Prom 46: Danish National SO (20.08.15)

[Darkbloom]

I'm looking forward to this. It will be the first time I've seen a concert conducted by a man with his own perfume line. It takes me back to the days when that sort of thing was commonplace. I can well remember the "Bernard Haitink Aftershave" of the mid '80s. A very unfortunate picture of him on the box - shirt open to the waist and wearing a medallion - but I guess we live and learn!

[HighlandDougie]

but I can't recall their names right now.

A wonderful performance from the early 1950s of the fourth is that by Launy Grøndahl and the Royal Danish Orchestra, despite his slight tinkering with the orchestration. Alas, the quality of the Naxos download is truly execrable - it's worth trying to find the Dutton CD, which, is, unfortunately, now on sale on Amazon at ludicrous prices. Wholly agree with you about Salonen, Blomstedt (ever so slightly dull) and Karajan (a terrible recording of a performance which does Nielsen something of a disservice). Fine performance, if you can find it, by Igor Markevitch, also with the Royal Danish.

[edashtav]

I listened live to the first part and it brought back very many happy memories of first hearing the Royal Danish Orchestra in an all-Nielsen Concerto (eat your heart out, Jayne!) in a wonderful acoustic in Blackburn, Lancs thirty or forty years ago . I'm not a great fan of his Helios overture finding the sun's progress a little obvious and prosaic. Now, I know that Jayne would have preferred to have the Nielsen VC to follow. Nikolaj Znaider, chose, or perhaps the BBC chose for him(given Znaider's remarks before his encore), the Brahms Concerto. Brahms, of course, opens his concerto with a long exposition for the orchestra, so long, indeed, given elements of development that obtrude that one begins to wonder whether the soloist will ever be allowed to heards, or if he will be given the space to make a mark. I loved the way that Nikolaj launched his performance - not the steady rising sun of Nielsen's piece but a shooting star straight into the firmament. Znaider took his moment to perfection and the contrast with Nielsen's slower heavenly path was well made. I enjoyed Znaider's performance of the Brahms and the orchestra's solid accompaniment. Znaider was right, pace BBC, to choose unaccompanied Bach as his encore! This listener is never sated by JSB.

[maestro267]

Tonight was the first time I've heard the Helios Overture, and I must say, it's a wonderful piece! As is Hymnus amoris (listening as I write).

[Beef Oven!]

Half-way through the third movement of N2 - is this one of the best performances of this symphony in a long while or am I getting carried away in the moment!!??

[Beef Oven!]

Clapping after the first movement, fine.
Following the 'allegro comodo e flemmatico'? I'm really not sure.
In between the 'andante malincolico' and the 'allegro sanguineo' felt totally wrong.

Anyway, Fabio Luisi and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra have, IMV just given one of the best performances of Nielsen 2 in a long while - loved it!

P.S. The attentive (but perhaps not entirely respectful!) audience have been rewarded with an encore!

[Alison]

Delighted to be able to catch a Prom live and what good measure tonight.

Thoroughly enjoyable performances with non irritating presentation to match.

[seabright]

I'm still waiting for people to cotton on to the fact that Nielsen is a wonderful composer who should be performed more often. I think his music is quite difficult to perform well (Bernstein recorded a good Third but an indifferent Fourth, for example), so perhaps that is part of the reason for the relative neglect he suffers from. He is one of those composers who is truly 'life-enhancing' and the Four Temperaments is a good introduction to his work. Why we can find room for a Sibelius cycle and not one for Nielsen is a mystery, and an opportunity missed. If someone asked me what sort of composer he most resembled I would probably plump for Haydn - not for the way they sound but for the good-humour and earthy wisdom that their best works typify. There aren't many composers you could call 'loveable' but I think Nielsen is one of those.

Apropos the above comment on Nielsen being performed "more often," it's interesting and coincidental that Stokowski made that same point about the 6th Symphony. In 1965, he conducted it for the only time in his life for a BBC studio broadcast and in the interval spoke to Deryck Cooke who asked him what he thought of "this strange symphony." Stokowski frankly admitted that he did not understand it but said he would like to conduct it again, as can be heard in the You Tube upload of this interview ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr1E11dIoCQ

The performance was issued on a BBC Legends CD but I don't know what kind of reviews it received.

[richardfinegold]

There is a Horenstein 6th on You Tube. He worked directly with the Composer and of course made very good commercial recordings of 3 and 5

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There is a Horenstein 6th on You Tube.

Thanks, rfg - I hadn't known about this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCr1oS7mprU

He worked directly with the Composer and of course made very good commercial recordings of 3 and 5

- also available via youTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEKSHYmeq5A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1pAvfacsTg

... and not forgetting that wonderful illustrated performance with introductory commentary by Robert Simpson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=homMLfg6ctk

[Rolmill]

Clapping after the first movement, fine.
Following the 'allegro comodo e flemmatico'? I'm really not sure.
In between the 'andante malincolico' and the 'allegro sanguineo' felt totally wrong.

Anyway, Fabio Luisi and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra have, IMV just given one of the best performances of Nielsen 2 in a long while - loved it!

P.S. The attentive (but perhaps not entirely respectful!) audience have been rewarded with an encore!

Shame not to see more comments on the concert here, but I agree with BO's views on the performance of the symphony - first time I've seen it in concert and was enthralled from start to finish. It augurs very well for Luisi's new role as principal conductor of the DNSO, who seemed really responsive to him.

