Search - Carl Nielsen, Osmo Vänskä, Glasgow BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra :: Nielsen: Symphonies No. 2 & No. 5

Vivid

David Saemann | 07/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is another triumph in Osmo Vanska's Nielsen series. I feel that he is even better at conducting Nielsen than he is at Sibelius. The thorniness of Nielsen's writing seems to bring out the best in him. The Four Temperaments is one of my favorite symphonies by anyone, and Vanska does it proud. He avoids bathos is the more lyrical moments, throughout providing sturdy construction and much detail requiring a vivid imagination. This version is certainly equal to the classic version by Morton Gould and the Chicago Symphony, although I still have a sentimental fondness for my first LP of it, by Ole Schmidt and the London Symphony. There is some pathos in that recording which Vanska suggests slightly more dimly. The Fifth is the best version I ever have heard of this symphony. Here Vanska's marvelous control of his orchestra reaps vast dividends in structure and understanding. I first learned the work from LPs by Horenstein and Kubelik, but Vanska surpasses them. The recorded sound on this CD is up to BIS's high standards, full, well balanced, and not gimmicky. It is an album I will return to with pleasure many times over."