The Nielsen Nexus

Started by BachQ, April 12, 2007, 10:10:00 AM

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krummholz

Quote from: edward on August 24, 2020, 02:37:21 PM
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.

Found it, but only in Swahili, and some other language that uses a Cyrillic alphabet... do you have a link to a download page that's in English?

not edward

"I don't at all mind actively disliking a piece of contemporary music, but in order to feel happy about it I must consciously understand why I dislike it. Otherwise it remains in my mind as unfinished business."
-- Aaron Copland, The Pleasures of Music

krummholz

Quote from: edward on August 25, 2020, 05:01:16 AM
Try this: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Bx2btyooucixsgthyx6jjoy7t4e&tid=song-Tllmlfoz7epch4rbwesezkd3ae4

Thanks... I just solved my problem though. The last two characters of the full URL are a language code... changed "sw" to "en" and voila!  :)

Karl Henning

Quote from: krummholz on August 25, 2020, 05:30:48 AM
Thanks... I just solved my problem though. The last two characters of the full URL are a language code... changed "sw" to "en" and voila!  :)

Well done!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

MusicTurner

#1124
Some innovative folks in Copenhagen have now opened a restaurant named 'Carl Nielsen' in the house, where the composer stayed in 1906, at 5 Toldbodgade, serving that old, local lunch specialty of 'Smørrebrød' open sandwiches, with a modern twist. Some items are named after works by him, but those names aren't specified on the menu list. They include 'Solen er så Rød, Mor' (a song - tatare & egg) and 'Maskarade' (potatoes etc.).

It's a good idea, I think; we generally need more places celebrating our classical music personalities, besides street names & a few statues. Reviews of the place are good too. Prices aren't in the lower end, however.

https://www.tripadvisor.dk/Restaurant_Review-g189541-d21118082-Reviews-Restaurant_Carl_Nielsen-Copenhagen_Zealand.html
https://restaurantcarlnielsen.dk/carl-nielsen-restaurant/
https://restaurantcarlnielsen.dk/smoerrebroed-i-koebenhavn/
+ FB

Madiel

#1125
Prices for food in Copenhagen are never in the lower end!

Edit: Especially not in that area. I just looked on a map. Near Nyhavn?
I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Symphonic Addict

What an imaginative idea for a restaurant! I hope I will eat there some day. I wish there was a dish with the name "The Inextinguishable".  :P
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Roasted Swan

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 04, 2020, 02:19:22 PM
What an imaginative idea for a restaurant! I hope I will eat there some day. I wish there was a dish with the name "The Inextinguishable".  :P

I imagine that would be the world's hottest curry........

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Roasted Swan on September 06, 2020, 05:26:41 AM
I imagine that would be the world's hottest curry........

Oh yes! And very nourishing. I would eat it with immense pleasure.  ;D
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

krummholz

This finally arrived yesterday... so far I've only listened to Commotio, but I find much to admire in Holten's orchestration. It is very skillful, is effective at clarifying the counterpoint in most places, and is sometimes rather Nielsen-like, but always interesting. A couple of the tuttis do sound a bit cheesy to my ears, but overall he gets a lot of mileage from constantly changing instrumental combinations and colours. The performance is quite expressive, something CN might not have approved of in this work, but personally I feel it's a valid approach: this is a great work that can withstand more than one kind of interpretation.


Symphonic Addict

Quote from: krummholz on September 15, 2020, 04:04:16 AM
This finally arrived yesterday... so far I've only listened to Commotio, but I find much to admire in Holten's orchestration. It is very skillful, is effective at clarifying the counterpoint in most places, and is sometimes rather Nielsen-like, but always interesting. A couple of the tuttis do sound a bit cheesy to my ears, but overall he gets a lot of mileage from constantly changing instrumental combinations and colours. The performance is quite expressive, something CN might not have approved of in this work, but personally I feel it's a valid approach: this is a great work that can withstand more than one kind of interpretation.



Very nice! I did know I'm not gonna be the only one to find this arrangement stupendous.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

krummholz

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on September 15, 2020, 04:27:15 PM
Very nice! I did know I'm not gonna be the only one to find this arrangement stupendous.

I expect not! Personally I wouldn't call it stupendous, but still a keeper, definitely.

DaveF

I mentioned over on the Unpopular Opinions thread that I'm putting together a review of the recorded legacy of the Clarinet Concerto, which will involve listening to as many as possible of the 33 ??? recordings I have managed to identify.  Spotify and YouTube between them should cover much of the ground, together with the dozen in my own library, but there is one of which I was previously ignorant and which only appears to be available by mail-order from Denmark for about £24.  It's particularly interesting as being by the second Danish player to record it, Arne Møller, with the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eifried Eckeart Hansen in 1965.  (I'm assuming there that Ib Eriksson, who recorded it twice in 1954, was a Dane, although information on his life seems to be non-existent.)  The current release is on Classico Class CD 514-15.  Does anyone know of an online source for listening, or perhaps possess the disc and could express an opinion?  Thanks.
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

MusicTurner

#1133
That survey will be interesting ... 

