Rough-and-ready versions of the Nielsen symphonies
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/12/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This is a super-bargain reissue of Blomstedt's 1975 Nielsen cycle, which was superseded by a much better played and recorded cycle from San Francisco (on Decca). Yet there are gains as well as losses in these Danish Radio performanes, where the rough playing gives a gritty edge to Nielsen's idiom. At times there's a haunted quality as well, and one never doubts the players' enthusiasm for their national composer. If only Blomstedt weren't so neutral -- where's the joy in the opening of the Sym. #3 "Espansiva," or the searing brutality in the battle sequences at the end of the first movement of the Sym. #5? If anything, Blomstedt became more cautious and smoother in San Francisco, so I can't recommend him over Bernstein, Salonen, and other notable Nielsen conductors in eihter set. For bargain hunters only, I'm afraid."