The lighter Nielsen
is presented in a collection first issued
on Big Ben and now rescued from deletion
perdition through a licence direct to
Regis from the Odense Orchestra.
This is Regis's third
Nielsen foray. Not so very long ago
I
reviewed and welcomed an ex-Unicorn
reissue from the same forces.
Regis also have what remains one of
the most attractive bargains in the
catalogue, the Ole Schmidt/LSO analogue
recordings (RRC
3002) of the six Nielsen symphonies
(previously on Unicorn LPs circa 1974
and then reissued in the late 1980s
on Unicorn Souvenir CDs).
After a rather stolid
Saul and David Prelude orchestra
and conductor get into their stride
with a very strong and singable Little
Suite. It is like a cousin to Sibelius's
Rakastava, Grieg's Holberg
and Ireland's Downland. If you
are at all attracted to twentieth century
tonal string music do try this.
If the Saul and
David prelude carries resonances
from the first two symphonies, the Rhapsody
Overture from almost three decades
later is more up-to-date at least in
some details. The Faeroese folksong
rings warmly with Wagnerian sincerity
but the wind figures that decorate this
anthem are wholly late Nielsen. The
second part of the overture romps explosively
along with some anarchic energy at 6.31.
The overture is not the most convincing
of Nielsen's works seeming to peter
out rather than arriving at a rounded
conclusion.
The Prelude to the
seventh scene of The Mother (properly
translated as The Motherland)
is earnestly lyrical, rather Brahmsian
with only the odd ‘skirl’ declaring
Nielsen as the creator. The rounded
hymnal rings out like as national anthem
much as the first section of the Rhapsody
Overture in tr. 2.
Pan and Syrinx is
mature and very strong Nielsen. It dates
from 1918 and tells of Pan's passionate
animalistic pursuit of the nymph Syrinx
and of her transformation into a reed.
This is music of a similar vintage to
the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. As
for the subject matter, there is a plethora
of Greek classical (or at least Mediterranean)
subjects which have inspired Scandinavian
composers. Sibelius's Oceanides and
The Nymph, Peterson-Berger's
Second Symphony (you must hear that
work!) and Nystroem's Sinfonia del
Mare was inspired by the Mediterranean
rather than the Baltic or Arctic oceans.
Nielsen’s own best known tone poem,
Helios, was concerned with the
Greek sun. Vetö and his orchestra
neatly catch the dissonant fantastical
visions especially the wild chase coloured
in by terrific woodwind playing. There
is even a touch of Delius's Paradise
Garden in the writing for flute
at 7.20.
After warmer climes
and classical legend Nielsen returns
to Scandinavian legend for Saga-Drøm.
This is earlier although still a mature
work. This tells of Gunnar of Hlidarende
being taken by longship into exile in
Norway. He dreams. The music takes on
that warm anthemic tone we find in The
Mother and in the Rhapsody Overture.
A chaffing subject recalls Bruckner's
Romantic Symphony. The fanfares
are very well caught. This dream vision
returns into the silence from which
it emerged.
Lastly there are three
'bleeding chunks' from the light opera
Maskarade. The overture is dashed
off with the sort of uproarious exuberance
found in the Four Temperaments.
The orchestra play with world class
unanimity. This music is a successor
to Smetana's Bartered Bride.
This same spirit is carried over into
later works such as Rosenberg's Orpheus
in Town. The Prelude to Act
II is a delicious invocation to which
the solo French horn lends distinctive
honeyed character. The Dance of the
Cockerels recalls the Bohemian bonhomie
of Smetana's Bride and Dvořák's
Slavonic Dances but updated
with a coarsened edge and a hiccuping
grace
It would be wonderful
if Regis and whoever now controls the
Goldsmith Unicorn catalogue could agree
on licensing their 1970s tapes of both
Nielsen operas - Maskarade and
Saul and David. Of course, much
more modern recordings already exist
on Decca and Chandos (Ulf Schirmer)
and historic recordings of the two operas
are on a Danacord set but those Unicorn
sets were well worth hearing even if
there were problems with the lead in
Saul and David.
Until then you can
relish this recommendable collection
which concentrates on the lighter and
more concise Nielsen (five of the nine
tracks are theatre music). This is a
vividly characterised and easily recommendable
anthology and the Little Suite receives
one of its most winning recordings ever.
Rob Barnett
Odense Symphony Orchestra/Tamás Vetö
