Nielsen: The Symphonies

Includes previously unreleased recordings of concert overtures Helios and Saga-Dream, and the ‘pastoral scene’ Pan and Syrinx with the Lahti Symphony orchestra.

The performance of the Fourth was described as ‘of great character and fire’ in International Record Review, the recording of Symphony No.5 called ‘a first choice, full of intensity’ in BBC Music Magazine

“great music, exciting music-making” --The Times, 17th December 2010

"This is a compelling box, offering a Nielsen cycle of uncommon distinction and authority. It would be hard to better Vänskä’s performances not least for their consistency. BIS has a deserved reputation for the quality of its recorded sound and these discs are in the finest traditions of the house. There’s good bloom on the sound and just the right amount of resonance and, above all, the sound is crystal clear, allowing an abundance of detail to register very naturally. The sound is completely truthful and realistic and there’s an impressive dynamic range, which allows the biggest climaxes to register thrillingly.

Collectors who have not yet sampled Osmo Vänskä in Nielsen should hasten to make good that omission by investing in this excellent set." -- John Quinn, MusicWeb International

Intimate Voices

“…a strong, sympathetic performance of Sibelius's one mature quartet, Voces Intimae, can make you regret that he didn't stick with the medium. …it's good to hear this music taken so seriously, and so shaped so powerfully. The recordings are as fine as this truly outstanding playing deserves.” --BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 *****

“In the Grieg, a powerful, emphatic style highlights the music's passionate intensity. …a magnificent performance… of the Sibelius… with a deeply felt Adagio and, in the finale, playing of such poise, crispness and vitality as to outpace even the 1930s Budapest.” --Gramophone Magazine, June 2006

"La expresividad del Cuarteto Emerson, su infatigable disciplina, esa sonoridad redonda, preciosa (el primer violín es un Stradivarius conocido como Duque de Alba), la singular potencia de cada pupitre, permite que recomendemos este disco como la referencia de cada una de las tres piezas." --CD Compact (Barcelona)

Nielsen: The Complete Concertos

"Niels Thomsen’s powerfully intense account of the late Clarinet Concerto is completely gripping. Michael Schøwandt gives sensitive and imaginative support, both here and in the two companion works. Toke Lund Christiansen is hardly less successful in the Flute Concerto. Kim Sjøgren and Schønwandt give a penetrating and thoughtful account of the Violin Concerto: there is real depth here, thanks in no small measure to Schønwandt. The recording is first class." --The Penguin Guide - 1000 Greatest Classical Recordings 2011-12

Kim Sjøgren's account of the Violin Concerto has a great deal going for it: he may not have the lyrical purity and aristocratic finesse of ChoLiang Lin (CBS—a 1989 GRAMOPHONE Awardwinner), nor his effortless virtuosity but he plays with great understanding and intensity. Moreover he has the advantage of an infinitely more sympathetic and understanding orchestral support. Right from the beginning and throughout the work—I should add the whole record—Michael Schønwandt shows an innate feeling for this music and its atmosphere, and is far more responsive to its natural flow than Lin's conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen. The perspective between soloist and orchestra is well-judged (Sjøgren is never larger than life) and so, for the most part, is the internal balance: only at one point a little way into the finale did I feel the woodwind was a bit too prominent. If Sjngren does not produce quite as noble a sound as Lin, the performance as a whole can hold its head high alongside it.

In the Flute Concerto Toke Lund Christiansen gives a very fine account of himself, full of spirit and intelligence. In some respects he is not quite the equal of the remarkable Patrick Gallois with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Myung-Whun Chung (BIS/Conifer) who has great expressive intensity and conveys the "lightness of spirit and awareness of pain" you find in this concerto to striking effect. All the same, this fine Danish player, a pupil of Poul Birkelund, produces good sound and has no want of brilliance, authority or character. Last but emphatically not least, Niels Thomsen's account of the Clarinet Concerto is one of the very finest I have ever heard, and I do not forget the masterly performance by Kjell-Inge Stevensson with Blomstedt (EM!, 10/75—nla) or 011e Schill's tine Gothenburg version (BIS) listed above. There is no attempt to beautify the score or to overstate it: every dynamic nuance and expressive marking is observed by both soloist and conductor, and the risks that are taken come off. Niels Thomsen plays as if his very being is at stake and Michael Schønwandt secures playing of great imaginative intensity from the Danish Radio orchestra.

In short a very impressive recording and well worth acquiring, even if you have some of the rivals listed above. R. L. --Gramophone, April 1991

Nordic Music

‘An enjoyable and recommendable disc’. --BBC Music Magazine

‘Although the Neilsen is the longest (27 minutes) and best-known composition, each of the others is a masterpiece in its own right, and, with excellent performance and splendid sound, this constitutes a very fine disc indeed.’ --Fanfare

‘This recording is one of the finest, maybe the finest the work [Neilsen] has ever had…’ --American Record Guide

‘…thoroughly entertaining disc, beautifully recorded and impressively performed.’ --Fanfare on CHAN 9362 (French Wind Music)

‘…this is lovely playing from the Icelandic group…’ --Classic CD on CHAN 9174 (Barber etc.)

‘Elegant, crisp playing from this accomplished Icelandic ensemble.’ --Penguin Guide Yearbook on CHAN 9362 (French Wind Music)

MP3 320 · 160 MB

Reinecke, Busoni, Nielsen: Flute Concertos

Aurele Nicolet [Reinecke Concerto] is even more so and he is memorably poetic in the Lento. The Nielsen Concerto is of a different calibre altogether: there is no finer twentieth-century large scale-work for the flute. Its wholly personal atmosphere is undoubtedly haunting. Nicolet not only plays with superb bravura, but catches the music's individual character admirably.

The surprise here is the Busoni, a miniature, only nine minutes long and written in 1920, six years before the Nielsen. Its quixotic changes of mood are a delight and they are superbly realized by the fine partnership between soloist and conductor, with the Leipzig orchestra creating deliciously vivid woodwind detail. 

I enjoyed this collection greatly. It is very well balanced and superbly recorded, though perhaps the ambience is a fraction too resonant, which means that the CD, splendid though it is, does not add a great deal to the LP or tape except, of course, the background silence. This has already been put down for inclusion in my 1986 ''Critics' Choice'' and I urge readers to try it. In whichever format chosen, it is immensely rewarding. -- Ivan March, Gramophone

MP3 320 · 108 MB