Der er magi i luften

Min DacMagic ankom i dag og blev sluttet til så snart jeg kom hjem fra arbejde. Den har endnu kun været brugt med Squeezeboxen her i aften. Selv nu - efter kun få timer med strøm på - er det et glimrende match. Kammermusik er stadig lidt skarpt i toppen (jeg har hørt Pastorale sonaten af Beethoven og den første klaver trio af Brahms over højttalerne), men det forventer jeg falder på plads over de næste dage eller måske uger.

Stort orkester lyder fremragende. Jeg hørte Symfoni nr 1 af den danske komponist Ludolf Nielsen (nej, ikke Carl Nielsen og de er heller ikke i familie - Ludolf er en sen-romantiker der stadig venter i skyggerne på sit brede gennembrud) på Denon AH-D2000 hovedtelefonerne og det var fantastisk. Rent, klart, flot definerede instrumenter præcist placeret i et stort lydbillede. Dyb og slank bas uden noget boom, luftig diskant. Squeezeboxen har aldrig lydt så godt før.

Det analoge system har fået konkurrence - nå, nok om det, der skal mere musik til!

Magic is in the air

There is magic in the air. The DacMagic arrived today and went straight into action as soon as I got home from work. It has only been playing with the Squeezebox as source this evening. Even now - after a few hours of power - it is a great match. Chamber music is still a little sharp in the top (I heard the Pastorale sonata by Beethoven and the first piano trio by Brahms thru the loudspeakers), but I expect that to settle in the next days or maybe weeks.

The large orchestra is just marvelous. I heard Symphoni no 1 by the Danish composer Ludolf Nielsen (no, not Carl Nielsen and they are not family - Ludolf is a late romantic composer waiting in the shadows for a broader acclaim) on the Denon AH-D2000 headphones and that was fantastic. Clean, clear, finely defined instruments precisely placed on a large soundstage. Deep slender bass without any boom, airy treble. The Squeezebox never sounded anything near this good.

The analog rig certainly got competition - enough of this and on with the music!

Analog er her stadig

Cambridge 640P pick-up forforstærkeren har nu haft strøm på i mere end 96 timer og jeg har hørt 23 LP sider gennem den. Den bliver bare bedre og bedre - nu er den storslået. Definitionen af de enkelte instrumenter, deres placering, hele lydbilledet og dynamikken overgår langt alt hvad jeg har hørt på vinyl før - og er meget bedre end mit digitale setup (som bestemt ikke er ringe).

Ved et tilfælde blev det til et lille Barbirolli tema i denne week-end. I går hørte jeg En London Symfoni (Symfoni nr 2) af Vaughan Williams med Hallé Orkesteret dirigeret af Sir John Barbirolli. Så vidt jeg kan se er denne plade fra 1968 (HMV Concert Classics på EMI SXLP 30180), men optagelsen ser ud til at være fra 1958. Det er 51 år siden - det kan man absolut ikke høre! Optagelsen er så klar, ren og dynamisk at kun få moderne optagelser kan stå mål med det.

I dag har jeg hørt Sibelius Symfoni nr 2 i D-dur, Opus 43 med Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - også dirigeret af Sir John. Pladen er på RCA Gold Seal GL25011 produceret i 1976 (men kunne godt være en genudsendelse af en ældre optagelse? - jeg mener at Gold Seal er en genudgivelses label). Igen - ren, kraftfuld, dynamisk - en perfekt gengivelse af det store orkester og koncertsalens akustik.

En anden dejlig plade der fik en tur på tallerknen i dag er Waldstein klaver sonaten af Beethoven, spillet af Vladimir Ashkenazy fra "Beethoven: Favourite Piano Sonatas" boks sættet på Decca London. Flyglet har aldrig lydt bedre på noget stereo anlæg jeg har haft gennem de sidste næsten 40 år. Heller ikke på CD. Det er simpelthen pragtfuldt. De to symfonier blev købt for mange år siden, mens jeg fandt Beethoven sættet i en (nu desværre lukket) plade forretning i København for nogle få år siden.

