert... Intriguing enough to take a listen. And you've got the Stenhammar for the purposes of instant gratification, so...

Indeed. It was the word 'transcribed' that was foxing me ... [Not 'reversioned'!! ]