The Nielsen Nexus

[Roasted Swan]

I have it, and do not recommend it.

+1 - Bostock is a consistently average conductor.  No worse than many but in no way exceptional or revelatory.  Wherever alternative versions of a work exist there will be better options.

[Karl Henning]

On Saturday at 8PM Chowder Time, WCRB rebroadcasts a BSO concert including the Nielsen Fifth:  https://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0

[prémont]

+1 - Bostock is a consistently average conductor.  No worse than many but in no way exceptional or revelatory.  Wherever alternative versions of a work exist there will be better options.

I agree generally, but I still think he is better than his reputation. Particularly he has a nice sense of Nielsen's lyrical vein as expressed in the second movement of the Sinfonia Espansiva  e. g.

[Mirror Image]

+1 - Bostock is a consistently average conductor.  No worse than many but in no way exceptional or revelatory.  Wherever alternative versions of a work exist there will be better options.

I can certainly agree with this. Bostock's Nielsen is duller than dishwater.

[Karl Henning]

On Saturday at 8PM Chowder Time, WCRB rebroadcasts a BSO concert including the Nielsen Fifth:  https://www.classicalwcrb.org/#stream/0

Also: Pohjola's Daughter and the Elgar vc concerto with Truls Mørk

[vandermolen]

+1 - Bostock is a consistently average conductor.  No worse than many but in no way exceptional or revelatory.  Wherever alternative versions of a work exist there will be better options.

I like his Novák CD:

[Madiel]

I've listened to several bits of Bostock since I first asked about him here, and... practically everything has been very average.

It feels like the goal was to play all the correct notes and that's it. Really no sense of colour to what I've heard.

[Mirror Image]

I've listened to several bits of Bostock since I first asked about him here, and... practically everything has been very average.

It feels like the goal was to play all the correct notes and that's it. Really no sense of colour to what I've heard.

Precisely right, Madiel. Playing the notes but not putting the life into them.

[Symphonic Addict]

Listening to something different this time, and how terrific that 'something different' was. The orchestral arrangement made by Bo Holten from Commotio highlights its shapes better than the original organ version. I don't know if it is a passacaglia, but I detected that kind of development there, mostly because there is a serious, rigurous and, at times even pensive way of unfolding following a solid structure. Nielsen like a remarkable contrapuntist.

It is not 100% Nielsen, of course not, but what Holten made is nothing short of interesting.

[krummholz]

Interesting idea, that of orchestrating Commotio. Thanks for sharing this, I'm strongly tempted to give this a listen. Can't say whether the orchestral version offers more clarity of the shapes than the original organ version, but I will say that the performance and above all the acoustics make a huge difference in how clearly the different lines can be heard. For a long time the only recording I had ever heard of this was this one, on LP, and I don't know if it was ever released on CD:



I cannot say that I ever had any trouble discerning and following the often labyrinthine counterpoint in this recording. Nielsen said that the work was pure polyphonic music, so clarity of line is really paramount in making the piece work.

Then came the best-known recording, by Elisabeth Westenholz, and frankly I can't see the appeal of this recording at all. The performance may well be authoritative, but the acoustic is so reverberant that the lines are muddied to the point of being impossible to make out in most places. The result is very grand-sounding mush, which IMO is the very opposite of what the work is supposed to be.

I see there are a number of other performances of the original organ version out on record now, and I wonder what they're like...

[vandermolen]

Any experience of either of these albums? The Blomstedt has had a number of incarnations.





Both are of some interest for filling gaps in my collection without too much repetition.

EDIT: Also this one, which is not included in the Salonen Nielsen collection with the symphonies.

Personally I have enjoyed the Rozhdestvensky CD. Good performances and recording as far as I'm concerned.

[Symphonic Addict]

Interesting idea, that of orchestrating Commotio. Thanks for sharing this, I'm strongly tempted to give this a listen. Can't say whether the orchestral version offers more clarity of the shapes than the original organ version, but I will say that the performance and above all the acoustics make a huge difference in how clearly the different lines can be heard. For a long time the only recording I had ever heard of this was this one, on LP, and I don't know if it was ever released on CD:



I cannot say that I ever had any trouble discerning and following the often labyrinthine counterpoint in this recording. Nielsen said that the work was pure polyphonic music, so clarity of line is really paramount in making the piece work.

Then came the best-known recording, by Elisabeth Westenholz, and frankly I can't see the appeal of this recording at all. The performance may well be authoritative, but the acoustic is so reverberant that the lines are muddied to the point of being impossible to make out in most places. The result is very grand-sounding mush, which IMO is the very opposite of what the work is supposed to be.

I see there are a number of other performances of the original organ version out on record now, and I wonder what they're like...

I haven't found the right performance on organ yet, hence my positive impressions regarding the orchestral arrangement.

[Roasted Swan]

Precisely right, Madiel. Playing the notes but not putting the life into them.

Hurrah!  Somebody else who thinks Bostock is no more than competent.  I have a friend who was in the RLPO during the time of these Nielsen recordings and the general opinion was that as a conductor he didn't get in the way but he didn't offer anything "extra" either........ I think that's called dammed by faint praise!!

