Thrilling performances from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi could convert anyone to Nielsen, while Paxton will make your ears ping
• Clarity and immediacy are hallmarks of the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), a point made by Fabio Luisi in the notes for The Symphonies (Deutsche Grammophon, 3CDs), in which he conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Written across the span of his creative life, Nielsen’s six symphonies at first sound straightforward yet break all rules and wander into the strangest terrains. The First is economical, only hinting at what might follow. Four of the six have names: No 2, “The Four Temperaments”, has a powerfully melancholic third movement, a striking contrast to the essential extroversion of the others. No 3, “Sinfonia espansiva”, with its whipcrack opening and intoxicating merry-go-round waltz, is among his most performed. No 4, “The Inextinguishable”, perhaps his best, written during the first world war, is darker, brooding, mighty.
The experimental No 5, in two movements, embraced the impact of war and of a crisis in Nielsen’s private life. No 6, “Sinfonia semplice”, sees a paring back, raw and exposed. These performances, recorded in Copenhagen’s Koncertsalen, are thrilling enough to turn you into a Nielsen addict (he has never quite had the attention he deserves), performed by the Danes and Luisi with zest, wit and restless freedom.