For et par dage siden kom der mail fra HiFi-Klubben om at de får et stort læs Cambridge DacMagic midt i april. Jeg bestilte min 1.januar og det har været en lang ventetid. Jeg glæder mig meget til at høre hvad DAC'en kan gøre for både min Squeezebox og CD spilleren - måske får grammofonen lidt konkurrence? ;-)

Nå, grammofonen har nu en uomtvistelig fordel frem for CD-spilleren (og ethvert andet digitalt medie) - den kan spille de 500 LP'er der står på hylderne. Og CD-spilleren har en helt klar vinder position når det gælder de 6 hyldemeter med CD'er!

Analogue is still here

The Cambridge 640P phono pre-amplifier has now been powered up for more than 96 hours and I have heard 23 LP sides thru it. It is just getting better and better - now it is marvelous. The definition of the single instruments, their placement, the total soundstage and the dynamics are far above anything I have ever heard on vinyl before - and much better than my digital rig (which is no slouch at all).

By coincidence it has become a small Barbirolli revival. Yesterday I heard A London Symphony by Vaughan Williams with the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli. As far as I can see this pressing is from 1968 (HMV Concert Classics on EMI SXLP 30180), but the recording is from 1958. And you can't hear that age at all! This recording is so clear, clean and dynamic that few modern recordings can stand up to it.

Today I have just heard Sibelius Symphony no 2 in D major, Opus 43 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - also conducted by Sir John. This recording is on RCA Gold Seal GL25011 produced 1976 (but could be a reissue of an older recording?). Again - clean, powerfull, dynamic - a perfect reproduction of the large orchestra and the ambience of the concerthall.

Another wonderfull record that got a spin today was the Waldstein piano sonata by Beethoven played by Vladimir Ashkenazy from the "Favourite Piano Sonatas" box set on Decca London. The grand piano has never been better and more natural on any of my stereo setups thru the last nearly 40 years. Neither on CD. It is just marvelous. The two symphonies where bought many years ago but I found the Beethoven set at a (now sadly closed) record shop in Copenhagen a few years ago.

A couple of days ago I got a mail from my dealer that they will get a large load of Cambridge DacMagic's mid April. I ordered mine January 1. It has been a long wait. I realy look forward to hear what the DAC can do to both my Squeezebox and the CD player - maybe the grammophone will get some competition? ;-)

Well the gramophone has got one area where it surpasses the CD-player (and any other digital media) - it can play the 500 LP's on my shelves. And the CD player certainly wins for playing the 6 shelf meters of CD's!

640P er ankommet!

Her i eftermiddag kom pakkeposten med den nye Cambridge 640P phono for-forstærker. Jeg var stadig i gang med at arbejde, så den fik god tid til at nå stuetemperatur før der kom strøm på. Selv om Cambridge skriver at man skal lade den stå tændt i 36 timer før den optimale lyd er til stede, så er den allerede rigtig god. Efter kun 6 timer med strøm på og 6 LP sider (fra en Birthday Ode to Queen Mary fra 1692 af Purcell til sidste halvdel af Gurrelieder af Schönberg) er der allerede stor kvalitet til stede. De enkelte instrumenter er placeret præcist og klippe solidt i et stort lydbillede. Bunden er dyb, præcis og kontrolleret. Toppen er blød men har også glans hvor den skal. Violiner - også en masse - er pragtfulde. Hele skalaen er ren, detaljeret og en fornøjelse at lytte til uden nogen tegn på sus eller brum.

Og så bliver det endda bedre over de næste dage og uger!

The 640P has arrived!

This afternoon the Cambridge 640P phono pre-amp arrived. I was still working, so it got the time for gaining room temperature before any power was allowed to enter. Even as Cambridge tell the user to allow it 36 hours of continous use to reach the best performance it is already very good. After just 6 hours of power and 6 LP sides (from a Birthday Ode to Queen Mary by Purcell to the last half of Gurrelieder by Schönberg) a lot of the quality is present. The single instruments are placed very precise and rock solid in a vast soundscape. The bottom is deep, precise and controlled. The top is smooth and yet sparkles as it should. Violins - also en masse - are wonderfull. The whole scale is clean, detailed and a joy to listen to without any sign of hiss or hum.

And it will be even better during the next days and weeks!

Phono for-forstærker

Der var faktisk et alternativ til den lidt smådyre Pro-Ject Tube Box jeg skrev om for nylig. Jeg fandt en stribe reviews - både hos TNT-Audio og andre steder - der roste Cambridge 640P RIAA i høje toner. Den er i stand til at håndtere såvel MM som MC pick-up'er og med en pris der ligger en god mellemklasse pick-up under Tube Box'en var det faktisk en nem beslutning. Den blev bestilt her til aften ;-)

Nu venter jeg utålmodigt på at komme til at sammenligne den med phono trinnet i Exposure 2010 forstærkeren - det bliver interessant!

