Customer Reviews

Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments"' Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable"

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had always heard about Martinon's recording of the Nielsen 4 when I was younger (about 20 years younger) but it was out of print at the time (knowing RCA, it probably only lasted about a year). However, my local college library had a copy of the disc and I must have checked it out multiple times. I recorded it on tape and lived with that. Finally I came upon the LP in my local record store (about 5 years later) and just about fainted! It was in great condition and I lived very happily, but wanting it on CD and also wanting others to hear this marvelous performance. In the mid 90's the British Navigator Series came out which had this recording along with Andre Previn's justly famous 1st. I should have bought that right away, because being an import, it was not easy to get after it's initital US run. Thanks to the internet, I found a used copy and was very pleased with the remastering. Now, these recordings now can be enjoyed by the general populace and I hope that their status as being "classics" will live forever. Both of these performances have an essential "Nielsen Quality" that of extreme forward motion and excitement. I have heard so many recordings of these works, and some are so romanticized that they get bogged down. Gould's 2nd is just such an animal. Right away you are transported to Nielsen's sound world. This performance is so exciting and thrilling and also is a testament to the glorious playing of the Chicago Symphony. The sound is not up to normal standards (for that, Chung and the Gothenburg on BIS still is the Gold Standard for me) but this performance is one of the best. The Fourth is another story. Jean Martinon was unlucky to be conducting the Chicago Symphony after Fritz Reiner, but he made so many wonderful recordings! Ravel,Roussel, Bizet, Lalo, Nielsen, Martinon himself, and Peter Mennin were all representative of his years at the CSO. Many of these recordings did not last in the catalogs for long (why was this, RCA?) and my well-taken care of lp's remain my only way to hear these performances-until now! Like Gould's recording of the Nielsen 2, this performance grabs you by the throat and never lets go. No big longuers here (Bernstein is the big sinner here). No unwanted big ritards, no suddenly slow tempos, just how the composer wrote the score. The timpani battle just jumps out at you and the timpanists are actually creditied! The sound seems a little bit more present than the previous remastering, and some allowances have to be made for the sound. BUT THIS PERFORMANCE IS FABULOUS! RUN, DO NOT WALK TO YOUR LOCAL CD STORE (OR AMAZON) and buy this CD before RCA in their infinite wisdom, put this CD out of print! But to do so would be to deprive the world of one of the best performances in the history of recorded sound!

Martinon's recordings of the Nielsen Fourth Symphony and Helios Overture are among the greatest orchestral recordings ever made, and their reissue on CD is long overdue. Martinon's performance of the "Inextinguishable" puts every other available recording of this masterpiece in the shade. The brass playing of the Chicago Symphony, and the "duel" between two sets of tympani in the finale are listening experiences to be enjoyed again and again.
There is one small problem regarding the trasition to the last section of the 4th Symphony: at the end of track 7, corresponding to the end of the "Con anima" section that begins at rehearsal no. 42, there is a pause of about 5 seconds, which is 4 seconds too long in terms of what is written in the score. This pause was not in the RCA Navigator version.

I am not an expert in the symphonies of Carl Nielsen but I can tell you this pairing beats the pants off the last CD I owned that paired the Symphonies 2 and 4 -- one I burned at home that included Stokowksi's 1967 Danish concert version of the "Four Temperaments" with the studio recording of Herbert Blomstedt's "Indistinguishable".

This recording, featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Morton Gould (No. 2)and Jean Martinon (No. 4 and the rest), is more dramatic and the sound is far more front loaded with more brilliant highs and better definition in the lows than the two previously mentioned. Martinon and Gould lead very exciting performances of the symphonies, which I thought were pretty bland basedo nmy previous elongated experience through my homemade CD.

I was very surprised to learn this since both the Stokowski No. 2 and Blomstedt No. 4 have received many critical plaudits over the years. This was most of the reason I acquired these versions in the first place. This one blows them both away and includes a couple other pieces by Nielsen, the "Helios" overture and "The Fog Is Lifting" from incidental music to "The Mother".

In the final analysis, this inexpensive CD is exciting, sounds good and provides an excellent introduction into the two most popular and well-known of the Dane's symphonies. While my old CD shows why many people think the moniker "Inexhaustible" should really be "Indistinguishable", you won't think anything like that after you hear this CD.

This is probably the best performance of the 4th Symphony that I've ever heard. Too bad that someone put a big 6 second pause between the 3rd and 4th movements on the CD (the original LP sidebreak was in the same spot). Otherwise, this would have been pretty close to ideal.

This review pertains to Martinon's performance of the Fourth Symphony only, a symphony which has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it on a mono-only Danish Odeon LP many years ago:

I had the good fortune to hear this recording on the radio over our local classical music station as part of a Chicago Symphony broadcast. The announcer noted the Martinon served in the armed forces during WWII (he was captured in 1940 by the Germans) and that he had a strong affinity with Nielsen's life-affirming "Inextinguishable" because of his war experience. For whatever reason, Martinon conducts a furious, hair-raising, intensely driven version of this piece. Where others emphasize the harmony arising from the cacophany, Martinon emphasizes the cacophany at the expense of the emerging harmony. Instrumental balances favor the woodwinds and brass: you will never hear the detail of Nielsen's score more clearly than in this recording, even with the hair-raising tempi. That said, I find something missing here: Nielsen's humanism seems to get buried by his anguish. The trick of this piece, of all of Nielsen's mature work actually, is to hold these two, almost antithetical elements in their precarious balance. Other well-regarded versions, especially Ole Schimdt's, do this considerably better, in my opinion.