[krummholz]

I haven't found the right performance on organ yet, hence my positive impressions regarding the orchestral arrangement.

I just ordered this, from amazon.co.uk -- a bit far, but it doesn't seem to be available over here. Should be interesting -- as far as I've seen so far, reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

BTW in reference to something you said earlier, Commotio isn't a passacaglia. It's a polyphonic fantasia in 4 sections, the 2nd and last being fugal, though Nielsen departs from fugal texture when it suits him, which makes the work no less rigorous and challenging.

Eons ago I bought the score and buried myself in the organ practice rooms at University of Michigan, trying to learn how to play it. I never got beyond the first section (a toccata of sorts), but I studied the piece all the way through and felt I learned a lot from it. It's a great work. I hope a good performance of the original organ version comes out that is well recorded and does justice to Nielsen's counterpoint.

[DaveF]

Interesting idea, that of orchestrating Commotio. Thanks for sharing this, I'm strongly tempted to give this a listen. Can't say whether the orchestral version offers more clarity of the shapes than the original organ version, but I will say that the performance and above all the acoustics make a huge difference in how clearly the different lines can be heard. For a long time the only recording I had ever heard of this was this one, on LP, and I don't know if it was ever released on CD:



I cannot say that I ever had any trouble discerning and following the often labyrinthine counterpoint in this recording. Nielsen said that the work was pure polyphonic music, so clarity of line is really paramount in making the piece work.

Then came the best-known recording, by Elisabeth Westenholz, and frankly I can't see the appeal of this recording at all. The performance may well be authoritative, but the acoustic is so reverberant that the lines are muddied to the point of being impossible to make out in most places. The result is very grand-sounding mush, which IMO is the very opposite of what the work is supposed to be.

I see there are a number of other performances of the original organ version out on record now, and I wonder what they're like...

Agree completely with your admiration for the J E Hansen recording and no, I don't think it ever made it onto CD.  In a sense, there is no "original" version of Commotio, since Nielsen didn't specify any registrations, so it's up to the performer to choose these in order to bring out the clarity of the individual lines.  Another very fine old recording is by Grethe Krogh (sometimes known as Grethe Krogh Christensen) which is available on CD - the Danacord recording says © 2007, but it's much older than that; I used to have it on one of those heavy old LPs from the early days of 33 1/3.  (It's on Youtube.)  Modern players all tend to take it too fast for my taste - Finn Viderø, who played it to Nielsen so presumably knew what he wanted, takes the opening Adagio slower than anyone else (he's also on Youtube and also worth a listen).

And for what it's worth (which isn't much) I really really dislike the Holten orchestration...

[not edward]

I've not heard Holten's orchestral version, but there's also one by Hans Abrahamsen. Don't think there's an official recording (yet), though there is of Abrahamsen's version of the three late piano pieces.

[krummholz]

Agree completely with your admiration for the J E Hansen recording and no, I don't think it ever made it onto CD.  In a sense, there is no "original" version of Commotio, since Nielsen didn't specify any registrations, so it's up to the performer to choose these in order to bring out the clarity of the individual lines.  Another very fine old recording is by Grethe Krogh (sometimes known as Grethe Krogh Christensen) which is available on CD - the Danacord recording says © 2007, but it's much older than that; I used to have it on one of those heavy old LPs from the early days of 33 1/3.  (It's on Youtube.)  Modern players all tend to take it too fast for my taste - Finn Viderø, who played it to Nielsen so presumably knew what he wanted, takes the opening Adagio slower than anyone else (he's also on Youtube and also worth a listen).

And for what it's worth (which isn't much) I really really dislike the Holten orchestration...

Thanks for the recommendations! I found the Krogh on YouTube -- there are some places, especially the louder passages, where the ambiance muddies up the sound, but it's light years clearer than the Westenholz. In some parts of the concluding fugue, I felt that Krogh does a better job than Hansen at making the lines crystal clear... and her ritards and accelerandos are very expressive. Overall I like it, though I do think she takes the opening section too fast. Unfortunately that CD is not available on this side of the pond it seems, and it's ridiculously expensive in the UK -- something over £80, which is a non-starter as far as I'm concerned.

I also found the Videro on YouTube but haven't listened to it yet. His performance clocks in at about 2 minutes shorter than Krogh's, so he must take some parts considerably faster than she does. Interesting doing these comparisons... though I no longer have the Hansen, nor the equipment to play anything vinyl.

[Madiel]

The one I listened to on streaming was Kevin Bowyer.

But I barely know organ music so couldn't tell you a personal rating.

[not edward]

For those who are OK with downloads, you can get the Krogh recording for a dollar on Google Play Music, but you'll have to be quick as the service will be shut down soon.

[Karl Henning]

Listening to something different this time, and how terrific that 'something different' was. The orchestral arrangement made by Bo Holten from Commotio highlights its shapes better than the original organ version. I don't know if it is a passacaglia, but I detected that kind of development there, mostly because there is a serious, rigurous and, at times even pensive way of unfolding following a solid structure. Nielsen like a remarkable contrapuntist.

It is not 100% Nielsen, of course not, but what Holten made is nothing short of interesting.

That's a nice disc.