Regis already have
a strong Nielsen stable built around
the still world-beating LSO/Ole Schmidt
symphony cycle review.
This concertos disc fills an obvious
gap at bargain price. As for the coupling
it is spot-on and has become an industry
standard since Chandos first issued
the three concertos on one CD in the
early 1990s. These were estimable Danish
versions conducted by Michael Schonwandt.
The Violin Concerto
here appears in a performance packed
with uproarious character and dreamy
but not overheated fantasy. While not
the last word in sharply delineated
playing Saeko Matsuyama spares nothing
in her commitment and her projection
of character .... and that goes a long
way in Nielsen. The concerto in this
version struck me very strongly as linked
with the Four Temperaments. This
is a storming performance and the audience
applause at the end is well deserved.
For various reasons
the other two concertos are not as successful
although good enough representations.
The Clarinet Concerto is well despatched
by McCaw. I remember this recording
being released when there were few Nielsen
LPs about. I found myself once or twice
noticing a synthetic ambience, perhaps
excessively scrubbed - a certain airlessness.
The New Philharmonia did not strike
me as fully at ease with the idiom.
When compared with the coarser approach
adopted by Drucker and Bernstein on
a contemporary CBS recording the difference
is instantly noticeable. Much the same
can be said of Ib Eriksen's recording
with Danish forces conducted by Jensen
and available on Decca Eclipse at the
time the McCaw was issued. A touch of
the same criticism can be levelled at
the ex-Collins Classics Flute Concerto.
However the Scots orchestra are much
closer to the spirit of the piece. Jennifer
Stinton, whose work I have a great deal
of time for, is here much better at
the pastoral idyllic side of the Danish
master than his grimacing raucous humour
- perhaps the photograph of Ms Stinton
which credits her hairdresser unintentionally
tells us more about the approach. If
you hear the CBS now Sony-BMG version
by Bernstein and Julius Baker with the
NYPO you are much closer to the rambunctious
Nielsen we know and love.
This is from a repertoire
point of view a natural coupling at
bargain price. New-comers will do themselves
no harm at all by snapping it up. However
I would urge them also to hear the identically
coupled Schønwandt CD on Chandos
and the 1970s vintage EMI Classics
collection conducted by Blomstedt. I
have not heard the identically arranged
Irish recordings on Naxos but hope to
put that right one day. My first recommendation
for all three concertos goes to Schønwandt
and then Blomstedt. However if your
prime interest is in the Violin Concerto
then hesitate not for one moment, get
this outstanding version and enjoy two
other good but not prime versions of
the flute and clarinet concertos.
Rob Barnett
Saeka Matsuyama (violin); John McCaw (clarinet);
Jennifer Stinton (flute) 
