The Nielsen Nexus

[Karl Henning]

I probably need a Nielsen opera fête.

[Karl Henning]

Number 2 recommended by Mirror Image is a good starting point too but number 4 is a better symphony.

FWIW, I took to N° 4 right away; it was a while before I really warmed to N° 2.

[The new erato]

I probably need a Nielsen opera fête.

If you haven't heard them, ou do. They are both very fine - and totally Nielsenesque.

[nico1616]

Thanks for all the information and recommendations 
I will go for symphony n°4. conducted by Bernstein as it is included in my 60cd symphony boxset.

I will let you know if I get it this time

[Mirror Image]

Thanks for all the information and recommendations 
I will go for symphony n°4. conducted by Bernstein as it is included in my 60cd symphony boxset.

I will let you know if I get it this time

Since you have that Bernstein symphony set, listen to his other Nielsen symphony performances. He did the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. All exemplary performances.

[Karl Henning]

There are several complete recordings of the piano music on Spotify - one by Christina Bjorkoe, another one by Elizabeth Westenholz, a third by Anne Oland, and the one  by Herman Koppel.

Koppel is the one included in this box:

[asin]B007N0SVDS[/asin]

I listened yesterday to Enid Katahn, and was enchanted. What took me so long to listen to this disc?



I had meant to listen to Koppel to-day, for comparison . . . only it has become a Dvořák day for me . . . .

[Karl Henning]

Must say that my impression of Koppel in the Th & Vars, Op.40 is, that he plays it rather stiff and mannered, compared to the at times delicate, and always lyrical account that Katahn gives out.

[nico1616]

Since you have that Bernstein symphony set, listen to his other Nielsen symphony performances. He did the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. All exemplary performances.

I will certainly do that! Until now I only explored the Beethoven and Mahler symphonies in that Bernstein box set.
My first listenings to Nielsen's 4th leave a very positive impression, certain passages remind me of the interludes in Britten's Peter Grimes, which I love.

[Mirror Image]

I will certainly do that! Until now I only explored the Beethoven and Mahler symphonies in that Bernstein box set.
My first listenings to Nielsen's 4th leave a very positive impression, certain passages remind me of the interludes in Britten's Peter Grimes, which I love.

Good to hear, Nico. My suggestion is keep on listening.

[Karl Henning]

Overall, my only complaint with the piano music is, that there is so little of it.

Some of it is, necessarily, teaching music, or trifling, or just plain early; but the best of it is rich and masterly.

[DieNacht]

I agree about the Koppel Dacapo set of the piano works being not among the best. There are some earlier recordings by Koppel from his younger years too, and they might be better, though sonically poor; it´s been a long time since I heard a bit of those, and my taste is no doubt different now. Koppel studied briefly with Nielsen.

Am giving an old LP with Ogdon a listen, from 1968 and apparently not released on CD (?). The sound is very good, and he has managed to put 4 of the 5 most important works on just one LP.



He has plenty of ideas in the Suite op.45 which is very fine, varied and quite modernistic in Ogdon´s version. As a pianist, he can be too hard-punching now and then (as heard in Liszt IMO), but not here, where he is being poetic and enigmatic. The Finale could be a bit faster perhaps. In the Chaconne op.32, he lacks the hypnotic and melodical intensity found in some other recordings, IMO. The Suite op.8 and the late 3 Piano Pieces next ...

[DieNacht]

This is a fine release by the sprawling, unpredictable Classico label, "Carl Nielsens Lys" / "The Light of Carl Nielsen". Here they can often be found on sales at very modest prices & I can heartily recommend it. Allegedly the pianist, Tomoko Takanashi, travelled to Odense in Denmark from Japan to study Nielsen, and she has since then made a career as a performer of contemporary musc. The programme is varied and includes some Ruders, Abrahamsen (whose 7 studies have since been expanded as a set), and the lesser known Rovsing Olsen.
By Nielsen there is a superb Chaconne, one of the absolutely best I´ve heard, very idiomatic yet emotional. It only lasts 9:30 as opposed to Ogdon´s 10:15. Also the 3 Piano Pieces show a lot of technical surplus from the pianist, making the music even more interesting and structured.

[DieNacht]

Due to a traffic accident, I have plenty of listening time ...

The old Koppel mono LP on the local Odeon label has Nielsen´s "Symphonic Suite" op.8 and the "Theme & Variations" op.40. Overall I find it quite good. Koppel´s piano playing style was often a bit sketchy, but vital (his recording of his 3rd piano Concerto on an old DMA stereo LP with Neumann/DNRSO is probably the highlight of his discography, though). In the "Theme & Variations", he is quick too; the piece lasts only 15:20. But he is able to make the piano sing, and the often swift tempi give some unusual facets to the work. In the "Symphonic Suite", his sense of momentum in such a heavy, Brahms-sounding work probably makes the work more attractive than with Ogdon.