Og næste spørgsmål? - Hm, Denon DL 160 high-output MC pick-up'en får rigtigt mange fine omtaler? Men der er naturligvis også DL 103R, DL 304, nogle Ortofon, nogle Bentz... (selvom prisen hurtigt render der op ad).

Phono pre-amp

There was in fact an alternative to the somewhat priced Pro-Ject Tube Box I wrote of lately. I found a lot of reviews - bot at TNT-Audio and several others - giving high praise to the Cambridge 640P RIAA. Capable of handling both MM and MC pick-ups and at a price a good medium price pick-up lower than the Tube Box it was a no-brainer. It got ordered tonight ;-) 

Now I am waiting impatiently to hear it compared to the phono stage of the Exposure 2010 - that will be interesting!

And the next question? - Hm, the Denon DL 160 high output MC pick-up get many fine comments? But then there is also the DL 103R, the DL 304, some Ortofons, some Bentz ....

Bacillen kommer igen

Jeg begynder at føle det igen – Audiophilia Nervosa – bacillen der giver upgraditis. Den kan være smitsom blandt audiophiler. I de sidste par uge er jeg begyndt at lytte mere til og også overveje mit analoge udstyr væsentligt mere. Vinyl kan noget helt specielt. Det kan være svært at forklare, men der er en form for ”rigtighed” og nærvær ved lyden fra LP'er der ikke helt findes i de digitale medier. Jeg afviser ingen medier, de har hver deres fordele. En af de store fordele ved vinyl er for mit vedkommende de 500 LP'er på hylderne.

Min grammofon – en ProJect RPM 4 – og dens arm er glimrende. Det jeg overvejer er pick-up og forforstærker. Pick-up'en er en Tekni-Fi K3 (eller mere præcist en K1 med K3 nåleforsats). Udenfor Danmark er den vist bedre kendt som en Tom Fletcher (eller Nottingham Analogue) konstruktion fra omkring 2001. Pick-up forforstærkeren er et indbygget modul i min Exposure 2010 forstærker. For tiden finder jeg denne kombination en smule for muskuløs og grovkornet og ikke så raffineret som jeg kunne ønske.

Alternativer? Tja for mange år siden havde jeg en rigtig god moving coil pick-up. Jeg tror den var fra Koetsu eller en anden Japansk fabrikant. Den var fremragende til større orkesterværker (jeg brugte en Stanton 681 EEE med en special tilpasset forforstærker til mindre ensembler, vokal, barok og kammer musik på den tid). Pick-up'en blev solgt omkring 1980 sammen med den batteridrevne Mark Levinson MC forforstærker. Når jeg læser om Koetsu i dag er de langt udenfor rækkevidde, men ideen om moving coil tiltaler mig stadig meget. Rimelige alternativer kunne være Denon DL103, DL103R, DL304 eller måske noget Ortofon. Faktisk har jeg – skønt dansk – aldrig ejet en Ortofon pick-up – det var måske på tide at gøre noget ved det?

Når talen falder på MC kommer den næste udfordring – forforstærkning. Mit nuværende phono trin kan ikke håndtere MC pick-upper. Den løsning der virker mest tiltalende lige nu er Pro-Ject Tube Box II. Med en evne til at håndtere såvel MM som MC pick-ups og meget fine omtaler på nettet kunne det være et første trin, der også giver et løft til den nuværende K3?

Tube Box'en ville også kunne opfylde noget af min både lydmæssige, visuelle og principielle fascination af rør udstyr. Omkring den tid jeg anskaffede Pro-Ject grammofonen lånte jeg et rør-bestykket RIAA trin i nogle dage. Det var den bedste og mest magiske lyd jeg nogensinde har haft fra en analog kilde. Men jeg var nødt til at balancere HiFi budget anderledes på det tidspunkt.

The bug returns

I am starting to feel it again - Audiophilia Nervosa - the bug that brings upgraditis. It can be catching among audiophiles. During the last couple of weeks I have started listening to and considering my analog rig a lot more. Vinyl has something of its own. It can be hard to explain but there is some sort of "rightness" about the sound from the LP's that is not to be found in the digital media. I am not dismissing any media - they have all their advantages. One of the great advantages of vinyl is for me the 500 LP's on the shelves.