Ib Eriksson (1920-1978) is mentioned in a couple of books of mine and he was indeed Danish, born in Copenhagen and becoming a member of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1948. He was a pupil of the clarinetist Aage Oxenvad, and others. He also worked with the violinist and conductor Emil Telmanyi, and as a conductor himself, mainly of a non-professional "Amateurs' Symphony Orchestra" here. He left the radio symphony orchestra in 1976, and was replaced by Niels Thomsen.
As a reminder, Eriksson's recording of the Nielsen concerto is with Wöldike, on Decca mono.

The 2CD you mention with Arne Møller is not very common here, I've only noticed it once, recently ...
(this one, not cheap: https://plade-klassikeren.dk/da/nielsen-carl-cd/915111-nielsen-klarinetkoncert-bl%C3%A6serkvintet-mozart-klarinetkvintet-arne-m%C3%B8ller-det-kgl-kapel-2-cd-classico.html )

Mirror Image

Quote from: DaveF on January 05, 2021, 06:07:10 AM
I mentioned over on the Unpopular Opinions thread that I'm putting together a review of the recorded legacy of the Clarinet Concerto, which will involve listening to as many as possible of the 33 ??? recordings I have managed to identify.  Spotify and YouTube between them should cover much of the ground, together with the dozen in my own library, but there is one of which I was previously ignorant and which only appears to be available by mail-order from Denmark for about £24.  It's particularly interesting as being by the second Danish player to record it, Arne Møller, with the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra conducted by Eifried Eckeart Hansen in 1965.  (I'm assuming there that Ib Eriksson, who recorded it twice in 1954, was a Dane, although information on his life seems to be non-existent.)  The current release is on Classico Class CD 514-15.  Does anyone know of an online source for listening, or perhaps possess the disc and could express an opinion?  Thanks.

As much as I love Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, I couldn't imagine putting myself through all of those recordings of it. It would be an interesting survey nevertheless and I'm curious to read your opinion of each performance and which ones you prefer over others.

DaveF

Thanks, MT and MI both.  I don't imagine I'll be listening to every minute of all 33 recordings, even supposing I can get hold of them all.  Some will probably rule themselves out fairly quickly, some I know already and have a good idea where they stand in my ranking.  Still, interesting discoveries await, I'm sure.

Fascinating information about Eriksson - sad that he died relatively young.  An Oxenvad pupil, too, so perhaps his performances are as close as we can get to the original.  There are in fact two separate recordings, although I've never read a review that acknowledges this.  They are both here: https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=nielsen%20concerto%20ib%20eriksson - the first is a live performance, the second, which takes a minute and a half longer, a studio recording.  The second is preferable in every way - it's far from being note-perfect, but is a great improvement on the first.

Unless you know different, MT, these were the only solo recordings he made - certainly the only available ones - although he doubtless appears on many DRSO recordings (he is surely the principal clarinettist on Jespersen's account of the Flute Concerto, again with Wöldike conducting).
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

MusicTurner

#1136
Thank you, good to have these things sorted out ... I don't know of other Eriksson recordings, but will check it out a bit. I've accumulated 10 recordings of the concerto, including Eriksson/Wöldike studio, but don't know them in detail. Drucker's is the one I heard most, but I've noticed other good ones too in my collection.

Oxenvad can of course be heard in old Nielsen chamber music recordings - the Wind Quintet, and the Serenata ...

DaveF

Quote from: MusicTurner on January 05, 2021, 11:48:43 AM
Drucker's is the one I heard most, but I've noticed other good ones too in my collection.

Oxenvad can of course be heard in old Nielsen chamber music recordings - the Wind Quintet, and the Serenata ...

Drucker and Bernstein are superb, agreed, and probably near the top of my eventual list.  I think Drucker was the first soloist who really could play all the notes, even at the tempos they choose (his recording is one of the fastest).  It's just a shame that Lenny feels he has to pull those tempi around where there's no justification in the score.  This isn't Mahler.

Yes, I have the disc with Oxenvad's recordings, which also includes Cahuzac's of the concerto.  That one will be slightly further down the list...
"All the world is birthday cake" - George Harrison

Karl Henning

A recent expression of casual scorn for the piece set me to re-listen to the Sixth Symphony. I find it brilliant: fearless, quirky, wilful and sure-footed.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Irons

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 10, 2021, 11:05:31 AM
A recent expression of casual scorn for the piece set me to re-listen to the Sixth Symphony. I find it brilliant: fearless, quirky, wilful and sure-footed.

+1
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.