The LP also contains "The Fog is lifting" with Gilbert Jespersen, and "2 Phantasy Pieces" for oboe and piano, with Koppel and Valdemar Wolsing, a member of the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra who frequented a record shop I was once working in - with a distinguished, very Alec Guinness/George Smiley like appearance, buying only Schubert and Schumann LPs.

[DieNacht]

The Skjold Rasmussen LP set (1968) was for long the only "complete piano works" set and was widely recommended in various comparative reviews. The original release on the local Fona LP label (2 LPs) was supplemented with a Vox Box release on 3 LPs; perhaps the sound is a bit more spacious there. Generally, the sound lacks some subtlety if compared to later recordings, but Skjold Rasmussen (1921-1980) plays in a thoughtful and often nuanced way, more interesting than I remember from my hearings long time ago.





The decca 2LP set with the complete piano works played by the composer-pianist John McCabe (1975) is my overall favourite among the versions I know. The lovely photos are from the "Den Gamle By" open-air-museum in Århus. The piano sound is better than with Skjold Rasmussen, and McCabe has a lot to say, both s regards lyricism, humour ("Humoresque Bagatelles") and dramatic contrasts. The set also includes the charming, tiny "Dance of the Lady´s Maidens" (1910) for piano. I find it strange that such a good version hasn´t been released on CD (?), also considering Nielsen´s relative popularity in Great Britain. There´s a fine article on McCabe at music-web also referring to his Nielsen experiences:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/SandH/2009/Jul-Dec09/mccabe_interview.htm

(...I discovered Nielsen because I used to go and stay with an Uncle and some cousins (...) He had some LPs and one of them was a 10" Decca LP of Nielsen's Chaconne (...) ... played by France Ellegaard on DECCA LW 5051 – recorded in June 1953 (...). ... I played the Chaconne and I was hooked. Chaconne's a great piece, I played it again this year. I did it for my degree, against protests from the authorities, who wanted a romantic piano piece. What they meant was a Chopin Ballade, or something like that, but I always said that I wanted to do the Nielsen. My piano teacher, Gordon Green, borrowed my copy for a week and said "Yes, I think this would suit you, and be good for you, and I'll support you". He learned it in that week, not well enough to perform it but he understood it and that's a great teacher. He just didn't rely on the stuff that was already known, as a lot of them do.")


I haven´t heard Øland´s set; she may have produced some good recordings, but everything I´ve heard with her I found very uninspired; Seivewright on naxos generally had poor reviews. Bjørkøe is one of the best and most ambitious among the younger Danish pianists and better than Gislinge IMO. I haven´t heard Martin Roscoe or Nina Miller either, and the above-mentioned Enid Katahn was even totally unknown to me. I do have Andsnes and will give it a spin later on.

[not edward]

From what I've heard of McCabe--another of those underrated British pianists--as performer, I'm not surprised he'd be your favourite integrale. It's a great shame that it's not available on CD.

[DieNacht]

It turns out that some Ogdon and Skjold Rasmussen is on you-tube, among others.

Should someone find merits in other recordings - including Øland - it would be interesting to hear.

[The new erato]

Interesting views on the Nielsen 3rd:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/the-gramophone-blog/re-thinking-nielsen%E2%80%99s-centennial-symphony?utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=GRAM%20ENews%20Bulletin%20(25.06.2012)&utm_content=article8_headline

[Superhorn]

    I got to know the piano music of Nielsen long ago  on a Vox  LP set by  a now  obscure  Danish pianist by the name of
Arne Skjold Rasmussen , who knew and worked with the composer himself.    He appears to have been a tererific pianist
and an authoritative interpreter of his piano works.  This set should be reissued on CD as soon as possible, and if it does, grab it !

[Sergeant Rock]

Interesting views on the Nielsen 3rd:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/blog/the-gramophone-blog/re-thinking-nielsen%E2%80%99s-centennial-symphony?utm_source=Silverpop&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=GRAM%20ENews%20Bulletin%20(25.06.2012)&utm_content=article8_headline

Thank you for that article. I feel vindicated    It's not often I find someone who agrees with me about Blomstedt's Third. Worst interpretation I know. He just smashes his way through the first movement with no feeling.

On the other hand, I'm not of fan of Schonwandt's Third either. Salonen's not bad (and I don't know Saraste or Horenstein...didn't even realize there was a Horenstein recording although his Fifth is a favorite). The Thirds I like best are Bernstein, Kuchar, Schmidt, Frandsen and, surprisingly, Bostock. Rozhdestvensky is interesting too; massive...as if Celi or old Klemp were conducting.

Sarge
.

[Karl Henning]

. . . The Thirds I like best are Bernstein, Kuchar, Schmidt, Frandsen and, surprisingly, Bostock.Sarge

But the Bostock substitutes instruments for the soli voices, yes, Sarge? (A bit strange that I've not yet visited the symphonies in this box.)