BaL - 4.03.12 - Nielsen's Symphony no. 4

[HighlandDougie]

One of my absolute favourite pieces of music - heart-burstingly thrilling if performed well. I started a post a few months ago on posters recommended versions as I felt that I needed a more modern recording than Launy Grøndahl, whom I regard as hors concours in this symphony. I don't know quite what it is about his recording that makes it so special - his choice of tempi? the timbre of the orchestra? the balance of instruments? Whatever it is, my somewhat obsessive listening to (and collection of) no fewer than 14 of the recordings listed above, plus Gibson, Karajan, Thomas Jensen, Igor Markevich etc, failed to reveal a recording which has the same effect. I'm not sure how easy it is to get hold of the Dutton re-issue rather than an MP3 download but if ever a recording deserved the accolade, "Great Recording of the Century", it is surely it.

Otherwise, I'll be interested in David Fanning's views. Incidentally, has Thomas Dausgaard recorded the symphonies? I had convinced myself that the Da Capo slipcase with 3 CDs of the symphonies which I have mysteriously lost contained recordings by him but I now think that it was probably the recordings by Michael Schønwandt and I got my Danish conductors a bit mixed up. The recent Da Capo box contains two different Schønwandt cycles - the original as issued by Da Capo then Naxos and which is on CD - and another live cycle, recorded in 2000, which is on DVD. It also contains Dausgaard's standout SACD of Nielsen orchestral works (about which David Fanning raved with a good deal of justification in The Gramophone). My vote would probably go to Davis, which is almost as thrilling as Grøndahl - and my candidates for the black spot would certainly include Salonen and Martinon, who conducts it slickly but with little feeling for the music.

Oops, apologies for going all train-spotter

[Chris Newman]

I remember the thrill of my first Inextinguishable with the French NRSO and Jean Martinon in a concert at the RFH which included Berlioz operatic torsos incredibly sung by Régine Crespin. I became a Nielsen addict. I have both Blomstedt cycles, with the symphony by Barbirolli, Tuxen, Gibson, Rhozdezvensky, Davis. Waldhorn persuaded me to try the Chandos Gibson and I have to say it really is up there with the Tuxen. It is still available s/h on Amazon and as an MP3 download.

[Norfolk Born]

Another vote here for Blomstedt/San Francisco Symphony (not just for the 4th, but for the whole cycle).

[Brassbandmaestro]

I wil have to catch up with this BaL next week sometime. i will be away on a brass abnd weekend!! Lots of !!

I have the SFS/Blomstedt to and for the whole cycleI give top marks!!

[HighlandDougie]

Great Blomstedt/SFSO 5th (to which I am listening as I type) but not quite so great 4th, in my unhumble opinion (probably that's just because it's not Grøndahl). But as a cycle, better played and better recorded (OK - maybe not than Vanska) than probably any other. I await the Alan Gilbert/NYPO cycle on Da Capo SACD keenly.

[makropulos]

My introduction to this symphony was Igor Markevitch's record from the mid-1960s - incendiary stuff, but it's never been on CD as far as I know. That''s probably still my favourite performance, though for a different approach I love the slightly manic excess of Bernstein and I still like Barbirolli's Pye recording. I know Blomstedt has his fervent admirers in this music but his "Inextinguishable" always feels a bit tame to my ears. Grøndahl is a more recent discovery for me, and despite the limited sound, I think it's a thriller.

[jayne lee wilson]

The Kuchar is one the great cycles, hidden treasure really, No. 4 is very good, buy with confidence! And the whole set is a sonic spectacular, better recorded than the later Blomstedt. Amazed at the lack of attention given to this Brilliant Box in print reviews. Read about it at MusicWeb.

Ole Schmidt is also excellent in No.4 and the whole cycle, now on Regis (ignore Penguin Guide coments about the SQ, it's fine).
I can see what HD means about the Martinon but it comes to life rather better on the "RCA Classic Library" DSD remaster. And the Chicago Symphony were in their terrific prime in 1966, post-Reiner, before other conductors misused their virtuoso inheritance.

Schonwandt always seems to fall into the accurate but dull category, lacking drama though he's better in 2 and 3. The forthcoming Gilbert cycle should be available as a hi-res download at Da Capo, but I'm afraid my experience of Gilbert, including last week's NYPO concert, is again one of accurate dullness. I don't have especial hopes of his Nielsen; be only too pleased if he proves me wrong...

Definitely a symphony to be experienced live, with those duelling timpani! Best thrill I ever had with it was just last Spring, with Thomas Dausgaard conducting the RLPO - wow!

The Kuchar/Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra recordings (on Brilliant Classics) of the symphonies have received good reviews, though I have not managed to hear any of them. Are they no longer available? I have the Blomstedt recording with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and that sounds very good to me.

[HighlandDougie]

Very envious of JLW having heard Thomas Dausgaard and, from her comments on Alan Gilbert, rather wish that Da Capo was sticking to the Danish home team of Dausgaard/Danish NSO for their new SACD set rather than being seduced by the brash New Yorkers. And, despite Jack Lawson (the man who sold me my first serious hi-fi equipment a long long time ago and a Nielsen fanatic - see MusicWeb) and his enthusiasm for Kuchar, it doesn't greatly do it for me ....

The MP3 eClassical download of Grøndahl (which has presumably come from Naxos and which in turn may have come from a vinyl pressing, rather than the EMI tapes) sounds terrible (thin, strident, ancient) so, in the absence of the Mike Dutton CD, the Grøndahl isn't just hors concours but is now hors de combat. Sigh - there's no justice in the world.

[visualnickmos]

The only cycle I have heard - ie, the one I have, is the Blomstedt/San Francisco. Perfectly good, IMHO. Very 'immediate' sound, and dynamic playing throughout.

[verismissimo]

I've only ever had NYPO/Bernstein.

Was it he and Barbirolli who pioneeered this symphony outside of Nordic/Scandinavian forces?