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Robert Layton's Review in Gramophone

Record Collector | Mons, Belgium | 04/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Herbert Blomstedt finds the tempo giusto in the first movement--there is splendid concentration and fire, and as usual from the right pace stems the right character. Moreover, I wonder whether the orchestra is not at an early stage of discovering this music for there is a genuine excitement about their performance, which was less in evidence in Blomstedt's earlier Danish account on EMI. There is no lack of warmth in their playing.



Of course Blomstedt is an experienced guide in this repertoire and it tells, particularly in the Espansiva, which has greater depth than Chung (BIS/Conifer) or his own earlier EMI account. The tempo giusto for the finale which eluded such artists as Bernstein (CBS, due for reissue) and Francois Huybrechts (Decca) feels just right here. And it is the underlying current on which this music is borne, that is so expertly judged. In fact right from the beginning I found my old enthusiasm for this genial symphony rekindled anew. Blomstedt's is an affirmative, powerful reading and although in the slow movement, the soprano's vibrato may not be to all tastes, she produces the required ethereal effect and the baritone, Kevin McMillan, is also fine.



Over the years I have heard every commercial recording of both symphonies (save Stokowski in No. 2 and Ehrling in No. 3) from the pioneering accounts of Jensen and Tuxen that lit the beacon in the 1950s onwards (I do wish Decca would reissue the latter's Espansiva and EMI would transfer the former along with Grondahl's No. 4 on to CD). It is perhaps hazardous to say so on the strength of one hearing (the disc arrived as we go to press), but Blomstedt's account of both works strikes me as by far the most satisfying to have appeared for years and brings added lustre to a distinguished cycle. Anyway, I shall certainly not be getting rid of it!

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