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Nielsen: Symphonies 2 & 6 - Oramo

Nielsen: Symphonies 2 & 6 - Oramo

BIS  BIS-2128 SACD

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical - Orchestral


NIELSEN, Carl (1865–1931):
Symphony No. 2 "De fire Temperamenter" (The Four Temperaments), Op. 16 / FS 29 (1901–02)
Symphony No. 6, "Sinfonia Semplice", FS 116 (1924–25)

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Sakari Oramo (conductor)


The recently released second volume of the Carl Nielsen symphony cycle from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Sakari Oramo has already met with acclaim similar to that for the first disc: ‘an ideal blend of fieriness and loving care’ was how the performances of the First and Third Symphonies were characterized by a reviewer on Norddeutscher Rundfunk, and on BBC Radio 3 CD Review the disc was described as ‘an impressive second volume from what's turning into a must-hear Nielsen cycle.’

The last instalment of the cycle opens with the composer’s Symphony No.2, ‘The Four Temperaments’, dating from 1901–02. Its origins were in an allegorical picture Nielsen came across in a country inn, illustrating the four temperaments of man as defined in Greco-Roman medicine: anger, apathy, melancholy and carefree abandon. But Nielsen was incapable of drawing anything other than a rounded character-portrait, and consequently the fiery first movement also allows for lyrical episodes, there are moments of stoic nobility in the melancholy, and the march that conclude the sanguine finale is imbued with a certain dignity.

23 years later the composer completed his sixth and final symphony, giving it the subtitle Sinfonia semplice (Simple Symphony). In the meantime, the Fourth and Fifth symphonies had brought Nielsen the greatest measure of professional recognition he ever enjoyed in his lifetime. In spite of its subtitle, Symphony No.6 baffled reviewers as well as audiences, however. When beginning to work on it Nielsen had envisaged a work that would be ‘quite idyllic in character’ – something that is borne out by the opening bars. But by the time he arrived at the last movement, Theme and variations, the work had taken a different course, and as Nielsen later told a friend, the ninth and last variation, scored for tuba and percussion, represents ‘death knocking at the door’.

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PCM recording

Recorded in June 2014 at the Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden, 24/96

Producer: Hans Kipfer (Take5 Music Production)

Sound engineer: Marion Schwebel (No. 2) and Thore Brinkmann (No. 6) (Take5 Music Production)

Equipment: BIS’s recording teams use microphones from Neumann and Schoeps, audio electronics from RME, Lake People and DirectOut, MADI optical cabling technology, monitoring equipment from B&W, STAX and Sennheiser, and Sequoia and Pyramix digital audio workstations.

Post-production: Editing and mixing: Hans Kipfer

Executive producer: Robert Suff
Reviews (1)
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Review by Graham Williams - May 18, 2015

This issue completes Sakai Oramo's impressive cycle of the Nielsen Symphonies with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for BIS that now joins the other two complete cycles on SACD from Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live) and Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on the Dacapo label. On this new release Oramo couples the composer's 2nd and 6th Symphonies (“The Four Temperaments” and “Sinfonia Semplice”) two compositions with radically different complexions yet both unmistakeably the work of the Danish master.

In a recent interview Sakari Oramo opined “Nielsen doesn’t allow conductors to display their personalities, because the music is best served by leaving it mostly alone, taking it on trust, producing the drama, giving the fullest energy possible and not stopping for detail.”

The adoption of such an approach has already served Oramo very well in the previous two volumes (Symphonies 4 & 5 Nielsen: Symphonies 4 & 5 - Oramo and Symphonies 1 & 3 Nielsen: Symphonies 1 & 3 - Oramo ) and does so here with predictably impressive results.

The opening 'Allegro collerico' of the 2nd Symphony explodes with almost pyrotechnic force and savagery yet Oramo brings great breadth and nobility to the third movement – marked 'Andante malincolico' – allowing abundant rich and expressive playing from the strings of splendid Stockholm orchestra. The Symphony's second movement flows gracefully at what I consider to be an ideal tempo, while the buoyant finale has all the swagger and confidence that makes this conductor's Nielsen so thrilling to experience.

The same propulsive energy is evident in much of the enigmatic 6th Symphony, but again Oramo allows his players to bring poetry and a sense of mystery to the more reflective sections of the first movement whilst never underplaying the irony and bitterness that permeates much of the work. The final bars where Nielsen, to paraphrase from David Fanning's excellent liner notes, 'gives death the finger' is delivered by Oramo with an appropriate disdainful finality.

The sound quality of the 5.0, 24-bit / 96 kHz recording is, as usual from BIS, magnificent with the full dynamic range of the music vividly reproduced. Though the reverberation period of the Stockholm Concert Hall is generous, the BIS engineering team have achieved marvellous clarity throughout.

Altogether this is a fitting conclusion to what is arguably the finest and most consistent cycle of Nielsen Symphonies on disc.

Copyright © 2015 Graham Williams and HRAudio.net

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