My turntable - a Pro-Ject RPM 4 - and its arm are good. What I am considering is the pick-up and the phono preamplifier. The pick-up is a Tekni-Fi K3 (or more precisely a K1 upgraded with the K3 needle). Outside Denmark I think it is known as a Tom Fletcher (or Nottingham Analogue) construction from around 2001. The phono preamp is a build in MM module in my Exposure 2010 amplifier. These days I find the combination a bit to the muscular and rough side and not as refined as I could want.

Alternatives? Well many years ago I had a very good moving coil pick-up,  I think it was from Koetsu or some other Japanese manufacturer. It was spectacular for large orchestral music (I used a Stanton 681 EEE for smaller ensembles and the more baroque and chamber like music at that time). This pick-up was sold around 1980, together with the battery driven Mark Levinson MC preamp. Reading of Koetsu today place it far out of reach, but the idea of moving coil is still much to my liking. A viable alternative could be the Denon DL103, DL103R, DL304 or maybe some Ortofon. As a matter of fact even being Danish I have never owned an Ortofon pick-up - could the time have come to remediate that?

Speaking of MC brings up the next problem - pre-amplification. My present phono stage is not able to handle MC pick-ups. The solution that seems most appealing right now is the Pro-Ject Tube Box II. Being able to handle both MM and MC pick-ups and having a fine reputation among reviewers on the net this might be the first step even giving a lift to the present K3?

The Tube Box would also fulfill some of my both sonic, visual and principal fascination of tube equipment. Around the time I got the Pro-Ject turntable I borrowed a tube based phono preamp for a couple of days. It was the best and most magic sound I ever had from an analog source. But I had to balance the Hifi budget otherwise at the time.

Inspiration - fra Nielsen til Tippet

Inspirationen til hvad man skal høre kan komme fra de mest forskellige steder. Forleden morgen vækkede vores clock-radio os med midtersatsen fra Carl Nielsens Lille Suite for Strygere. Det er en dejlig let, hvirvlende og luftig vals der kun kunne blive starten på en smuk og solrig dag.

Jeg var nødt til at høre hele suiten samme aften. Det blev på en frisk lydende men ret gammel optagelse med Carl Garaguly i spidsen for Tivolis Symfoniorkester. En dejlig optagelse og et fint stykke musik. Den gamle LP (TF 121) er fra det i vore dage noget uventede pladeselskab Fona. På den samme LP er der også en optagelse af Symfoni nr 2. Den havde jeg totalt glemt da jeg skrev lister over mine optagelser af symfonierne for nogen tid siden.

Lille Suite er Carl Nielsens opus 1 og blev skrevet i 1883 da han var 18 år gammel. Det er et charmerende og tiltalende stykke der lover godt for de ting der skulle komme senere.

At høre Lille Suite fik inspirationen til at flyde, og jeg kom til at tænke på Little Music for String Orchestra af den engelske komponist Michael Tippet. Tilbage til LP hylderne for at finde 1972 optagelsen med Neville Marriner som dirigent for St.Martin in-the-Fields ensemblet. Den er på side to af en Argo LP (ZRG 680) sammen med Fantasia Concertante over et tema af Corelli. Little Music er et mere strengt og stærkt stykke end Nielsens Suite, men det var meget interessant at sammenligne de to. Den meget unge Nielsen havde allerede fundet en del af den stil der skulle komme i fuld blomst hos den modne komponist. Den erfarne Tippet var i 1946 ved starten af en ny stil - stadig lidt stift, men på vej frem mod højdepunktet i The Midsummer Marriage (nåh ja - den har jeg også i den første komplette optagelse med Colin Davis og Covent Gardens kor og orkester fra 1970. Det var den optagelse der introducerede mig til Tippet og det blev starten på en fin lille samling - og en større fascination). På side et af Argo pladen ligger Koncert for dobbelt strygeorkester fra 1938-39. Det er et af mesterværkerne fra Tippets første stilperiode. Den optagelse skal vist have noget spilletid snart?

