Syms 1 & 4

I have an Osmo Vanska, BBC Scottish Symphony Nielsen Symphony cycle that I've had for about 8 years. It's okay, but was never that crazy about it. This Martin Gilbert/NY Phil changed my whole perspective about Nielsen's Symphonies. This cd, along with the 3 and 2 cd, and the 5 and 6 cd are the best I've heard.

UPS screwed up in the holiday rush but Amazon is not to be faulted. Good performance of Nielsen, invites more purchases of his compositions.

Great recording.

This new DaCapo CD with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert includes fresh live recordings of two of the greatest 20th Century Symphonies, the first and fourth by Carl Nielsen. These are strongly felt performances; Gilbert calls this "full-blooded, passionate, dramatic and ultimately human music." An early review of the First Symphony, also quoted in the liner notes, called Nielsen "ruthless but innocent - like a child playing with dynamite." Gilbert shows the Bart Simpson side of this astonishing work, downplaying its 19th Century Romantic roots in favour of something sharper, ruder, more modern. The challenge for today's musicians is to present revolutionary music of a century (Nielsen or Stravinsky) or two or three centuries ago (Beethoven or Monteverdi) and make it sound as freshly radical today. This means turning up the volume or sharpening the focus, and Gilbert and his excellent players do both here, to great effect.I don't mean to slight the Fourth Symphony. This great work, written during the slaughter of World War I, represents the mature composer's deepest thoughts on life as well as music. Its exalted programme - it's called `The Inextinguishable" - might have condemned a lesser composer's music to bathetic gestures and cliche, but Nielsen's default mode is liveliness. His music always has a strong pulse, and this work has such a vital forward thrust that even the grief Nielsen expresses over the violence overtaking the world has its own dramatic interest. Gilbert and the orchestra are again admirably direct and dramatic, and are aided by a clear and lifelike recording.This is more than a great Nielsen recording, though great Nielsen recordings are hardly thick on the ground. It is part of the vitally important Nielsen Project (nyphil.org/nielsenproject) which will present concerts and recordings of the six symphonies and three concertos from 2012 to 2015. Alan Gilbert deserves a great deal of credit for his vision in bringing this music to a wider audience and raising Nielsen's reputation closer to what he deserves: amongst the three or four greatest composers of the 20th Century.

I was fortunate to buy this CD of Nielsen Symphonies 4 and 1 while at a New York Philharmonic Concert in New York last year, when they had just brought them out. I already have their recording of his Symphonies 3 and 2, which they did in 2012 also on the DACAPO label, and was very pleased with them. Alan Gilbert, the NYP Music Director, has a good bond with Nielsen's music and I'm very glad he has now recorded all six of his Symphonies with 5 and 6 just out on sale this year on Amazon.Alan Gilbert knows how to capture the essence of these Nielsen Symphonies with his positive energy and strength and the NYP respond brilliantly with their own power and style especially in the strings and brass. I have to say though that there are some beautiful woodwind solos on both Symphonies on this CD.I have to admit that I do prefer Nielsen's earlier Symphonies, like his 1st, and find his later Symphonies harder to appreciate. However this performance by Gilbert and the NYP of the Symphony No.4 "The Inextinguishable" has helped me come to like it much better.

The Gilbert/NYP Nielsen cycle is one disc shy of completion. The latest release features a coupling of early and mature works. The Symphony 1 is well constructed and harmonically novel for its day, an auspicious first effort by anyone’s standards. Symphony 4 expands upon this trajectory of originality which initially crystallized with the lovely Symphony 3. In terms of thematic organization, harmonic arc and color, the final four symphonies solidify this composer’s stature as a major symphonist of the early part of the 20th century. Maestro Gilbert maintains a firm hand on the proceedings, artfully steering his orchestra through the alternate stretches of tension and repose. The NYP members provide nuanced, alert playing, unleashing ample horsepower when required. In a fiercely competitive field, this issue more than holds its own. The sound pickup, especially in Super Audio, has plenty of gusto and presence.

Totalmente satisfecho

録音がキレイですね・・・特に「不滅」のダブル・ティンパニの辺りが、音が割れずズンと響くサウンドは最高！ギルバート＆NYPは、かなり洗練された演奏・・・ブラス・セクションの迫力も二重丸！！「不滅」もイイが、１番のフレッシュな感じもナカナカ・・・ニールセン初心者～ニールセン通まで幅広くお薦め！！！

I was fortunate to buy this CD of Nielsen Symphonies 4 and 1 while at a New York Philharmonic Concert in New York last year, when they had just brought them out. I already have their recording of his Symphonies 3 and 2, which they did in 2012 also on the DACAPO label, and was very pleased with them. Alan Gilbert, the NYP Music Director, has a good bond with Nielsen's music and I'm very glad he has now recorded all six of his Symphonies with 5 and 6 just out on sale this year on Amazon.Alan Gilbert knows how to capture the essence of these Nielsen Symphonies with his positive energy and strength and the NYP respond brilliantly with their own power and style especially in the strings and brass. I have to say though that there are some beautiful woodwind solos on both Symphonies on this CD.I have to admit that I do prefer Nielsen's earlier Symphonies, like his 1st, and find his later Symphonies harder to appreciate. However this performance by Gilbert and the NYP of the Symphony No.4 "The Inextinguishable" has helped me come to like it much better.