Nielsen then and now - a small composers theme

Translation of a posting in Danish from February 18. 2009.

Carl Nielsen can be played in many ways. Some days ago I listened to the first two movements of Symphony no 1 in g-minor (Opus 7) in a near recent (2001) recording with Douglas Bostock leading the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Classico Classcd 299). Something was wrong. Especially the first movement was not at all right to my ears. It was disordered and uneasy. Not tense, on the edge, brooding even ominously uneasy as Nielsen not just can, but almost must be in some places. It was just messy and uneasy, as there was no overall thought and understanding behind the performance. The second movement was better, but still not quite right.

I have to admit that the Bostock recordings of the 6 symphonies with accessories never quite has hit the high marks for me.

Some days later I heard an older (1967) recording with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony Classical SM4K 45 989). Thats Nielsen! Here everything finds the right place and sound right and logical. I have this recording on CD in a box set with all 6 symphonies conducted by Ormandy and Bernstein – including the really classic Bernstein recordings of no 5 with the New York Philharmonic from 1962 and no 3 with the Danish Royal Chapel from 1965. This is the necessary set for anyone interested in hearing how the Carl Nielsen symphonies became known outside our local Danish circles.

I have to get some LP's spinning soon – it could be interesting to compare both the oldest recording I have got of no 1 (Thomas Jensen and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. I don't know exactly when it was recorded. My sample is on Decca Eclipse from 1970, and this is Decca's rerun label as far as I know) and the somewhat newer with Ole Schmidt and the London Symphony Orchestra on Unicorn from 1973-74.

Another interesting project is the different versions of no 5 – Thomas Jensen and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (on both LP and CD), Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Jasha Horenstein and the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Ole Schmidt and the LSO and as the last one Douglas Bostock and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (on CD).

Well – 6 different, that sure looks like collecto'mania? The 3.symphony I only have got in 3 different versions (I think – Bernstein, Schmidt and Bostock). The symphonic music of Carl Nielsen has always been very dear to me, but I have never got the hang of his songs.

I just got to mention another of my favorites – Jasha Horenstein. That man can bring orchestras that are not super top notch to play much better than they (or anyone else) think. It is nothing short of magic at the right occasion. I guess we have to return to that another time.