Customer Reviews

Nielsen: Concertos, etc.

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Arve Tellefsen gives the Violin Concerto a fine reading. This is a piece which benefits from Nielsen's being both violinist and composer; he writes idiomatically and brilliantly for the soloist, the violin here enjoys a much higher incidence of lyricism than is sometimes true of the solo violin literature in the 20th century. And on the other hand, he makes astonishingly free use of low brass and timpani in the accompaniment, which makes for breathtakingly dramatic contrasts. There is a very slight "false start" in which the orchestra does not quite keep with the soloist at a sudden recap near the end of the first movement, but this will escape most listeners, perhaps, and interfere with no one's listening pleasure. The Intermezzo is one of those instances of still perfection at the music's center. I haven't heard any other instance where Blomstedt struck so false a note, but the Allegretto scherzando is slow. The material itself just about works at that tempo; it comes across as a little elegant, at this relaxed a pace - but the movement is MARKED Allegretto scherzando, and the effect is too elegant, and not at all scherzando. This is exactly the wrong place - the last movement of a concerto - where you want to produce the impression of dragging, and making the piece seem long.

Stevennson does not fare quite so well as Tellefsen, with the Clarinet Concerto. This is a shame, as it is such a bright, cold gem in the solo clarinet repertory. Kevin Banks gives a far more confident account of the Opus 57 on the Naxos release.

Carl Nielsen is a very underrated composer. These are truly three of the finest concertos of the 20th century. In my opinion, the Flute Concerto is better than those composed by Mozart. And the Clarinet Concerto is close to the Mozart's one. But the Violin Concerto is my favorite. It's a really wonderful piece of music, full of great melodies and magical atmosphere. The orchestral pieces aren't on the same level, but they are really enjoyable (mainly the Helios Overture and the Dream of Gunnar symphonic poem).

In addition, these recordings are first class. At budget price, this is a must have album.