Nielsen: String Quartets Vol.2

Carl Nielsen (Composer), Oslo String Quartet (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Oslo String Quartet
• Composer: Carl Nielsen
• Audio CD (March 14, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B00004R7NC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #306,734 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Early Music from the Great Dane, April 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nielsen: String Quartets Vol.2 (Audio CD)

According to the cover notes to this recording, Nielsen's string quartets are coming to be regarded as some of the most important chamber music of the late 19th century. Would they'd show up more frequently on string quartet programs--I've never seen them programmed--because they are works well worth knowing. Quartets 1 and 2 have all the restless youthful energy of Nielsen's first two symphonies, along with the typically tender slow movements and, by turns, witty and brooding scherzi that admirers of the symphonies will recognize as Nielsen trademarks.

I slightly prefer the First Quartet, which seems to have an endless stream of good melodies and clever uses for them. I expecially like the fade-away coda of the slow movement, with its sweet harmonics, and although the last movement may outstay its welcome, the last pages ring such interesting changes on the thematic material of the movement that amends are made most generously.

If the string quartet is one of the hardest mediums to write for, it's remarkable how adept this largely self-taught composer was so early in his career at meeting the challenge. These are fully idiomatic quartets that sound as natural to the medium as Mozart's or Mendelssohn's. Now, great music this may not be, but treasurably entertaining music it most definitely is.

As with Naxos' Volume 2, Volume 1 of Nielsen's complete quartets is in the very capable hands of the Oslo Quartet, who obviously take Nielsen as seriously as he needs to be taken. Lovely playing, fine sonics--for Nielsen lovers, this is a must, and for those interested in the fertile byways of late 19th-century chamber music, the disc is highly recommendable as well.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, October 25, 2000

By 

Santiago Barcon "Santiago" (Mexico city) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Nielsen: String Quartets Vol.2 (Audio CD)

String quartets are like a window to the soul of the composer and Nielsen is wide open in this recording, specially in No. 1 Sensual, but with majestic intentions.

Nielsen has some hints of Schubert, but is very personal.

The performance by the Oslo string quartet is excellent and obviously have a feeling for scandinavian music.

At Naxos prices, a no brainer.

4.0 out of 5 stars Chamber Music by Neilsen, December 15, 2009

By 

Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nielsen: String Quartets Vol.2 (Audio CD)

'Tis a pity that these quartets (Volume 1 and 2, Naxos) of Neilsen are not included in the repertoire of the many quartets that frequent the Bay Area. They are certainly romantic and lyrical and complex of interplay and rhythm as the better known romantic composers. Indeed, while I have seen all of Neilsen's symphonies and his violin concerto performed, I, like many other reviewers, had no knowledge of these quartets until Amazon's recommendation algorithm led me to them. Although the earlier quartets lack the great tension or theme that engages us fully, Op. 44 is rich in mood (e.g., the Adagio con sentimento religioso) and symphonic in sweep. It is mature and well-developed, acknowledged by Neilsen himself, and truly delightful. I personally find Neilsen's first quartets a parade of musical statements, each movement interesting but not satisfying in the whole. Op. 13, with its thematic recapitulation, does attempt to string the units together. The Oslo Quartet (and their sound engineers) give us very worthy albums. Budget priced, these recodings should be included in your classical collection, but if you want only one CD, I suggest obtaining Volume 1, with the better Op. 44.