Search - Franz Berwald, Thomas Dausgaard, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Franz Berwald: Symphonies, Volume 1 - Sinfonie Singulière (No. 3) / Sinfonie Naïve (No. 4) / Elfenspiel - Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Dausgaard

Tremendous

David Saemann | 08/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, a little housekeeping. The Sinfonie Singuliere is mastered at a significantly lower volume level than the rest of the CD. I had to change the volume level for Elfenspiel. That aside, this is a very worthwhile CD. The Sinfonie Singuliere is one of the less heralded masterpieces of 19th Century music. I first encountered it on an LP by Milton Katims and the Seattle Symphony, a performance of incomparable wit and nuance. Dausgaard's performance is almost as good. It is quite fast, with a splendid feeling for the shifting orchestral textures. I'm not sure I always would want to hear the symphony this way, but it makes for a bracing experience. The remaining works are very well done, too. There was a CD of the Symphonie Naive by Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony, but Dausgaard does not suffer by comparison. It is not an easy work to hold together, but that problem does not arise here. Sound engineering throughout the CD, volume level notwithstanding, is excellent, with wonderful dynamic range and no digital sound coloration. I should note that there is a budget priced set of all four Berwald Symphonies on Arte Nova which has received mixed reviews, but which I think is excellent. The artists are David Montgomery and the Jena Philharmonic. Still, Dausgaard is fine as a supplemental vision of these works."