Search - John Fernstrom, Johan Kvandal, Carl Nielsen :: Scandinavian Wind Quintets

Lovely!

stonechat | hyperspace | 01/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This really is a gem, at bargain price. Whatever your musical tastes, I think you really MUST like this. I can't understand why more composers haven't written for this delicious combination (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon). And these are lovely pieces: airy and wistful, but intelligent and lively and anti-sentimental. To my ears, both performance and sound quality are excellent. Equally good - perhaps even better - is 20th Century Wind Quintets, also on Naxos, with outstanding works by Hindemith, Barber and Janacek."

Delightful.

Brian Siegel | Greenville, SC United States | 01/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the album you want when you feel the need for tuneful, 20th century wind quintet music. Very satisfying."

Superb performances of very rewarding repertoire

G.D. | Norway | 09/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Personally, I think the main strength of the Naxos catalogue is its long list of superb chamber music releases, especially in post-romantic and modern repertoire, and this disc is surely one of those. The repertoire is attractively variegated as the disc features three very different composing styles, but everything is superbly played. John Fernström (1897-1961) is perhaps the least famous of the three composers, but he was pretty prolific in his time and his music is certainly worth getting to know (there are two versions of his sixth symphony in the catalogue and one of his twelfth - in addition there are some releases of his string quartets, including a very fine one from Marco Polo). The music, including the quintet here, isn't strikingly original, but well-crafted and full of good ideas, spelled out in a post-romantic idiom slightly reminiscent of Sibelius and early Bartok.



The music of Johan Kvandal (1919-1999) is more forward-looking, but still firmly rooted in folk music. Bartok and Sæverud are certainly points of reference, but there are striking touches of Shostakovich in his rather serious-minded but very satisfying quintet op. 34. The mood is certainly lighter in the three sacred folk-tunes - with playful music on a rather solemn foundation, these miniatures are actually very attractive. The main work is of course Carl Nielsen's quintet - perhaps the greatest work written in the genre. And it is, indeed, a masterpiece combining serious solemnity with relaxed strength; the ideas are consistently striking and well-developed and superbly scored for the instruments.



Oslo Wind Ensemble is on the evidence provided here an excellent group, and their playing is utterly convincing in both the serious and more playful passages, the instruments being marvelously attuned to each other and the range of colors simply fabulous. In the Nielsen they adopt rather slow tempi, but the music doesn't suffer for that. Maybe the recording lacks a little in perspective, but it certainly has a lot of presence, and all in all, this is a superb achievement and a real winner of a disc."