Jeg må nu tilstå at Corelli Fantasien fra 1953 er den smukke juvel sammenlignet med Little Music. Det er et komplekst, smukt og meget interessant stykke musik. Den store fuga i 5.del af Fantasien er et dybt betagende mesterværk. Der er gået mange år siden jeg sidst hørte dette stykke, men magien slog til med fuld styrke allerede under opbygningen til fugaen - jeg vidste præcist hvad der ville komme og det var endnu bedre end jeg huskede det. Fremragende! Denon hovedtelefonerne lod også musikken stråle i sin fulde herlighed. For mig har de været perfekte til alle de typer klassisk musik jeg hidtil har hørt på dem, og de bliver stadig bedre med flere timers spilletid.

Inspiration - from Nielsen to Tippet

Inspiration for what to hear can comme from many different places. A couple of days ago our clock-radio woke us by playing the middle movement of Little Suite for Strings by Carl Nielsen. It is a wonderfully light swirling and airy waltz that could only be the start of a beautiful sunny day. 

I had to hear the complete suite the same evening. It was a fresh sounding but quite old Danish recording with Carl Garaguly leading the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra from Copenhagen. A very good recording and a fine piece of music. The old LP (TF 121) is from the somewhat unexpected label Fona (a Danish company, today a chain of Radio/TV shops). On the same LP is another recording of the 2.symphony by Carl Nielsen I totally forgot when listing my recordings of the symphonies some days ago.

The Little Suite is Carl Nielsens opus 1 and composed 1883 when he was 18 years old. It is a charming and deligthful piece with promisses for things to come.

Hearing the Little Suite got the inspirations flowing and I remembered the Little Music for String Orchestra by Michael Tippet. Back to the shelves to find the 1972 recording with Neville Marriner conducting Academy of St.Martin-in-the-Fields. It is on side two of an Argo LP (ZRG 680) together with Fantasia Concertante on a theme of Corelli. The Little Music is a more strict and strong piece of music than the Nielsen Suite, but it was very interesting to compare the two. The very young Nielsen had already found some of the style that would later come into full bloom for the mature artist. The experienced Tippet was in 1946 at the start of a new style - still a little stiff but leading to the high point later in The Midsummer Marriage (well, yes - I have also got that in the first complete recording with Colin Davis and Covent Garden. This was my introduction to Tippet, and the start of a fine little collection - and fascination). On side one of the recording is the Concerto for Double String Orchestra from 1938-39. This is a masterpiece from the first period of Tippets compositional styles. That recording must get som playing time one of the next days.

But I must admit - the Corelli Fantasia from 1953 is the wonderful jewel compared to Little Music. It is a complex, beautiful and very interesting piece of music. The grand fugue in the 5.part of the Fantasia is nothing but a breathtaking masterpiece. Many years has passed since I last heard this piece, but the magic struck with full power already during the build-up to the fugue - I knew precisely what was comming and it was even better than I remembered. Marvelous! And the Denon headphones made it shine in full glory. For me they are perfect for all the types of classical I have heard on them, and they still grow better with more hours of playing time.

My friend Gustav

This is a translation of a posting in Danish from February 4. 2009

My friend Gustav has written a lot of wonderful music. Well – he is not a personal friend I have met and his last name is Mahler. But I have been a great fan of his music since way back.

It has been a while since I last listened to any Mahler. It takes really good speakers and understanding surroundings to get the full benefit of the large orchestras in the Mahler symphonies.

Yesterday evening he got some playtime again and it was a great return.


It was the Symphony no 7 in a recent recording with Valery Gergiev leading the London Symphony Orchestra. I bought this recording at the iTunes shop sometime during the last fall and have it on my iPod. It sounds good here, but really good it became last evening when I connected the iPod to the stereo kit. When cranked up somewhat the TQWT's (my homebuild quarter-wave horns with Fostex FFE166e units) can shine in their handling of the deepest bass and the complex soundscape at the same time. And without loosing either the air or the details in the recording or compressing everything to one compact lump in the powerful passages. Pure delight.

And so is the music!

That wets the appetite for listening to more of the recordings I have. Most of them are older and on LP. For example no 1, 3, 4 and 9 with Jasha Horenstein. No 5, 6 and 7 with Bernard Haitink. The adagio from no 10 with Boulez or the dublicates: no 1 with Klaus Tennstedt, no 4 with Karajan and no 9 with Klemperer. For some reason I have never got hold of no 8 – even not on CD. I have only got a few of the symphonies on CD – no 1 with Petroschof, no 2 with Neumann and no 5 with Wit. Not any of these recordings can reach the knees of the old LP's. My favorites for Mahler is without any doubt Horenstein and Haitink.

