# Great (or Compelling) Nielsen Conductors on Record



## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Now that Nielsen is getting more of the attention he rightly and richly deserves (*albeit gradually and unevenly*), it will be interesting to examine the maestros who effectively (or compellingly) gave us glimpses (or pictures) of Nielsen the composer and what he did in the development of Danish music (and beyond Denmark, for he had his own say on progressive tonality which impacted on the art, and perhaps, the science of composition - Look at Robert Simpson the composer and scholar for instance).

Clearly Erik Tuxen, Thomas Jensen, and Launy Grøndahl were the earliest conductors to record Nielsen's music, but in terms of exposing the music to the wider audience outside Denmark, Leonard Bernstein, I felt, really jump started that (not taking away the pioneering efforts of Stokowski, Horenstein, Max Rudolf, Martinon, and Morton Gould). Eugene Ormandy played a huge role in this also. Blomstedt came alone and did comprehensive surveys of Nielsen's orchestral music (first with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and then with the San Francisco Symphony) while Ole Schmidt's set with the London Symphony is a milestone in its own right. By the 1980s and onward, there was really no turning back, and now there are no less than ten cycles of the symphonies and with more on the way (Gilbert is doing one with the New York Philharmonic to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Nielsen's birth).

Great (or Compelling) Nielsen Conductors? Other than Erik Tuxen, Thomas Jensen, and Launy Grøndahl, whose recordings give us glimpses of how Nielsen himself approached his own music, I would also mention:

Bernstein: for this unrelenting energy and non-sentimental approach to Nielsen's rugged symphonic landscape, and yet found much humanity in the writing that's swelling. Take the beautiful second part of the Fifth Symphony's first movement for instance. And special mention must go to Elden C. Bailey, perhaps the most captivating snare drummer on record.

Bryden Thomson: for his straight-faced, unadorned approach to Nielsen, yet give the works the appropriate level of cragginess they require (the Third Symphony, for instance, which is among the best in the market in my opinion). And yet, he has something fresh to say, like in the First Symphony for instance.

Myung-whun Chung, Blomstedt & Jarvi: who share the virtues of Bernstein, but with the dynamism that does not distract from Nielsen power of communication (but enhances it instead).

Ole Schmidt: his ensemble can be scrappy, but the sheer vitality and intensity of their readings cannot be ignored.

Douglas Bostock: for his unerring sense of directness and warmth (despite balancing issues in some of the recordings).

Horenstein: Unfortunately he did not do as much Nielsen as I would have like to see, but his efforts are more than noteworthy. His recording of "Saul and David" demonstrates the level of his sympathy with the score and his understanding of the composer.

Other glowing recordings:
Zubin Mehta with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Nielsen's Fourth).
Solonen with the Swedish Radio Symphony (Nielsen's Second & Violin Concerto, Cho-Liang Lin - soloist).
Kubelik with the Danish Radio Symphony (Nielsen's Fifth, a very fresh, insightful reading).
Ormandy with the Philadelphia (Nielsen's Sixth).
Bernstein with the Royal Danish Orchestra (Nielsen's Third).
Bernstein and the NY Phil. with Stanley Drucker (Clarinet Concerto)
Mogens Woldike and Danish State Radio Orchestra with Ib Erikson (Clarinet Concerto)
Thomas Jensen and Danish State Radio Orchestra with Gilbert-Jespersen (Flute Concerto)
Ulf Schirmer with Soloists and Danish National Royal Symphonic Orchestra and Choir (Maskarade).
Gennady Rozhdestvensky and the Danish Radio Symphony (Aladdin).
Thomas Dausgaard with the Danish Radio Symphony (Nielsen's overtures).

But enough of my take. Please, what say you?


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Bernstein's recording of the Nielsen 5th symphony is one of the best recorded performances he did of anything. (After finding one or two fine recordings of the same work, thereafter, I am not one to seek out more, or ten + + + other good recorded performances.)

To me, the 5th is so great, so 'something else,' that while the _Helios Overture_ is _very nice,_ his _Woodwind quintet_ _very pleasant,_ while not all all meant to imply these are trivial works, or not very well written, indeed etc. -- it is as if the composer's whole life was a preparation for bringing forth that Symphony No. 5. _None_ of the other symphonies interest me much at all, while the fifth has never paled over years of familiarity.

but, LOL, "What Niesen did for Denmark?" I pretty much get it, but the fact it was even said strikes me as funny, the notion, well, charming and a bit "quaint."


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Bernstein was good. So were Blomstedt and Schønwandt.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

The 4th and 5th symphonies have been 'realized' by several competent conductors; the music soars for them. That's _one_ measure of great music. The 6th symphony is something else; it needs something else from the conductor and orchestra too. If it's there, the music can reach way in, and far out. That's another measure.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

For me, it really is the Blomstedt/Bernstein show for symphonies....possibly Salonen for the 6th.


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## jimsumner (Jul 7, 2013)

I'm not sure I understand why the O/P thinks Nielsen is getting more attention now than before. The Nielsen revival, if such a thing occurred, took place in the 1960s and 1970s. It seems to me that his position in the pantheon is about the same now as it was 20-30-years ago.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

jimsumner said:


> I'm not sure I understand why the O/P thinks Nielsen is getting more attention now than before. The Nielsen revival, if such a thing occurred, took place in the 1960s and 1970s. It seems to me that his position in the pantheon is about the same now as it was 20-30-years ago.


In some ways that's true. But in the 1960s, there were scant recordings of his music outside Denmark, now there are many, including no fewer than seven symphony cycles, competing recordings of his piano, orchestral, and chamber works, and various recordings of his operas. More orchestras and ensembles outside Denmark are playing his music (especially in Asian countries). After Robert Simpson's milestone book on the composer was first published in 1952, there are now additional books that came out afterwards, including Grimley's "Carl Nielsen and the Idea of Modernism" and Ms. Reynolds' "Carl Nielsen's Voice: His Songs in Context." And let's not forget the role of the internet and especially the phenomenon YouTube that has his music available to a (much) wider audience.

But like I said, the process is slow and gradual. Thankfully, more orchestras now are more equipped in playing his music with much more elan, efficiency, pinpoint virtuosic, and artistry than orchestras were back in the 1950s through the 1970s.


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