Search - Carl Nielsen, Myung-Whun Chung, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra :: Carl Nielsen: Symphony No. 2 "The Four Temperaments"; Aladdin Suite

High-Octane Nielsen from Myung-Whun Chung

M. C. Passarella | Lawrenceville, GA | 05/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chung's approach to Nielsen is bold, brash, earthy, underlining the life-affirming nature of this most life-affirming of modern composers. A part of that brashness can be attributed to BIS's recording, which, like many from the first days of the digital era (this one's from 1983), has a certain fierceness in tutti passages. But then again, the sense of detail and realism in quieter sections (the low strings and timpani in the finale of the symphony, the tambourine and triangle in the music from "Aladdin") is just the kind of thing that woke listeners up to the possibilities of digital recording techniques. However, enough about the recording and back to Chung's approach here:



If bold colors and fiery allegros were all that Chung brought to the music, these performances could be dismissed as one-dimensional, but instead Chung imparts a sense of near-tragedy to the Andante malincolico third movement of the symphony that hints at the emotional depth Nielsen would be capable of in his later and greater symphonies. Altogether, then, I find Chung's just about the finest performance of the Second Symphony I've heard on disc, though Blomstedt's slightly less potent reading with the San Francisco Symphony is a close second to this Second.



The music to "Aladdin" is not just a make-weight but a substantial suite of intriguing, sometimes quirky, pieces designed as incidental music to a play by Danish writer Adam Oehlenschlager. If you don't know this strange yet beautiful concoction by Nielsen, Chung's performance is the most compelling I know, with a wildly exciting final dance--though the high point of the proceedings is the Prisoner's Dance, here played with heart-wrenching intensity."