We must not forget the songs with orchestra. On the LP shelves we find Das Klagende Lied in the first complete recording with Boulez as conductor and Evelyn Lear, Elisabeth Söderström, Grace Hoffman, Stuart Burrows, Ernst Häfliger and Gert Nienstedt as singers from 1970 (on CBS). It is a marvelous recording giving wonderful shivers and deep oppression. Das Lied von der Erde is with Haitink at the front and Janet Baker and James King as singers. On CD I have got 2 Rückert Lieders with Robert Wagner conducting the Symphonieorchester Innsbruck and Maura Moreira singing the alto voice. Well yes – quite a suspect recording – the label also hints in that direction “The Rose Collection”.

One thing that fascinate me by Mahler is his way to have multiple things going on in the orchestra at the same time and in a way that every instrument is totally audible almost without regard to what else is going on. For example can a solo oboe have its own private comments contrary to the rest of the orchestra – and be totally audible. In this Mahler in fact reminds me of one of my other favorites in the large scale symphonic repertoire – Carl Nielsen. He has got a little of the same (some times a lot) quirky way of letting a single instrument stand up against the rest of the orchestra. By Nielsen the clarinet and the side drum are typical examples, but they are not the only ones.

Another parallel to the Mahler way of using the orchestra I find in the Gurre Lieder by Arnold Schönberg. There is in fact quite a lot here reminding of Das Klagende Lied. Gurre Lieder is on my shelves in the classic LP version with János Ferencsik leading the Danish Radio (DR) Symphony Orchestra and with Martina Arroyo, Alexander Young, Janet Baker, Odd Wolstad, Niels Møller and Julius Patzak as soloists. The recording was made March 18., 1968 in the DR concert hall – and it was not released until 1974. We waited a long time for that! It is almost symbolic for the time that Schönberg used to finish the composition (and very typical for the unbelievable problems DR always had to get their recordings release during those years – that almost could be the basis of a major historical posting). I am not quite sure if I attended that concert myself. But I am sure that I attended a couple of the great DR concerts in 1972 that first was release on LP in 1976 – more of this another time.

Well isn't it quite a while since I last heard some Carl Nielsen? - I have got a nice handful of the good classic recordings on CD also, they might be put on the music server so the Squeezebox can have a chance? There is the very classic recordings of Symphony no 3 and 5 with Bernstein – those that made Carl Nielsen known outside tight circles abroad and a fine lineup of other older and newer recordings of mainly the symphonies. The classical recordings are naturally also found on the shelves in LP version bought (very) early in the 1970's. In fact there is 11 single LP's with music by Carl Nielsen plus two box sets and 12 CD's. That could be the ground for a new posting ;-)

And that in fact came the 18. and 22. of february and was translated on the 23. of February.
This will be the last of the old postings I translate. Stay tuned for new postings in both Danish and English.

Dette var det sidste gamle indlæg jeg oversætter – hæng på for nye indlæg på både dansk og engelsk.

Nielsens nr 1 (english)

This is a translation of a posting in Danish from February 22. 2009.

- from Nørresnede, as my late dad would have added. But it is long since I could share my musical experiences and discoveries with him. Now I must share with you!

In the recent days I have heard two other recordings of the Carl Nielsen Symphony no 1. Both with Danish conductors, but very different. And both very right and not as I had remembered or expected them.


First Thomas Jensen and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra (LP, Decca Eclipse ECS 570, copy from 1970). It is both factually and audible the oldest one. Technically the quality is good, but the soundstage is a little compressed and not as broad and expansive as later recordings – and that is quite natural. I have not been able to date this recording precisely. It must be not earlier than 1957 when Jensen moved from Aarhus to Copenhagen, and not later than 1963 when he dies. This is well in line with the recording being in stereo. The first recordings Thomas Jensen made of the Nielsen symphonies are dated from 1944 and into the early 1950's and all in mono. The major difference to more modern recordings is the tempo. The tempo is faster and more insisting than I have ever heard on any other recording. It is absolutely worth hearing as a fresh wind thru well known music, and not just as a historical document. When you have in mind that Thomas Jensen studied under Carl Nielsen at the academy of music and that he played all of the symphonies as a cellist with Nielsen himself conducting the orchestra it is not strange that the daughters of Carl Nielsen said that Thomas Jensen was the conductor that came closest to their farther in his performances of the symphonies.