If you are getting a single version of this magnificent piece, I'd recommend Schmidt's as the best-balanced of the many out there. Much as I admire Leonard Bernstein for his dedication to bringing Nielsen's music to a wider audience, I find his recordings of the symphonies in particular to have the opposite problem to Martinon's: too much emphasis on the Brahmsian romanticism and not enough on the modern anguish. Nielsen had both; his works speak to our modern sensibility as surely in 2009 as they did when they were written. This symphony will reward you, but I suggest you start with Schmidt before you dive into Martinon's more harrowing world.

I'd heard about this pairing of #2/#4 for some time but only recently got around to acquiring it. I can't stop listening to it. Even by the lofty standards of the great Chicago Symphony, this disk is extraordinary. The Jean Martinon era in Chicago is often viewed as a low point between the Reiner and Solti regimes, but every recording of his from that era that I've heard has been terrific, none more so than Nielsen 4. It is viscerally exciting, ferociously driven (about 5 minutes faster than most other versions I know), and with just the right level of aggressiveness. The dueling timpani in the last movement will send chills up your spine. And there is simply not a dull moment. Listening to this recording makes me wonder how on earth Nielsen 4 isn't a major repertory staple and touring piece; yet while not neglected, I've never heard it in live performance in over 25 years of regular concertgoing. But perhaps the real find here is the 2nd symphony, with Morton Gould conducting. Gould has an interesting career as composer, conductor, and ASCAP founder, yet this recording suggests he is greatly underrated as a conductor; #2 is as well played as #4, and while not quite as memorable a work, is still well worth performing more often than it is. All in all, I cannot recommend this disk highly enough.

Jean Martinon' s renowned talent is carved in relief with the admirable and mercurial approach given to the Fourth Symphony; respect Morton Gould I must recognize that, despite on the fact Bernstein's recording with New York Philarmonic is superior, Gould gives a convincing and honest reading.

On the other hand, it will always be an infinite pleasure to listen the Chicago Symphony, one of the most pyramidal and expansive ensembles in North America.

Go for this album.

This recording of the second very much emphasizes the bass fiddles and cellos. The orchestra is somewhat at a distance and there is a lot of reverberation. The engineering, or Gould's conducting, makes this sound like an expansive Hollywoodish approach, and therefore not representative of Nielsen's aesthetic. The Chung on Bis is a more taught performance in more detailed sound. Yet, I prefer to listen to the Gould. It sounds more like entertainment and less like an academic excercise.

In constrast, Martinon's version of the 4th is virile and spiky. Whenever the music gets loud, Martinon takes it quite fast. There is some precedent for that. Herbert Blomstedt's recorded this for EMI with the Danish Radio Orchestra. One assumes that a Danish conductor and a Danish orchestra would know how to perform the music of a Danish composer, and Blomstedt also takes the same sections quite fast. Although Blomstedt slowed down considerably on his later San Fransciso remake.

In addition to the exciting histrionics that set this work apart from Nielsen's other symphonic works, this piece also contains many quieter passages for soloist or small ensemble. On the negative side, RCA seems to have, by the time of this recording, abandoned the "spotlighting" techniques used on the early Red Seals. The quiet sections sound somewhat distant here. The redeeming factor is the superb playing by the Chicago Symphony soloists. It takes a bit of strain to hear them, but the effort is well worthwhile. The final movement is a real potboiler, and Martinon brings all the forcefulness to it that one could ask for. RCA's sound captures the louder sections quite well, so this movement is a definite strong point for the recording.

Blomstedt's EMI recording has more forceful tempos and better orchestral playing than his London remake. However, both recordings suffer from recessed sound and suppressed dynamics that rob the music of its energy and vitality. Saraste's recording for Finlandia is an excellent choice. It's a sort of a middle of the road reading, but well played and in excellent sound. Sir Alexander Gibson recorded this for Chandos. His recording is revelatory, bringing out details that others gloss over. And that recording is no slouch at the histrionics either. The drum beats are particularly dramatic.

This RCA recording and the Gibson are highly recommended.

I have waited many years for this recording to come out on CD. It does not disappoint. The "Helios" Overture is simply the best, most life-affirming version I have ever heard. This is the Chicago Symphony at the peak of its powers, all the lead chairs filled with legends. As a horn player I stand in awe of the opening horn calls, perfectly pitched with a radiant, clear tone. The two symphonies are also quite amazing, if perhaps not Nielsen. Or Nielsen on steroids, maybe. Or hearing an LP at 45 RPM (for those old enough to know what I'm talking about.) It's as if Martinon was taking the orchestra out for a test drive and pushing it for all it to its limits. It is obvious he was dealing with a Maserati, not a Yugo. The results are stunning to listen to, and well worth the small price of admission.

Carl Nielsen rode a crest of popularity in the Sixties when he jumped from total obscurity thanks to Leonard Bernstein, who made illustrious recordings of the Third and Fifth Symphonies (they're still unsurpassed). His Fourth, which I expected to be another great performance, was badly recorded, however, and lacked the magic of the earlier two LPs.

Following Bernstein's lead, Morton Gould and Jean Martinon certainly are trying hard here. I don't know what they were putting in the drinking water in Chicago forty years ago, but both of these recordings are impatient and rushed. The Chicago Sym. plays stupendously (they'd have to, just to keep up), and in the Fourth RCA gives us top-quality sound. The timpani "duel" in the finale of the fourth is astonishingly vivid and accurate, ending in a breathtaking glissando that remains in tune. But instead of really digging in, every allegro movement under Martinon and Gould is a scramble to the finish line, and the phrasing is brash and blatant.

As a lover of these works, I'm glad the reviewers here are enthusiastic, but maybe they're putting something in the water at Amazon, too. To be fair, many critics love both recordings.