Actually, I enjoyed the whole (quite long) concert. Znaider produced lots of lovely sounds, as well as bold attack where needed, in the Brahms VC, though I felt he was somewhat taxed by the Heifetz cadenza in the 1st movt. Hymnus Amoris was fun (hard to believe it was the first Proms performance), but the Three Motets were lovely - interesting to see Luisi conduct this rather than the choir's own conductor.

I've always stayed out of the applause discussions on this forum, but BO's comments above on the applause between the symphony's movements (with which I agree) illustrated IMV both sides of the argument. The end of the first movement positively invited applause, which it received as a clearly spontaneous reaction - and I joined in. But the applause after the 2nd and 3rd movements was desultory and sounded/looked as if it only arose because the 1st movt applause had generated an expectation in some people - and it was (to me) unwelcome. I was side on to him, but I thought I saw Luisi raise his eyebrows at the smattering of applause after the 3rd movt. There isn't a right or wrong answer - permitting/encouraging applause where I view it as appropriate in the musical context inevitably carries the risk that others will extend the practice into places where I don't like it because their opinion as to when it is appropriate differs from mine.

I suspect it's more irritating on the radio than in the hall, though - it certainly didn't spoil an excellent concert for me.

[Beef Oven!]

Shame not to see more comments on the concert here, but I agree with BO's views on the performance of the symphony - first time I've seen it in concert and was enthralled from start to finish. It augurs very well for Luisi's new role as principal conductor of the DNSO, who seemed really responsive to him.

I have been to two performances of #2 twice, including a white hot rendition from Rattle and the CBSO in London nearly 25 years ago, and last night sounded to me as good as anything I've ever heard.

Actually, I enjoyed the whole (quite long) concert. Znaider produced lots of lovely sounds, as well as bold attack where needed, in the Brahms VC, though I felt he was somewhat taxed by the Heifetz cadenza in the 1st movt. Hymnus Amoris was fun (hard to believe it was the first Proms performance), but the Three Motets were lovely - interesting to see Luisi conduct this rather than the choir's own conductor.

I've always stayed out of the applause discussions on this forum, but BO's comments above on the applause between the symphony's movements (with which I agree) illustrated IMV both sides of the argument. The end of the first movement positively invited applause, which it received as a clearly spontaneous reaction - and I joined in. But the applause after the 2nd and 3rd movements was desultory and sounded/looked as if it only arose because the 1st movt applause had generated an expectation in some people - and it was (to me) unwelcome. I was side on to him, but I thought I saw Luisi raise his eyebrows at the smattering of applause after the 3rd movt. There isn't a right or wrong answer - permitting/encouraging applause where I view it as appropriate in the musical context inevitably carries the risk that others will extend the practice into places where I don't like it because their opinion as to when it is appropriate differs from mine.

I suspect it's more irritating on the radio than in the hall, though - it certainly didn't spoil an excellent concert for me.

Yes, I was at home and it was definitely more disturbing than when I'm at the RHA. It really was a distraction listening at home on the radio, last night.

I am pro-inbetween clapping but I think that audiences must develop an 'instinct' for when it's 'right'. If people are going to follow others like sheep, and get it 'wrong', then it's better not to have any clapping between movements.

[blackalbum]

Just to add to the expressions of pleasure above, I thought this was a terrific concert. Sounded really marvellous in the hall last night. It was indeed a long evening, but literally rather than metaphorically in this case. I really enjoyed the programme - it had a sense of both variety and progression, even if a single composer dominated. Much easier to take and less wearying than 5 piano concertos anyday!

[jayne lee wilson]

Yes, it was a superb 4 Temperaments wasn't it? After such an epic-length concert too!

As soon as Helios got under way the character of the orchestra became clear - lighter & more transparent than the familiar BBC-Orchestra tonal profiles this season, with clean, precise brass, less weighty or rounded...
By the time they reached No.2 they were projecting their sound more boldly into the RAH, and after the superbly angry end to the 1st movement applause did indeed seem apt! (Less so after the malincolico...). I relished the strings' resilience & guttiness when they were playing together in the colerico development & coda.
This orchestra never showed off, or tried too hard to impress - the music came first & they managed make the 2nd Symphony both seriously symphonic and characterful - lovely orchestral colours portraying the 4 Danish Moods brilliantly. Given they're used to such a fine home acoustic, this was a great achievement.

Luisi has a marvellous ear, balancing orchestral textures with x-ray clarity; phrasing was attentive bar-to-bar, tempi perfectly-judged. Encore indeed for the Cockerels!

[ahinton]

Yes, it was a superb 4 Temperaments wasn't it? After such an epic-length concert too!

As soon as Helios got under way the character of the orchestra became clear - lighter & more transparent than the familiar BBC-Orchestra tonal profiles this season, with clean, precise brass, less weighty or rounded...
By the time they reached No.2 they were projecting their sound more boldly into the RAH, and after the superbly angry end to the 1st movement applause did indeed seem apt! (Less so after the melancolico...). I relished the strings' resilience & guttiness when they were playing together in the colerico development & coda.
This orchestra never showed off, or tried too hard to impress - the music came first & they managed make the 2nd Symphony both seriously symphonic and characterful - lovely orchestral colours portraying the 4 Danish Moods brilliantly. Given they're used to such a fine home acoustic, this was a great achievement.

Luisi has a marvellous ear, balancing orchestral textures with x-ray clarity; phrasing was attentive bar-to-bar, tempi perfectly-judged. Encore indeed for the Cockerels!

Luisi is indeed remarkable, as I found when listening to performances of Busoni's Piano Concerto that he conducted, years ago in Germany with Marc-André Hamelin and then more recently in Rome (which I attended live) with Carlo Grante and the finest male chorus I've ever heard in that work.