The contrast of the day is the Ole Schmidt recording of no 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) (LP, Unicorn RHS 324-330 box-set with all 6 symphonies from 1973-74). Here the technical quality is at the top, the orchestral play is marvelous and the tempo somewhat slower. I thought I remembered Ole Schmidt as very temperamental and almost violent? It must be time and memory playing around here ;-)

In short – this is Nielsen to my taste!


It is much fun to compare the performances from different times and different countries of the same piece of music. If I myself must conclude anything it will be that Schmidt and Ormandy has got the solid mainstream offerings of this symphony. Jensen has the very interesting alternative – and maybe more original – performance. While Bostock not quite gets it. But it is the differences that enrich.

I wonder if not the next project in comparative record listening must be the Symphony no 5 by Carl Nielsen? Not just because it for many years has been my top favourite symphony but also because I have a whole lot of (very different) recordings – and it is years since I last heard any of them.

Head-Fi - Denon AH-D2000 (english)

This is a translation of a posting in Danish from February 21. 2009.

It had been simmering for a while. Since I got the Argon HA-1 headphone amplifier - or soon after. Maybe the old Sennheiser HD-570's was growing to old? They had a lot of loose - boomy? - bass and missed something in the high end. That inspired a lot of searching and reading on the net.

I quite soon found two decent candidates for a major improvement. One is a true classic – Sennheiser HD-650. They get rave reviews everywhere. But several mention that they first really sing with a good tube amplifier. For example the Little Dot MK III or IV. Well, I have just bought an amplifier? The other candidate that came more and more into focus was the Denon AH-D2000 (the greater siblings are also very tempting but with prices 2 and 3 times higher they are way out of reach).

The Sennheiser can be found at reasonable prices around the net, although is not that easy to get to listen to in this corner of the world. But they have got the Denon at the HiFi-Klubben stores – also in Holbæk, so I dropped in to listen today.



The sound is terrific – and as you can se in the picture they had to come home with me. They didn't have a boxed sample in Holbæk and the demo kit had a scratch, so I had to go to Roskilde to fetch it. It was definitely worth the ride. The good people told me to let them play for a couple of hours before I even listened to them. I could not wait! Right from the beginning they sound really good. If they will get much better in a few hours and perfect after 100 or more then great things are coming.

Even now the bass is more tight and the mids and treble are silky and precise at the same time. As the Denon's are closed they also isolate much better for the sound – both inward and outward – than the totally open Sennheisers. At the same time they are perfectly comfortable to wear. The thick cable is very convincing. It's also nice that it won't tangle and twist every time you get them on or off.

But I am still waiting (not at all patiently) for my DacMagic...

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.

To-sproget blog

Da jeg kan se at denne blog har læsere mange forskellige steder, har jeg besluttet at skrive den to-sproget i en periode. Hvis det ser ud til at være af interesse vil jeg fortsætte med det. For at få gang i den to-sprogede del, vil jeg oversætte et par af de seneste indlæg til engelsk.

Jeg vil naturligvis være meget glad for at høre reaktioner på dette!

Bilingual blog

As I can see that this blog has got readers in many different places I have decided to try to write this blog bilingual for a period. If the response - or the distribution of readers - tend to show that this is of interest, I will continue. To make a kick-start I will translate a couple of the last postings.

I will of course be glad to receive any feed-back on this initiative!

Nielsens nr 1

- fra Nørresnede, som min far ville have tilføjet - men det er længe siden jeg har kunnet dele musikalske oplevelser med ham. Så nu er det jer jeg må dele med.

I de senere dag har jeg hørt to andre udgaver af Carl Nielsens Symfoni nr 1. Begge med danske dirigenter, men meget forskellige. Og begge meget rigtige, og ikke som jeg umiddelbart havde husket/tænkt dem.

