Nielsen's Violin Concerto

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I heard this last night, Rozhdestvensky conducting & his son (?) Alexander on the fiddle. My reaction: "Ho hum, another great 20th cent. violin concerto that hardly ever gets played. I was lucky to hear it."

Anyone want to recommend a recording?

[karlhenning]

Jno Carney
Bournemouth Symphony
Kees Bakels

[71 dB]

Jno Carney
Bournemouth Symphony
Kees Bakels

That's what I have. I don't know if it's the best but very good anyway. It contains nicely Flute and Clarinet concertos too (79 minutes of music).

[Harry Collier]

There is one from Nikolaj Znaider that is quite good (coupled with the Bruch G minor). Also one from Maxim Vengerov and Barenboim, coupled with a pretty bad Sibelius violin concerto. Arve Tellefsen is the classic performer in this work. There is a truly dreadful recording (1952) by Yehudi Menuhin.

[Rabin_Fan]

Cho Liang Lin on the Sibelius & Nielsen VC & Philharmonia Orch & Salonen won a Gramophone award as well.

[Daverz]

Arve Tellefsen with Blomstedt.

[carlos]

Good first recording: Emil Telmanyi and Royal Danish Orch. (1947)

[Robert]

Good first recording: Emil Telmanyi and Royal Danish Orch. (1947)

KANG/CHUNG BIS

ZNAIDER/FOSTER EMI

[Robert]

Jno Carney
Bournemouth Symphony
Kees Bakels

Is this baby new? I never saw it....Love Bakels Vaughan Williams, so this should be great....

[Don]

My favored version for some years has been a Sony disc from Lin Cho-Liang with Salonen conducting.  The coupling is the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

[71 dB]

Is this baby new? I never saw it....Love Bakels Vaughan Williams, so this should be great....

Recorded in 1997, released in 2000. 

[RebLem]

There is a recording by Yehudi Menuhin from 1952, I think, but very good sound, with Mogens Woldike and the Danish RSO that is in a 10 CD Menuhin retrospective. 

It is EMI 5 85562 2, a set of concerted violin works performed, and sometimes conducted, by Yehudi Menuhin. You get 31 works by 20 composers; it covers about half the violin concerto standard repertoire in mostly magnificent performances. And in time, it covers composers from Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) to Michael Tippett (1905-1998).  This is one of the best compilations of the work of any artist I have ever come across, and its the best perf of the Nielsen concerto I have every heard.  And the sound quality does not sound like 50's sound at all, even though it is.

[MDL]

Arve Tellefsen with Blomstedt.

I've got that compilation (in a previous incarnation) and cannot recommend it highly enough; a fascinating, wide-ranging programme of bracing music recorded in decent, if not spectacular, sound.

[m_gigena]

Violin Concerto Opus 33
The Royal Danish Orchestra
Jerzy Semkow, conductor
Tibor Varga, violin. 1960s

[quintett op.57]

You make me want to hear it.
This is a great work. But I haven't the same performance  (Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Mikkelsen/Hannisdal or  Orchestre National de Montpellier/Levi/Marcovici) 

[jwinter]

My favored version for some years has been a Sony disc from Lin Cho-Liang with Salonen conducting.  The coupling is the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Yes, that was my first version of the piece, and I've been quite satisfied with it.  Excellent CD, and fairly cheap too. 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Has any1 actually heard the Vengerov version & can give some evaluation of it?

[Harry Collier]

Has any1 actually heard the Vengerov version & can give some evaluation of it?

Yes, I have the CD. I have listened. It made little impression on me (I was so appalled by the Sibelius). But it has gone into a mental category: Shelve. The fact that it is also Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra probably augmented my prejudice. For Nielsen? The fact remains that you can do so much better if you really want to listen to Nielsen's concerto.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Yes, I have the CD. I have listened. It made little impression on me (I was so appalled by the Sibelius). But it has gone into a mental category: Shelve. The fact that it is also Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra probably augmented my prejudice. For Nielsen? The fact remains that you can do so much better if you really want to listen to Nielsen's concerto.

Having done a bit of research, I find that this disc provokes highly divergent & polarized responses. It does make me curious to hear it.

[king ubu]

Good first recording: Emil Telmanyi and Royal Danish Orch. (1947)

That's the only one I've heard:

[asin]B0006840G6[/asin]

Thought Terlmanyi's playing was nice - Cahuzac's just as well. A friend with whom I shared this disc - with many more years of classical listening experience than me - thought the music was pretty derivative and not all that original. Any opinions there? I've not gone any further with Nielsen since, need to dig up that Dutton disc again, no clue where it's hiding.