Først Thomas Jensen og Radiosymfoniorkesteret (LP, Decca Eclipse ECS 570, produceret 1970). Det er både faktisk og hørbart den ældste. Teknisk set er kvaliteten god, men lydbilledet er lidt komprimeret og ikke så bredt og ekspansivt som senere indspilninger - men det er jo naturligt nok. Jeg har ikke kunnet tidsfæste denne optagelse præcist, men den må ligge mellem 1957 hvor Thomas Jensen skifter fra Århus til København, og 1963 hvor han dør. Det stemmer også med at den er i stereo. Thomas Jensens tidligere indspilninger af Nielsen symfonier fra '44 og ind i 50'erne er i mono. Den store forskel til nyere indspilninger er tempoet, det er en del højere og mere insisterende end jeg har hørt på nogen anden udgave. Den er absolut værd at høre som et frisk pust, og ikke kun som et historisk dokument. Når man tænker på at Thomas Jensen har haft Carl Nielsen som lærer og at han har spillet alle symfonierne som cellist med Carl Nielsen selv som dirigent, er der ikke noget at sige til at Carl Nielsens døtre har udtalt at Thomas Jensen er den der kommer deres far nærmest i opførelserne af symfonierne.

Dagens modsætning er Ole Schmidts indspilning af nr 1 med London Symphony Orchestra (LP, Unicorn RHS 324-330 boks sættet med alle 6 symfonier fra 1973-74). Her er den tekniske kvalitet i top, orkesterspillet er storslået og tempoet en del langsommere. Jeg havde ellers husket Ole Schmidt som meget ilter og næsten voldsom? Det må være både tiden og hukommelsen der spiller ind her ;-) Kort sagt - det er Nielsen lige efter min smag!

Det er rigtigt spændende at sammenlige forskellige tiders og landsmænds opfattelser af det samme stykke musik. Hvis jeg selv skal konkludere noget må det være at Schmidt og Ormandy har de gode solide mainstream bud på symfonien, Jensen har det meget interessante alternative - og måske mere originale? - bud, mens Bostock ikke helt rammer. Men det er netop spredningen der beriger.

Mon ikke næste projekt i sammenlignende pladelytning skal være være Carl Nielsens symfoni nr 5? - både fordi det i rigtigt mange år har været min suveræne yndlingssymfoni, fordi jeg har så dejligt mange forskellige (meget forskellige!) indspilninger og fordi det er meget længe siden jeg har hørt den sidst.   

Head-Fi - Denon AH-D2000

Det har rumlet et stykke tid. Siden jeg anskaffede Argon HA-1 hovedtelefonforstærkeren - eller i hvert fald kort efter. Måske var de gamle Sennheiser HD-570 efterhånden for gamle? De havde masser af rigelig løs bas og manglede noget i toppen. Det gav inspiration til en masse læsen på nettet.

Jeg fandt hurtigt frem til at der var to rimelige kandidater til en kraftig forbedring. Den ene er en klassiker - Sennheiser HD-650. De får fremragende omtale over alt. Men flere skriver også at de først for alvor viser hvad de kan med en god rør-forstærker - f.eks en Little Dot MK III eller IV. Nå, nu har jeg jo netop købt forstærker? Den anden kandidat der tegnede sig mere og mere tydeligt er Denon AH-D2000 (dens større brødre lyder også meget fristende, men priser på 4500,- og noget over 6000,- var en hel del udenfor det realistiske).

Sennheiseren kan fås til en rimelig pris mange steder på nettet, men er ikke lige til at komme til at høre. Denon'en derimod har de hos HiFi-Klubben - også i Holbæk, så der var jeg forbi i dag for at lytte.

De lyder fremragende - og som det kan ses af billedet måtte de også med hjem. Nu havde de ikke et sæt tilbage i Holbæk og demo eksemplaret havde en ridse, så jeg måtte forbi Roskilde for at hente dem. Det var afgjort turen værd. Selvom de gode mennesker anbefalede at lade dem ligge og spille et par timer før jeg overhovedet tog dem på, kunne jeg naturligvis ikke vente. Lige fra starten lyder de rigtigt godt, og hvis det bliver meget bedre på nogle få timer, og først helt perfekt efter omkring 100 så er der store ting i vente.

Allerede nu er bassen strammere og mellemtone og diskant er silkeblød og samtidigt præcis. Da Denon'en er lukket isolerer de også langt bedre for lyden - både udefra og indefra - end de fuldtstændigt åbne Sennheiser. Samtidigt er de fantastisk behagelige at have på og det tykke kabel virker meget overbevisende, og det er rart at det ikke snor sig hver gang man tager dem af og på.

Men jeg går stadig og venter (meget lidt tålmodigt) på min DacMagic...