A lovely potpourri of Nielsen outside the symphonies
Something must be right in the world when the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra can play this well. Naxos has employed a lot of provincial orchestras, and there's no doubt that the musicians in Jutland, like their confreres in Slovakia and Ukraine, are not first-rate, but they play here wiht great enthusiasm and commitment under Niklas Willen. I think Nielsen peaked as a composer with his Sym. #3, 4, and 5, along with the violin, flute, and clarinet concertos. But this very enjoyable omnium gatherum of shorter works has some surprises in store.

The two pieces that deserve to be promoted to the level of Sibelius's best tone poems are the Saga-Dream, which is both static and ecstatis, and the tone poem Pan and Syrinx, which despsite a title that would baffle most modern listeners unfamiliar with the crannies of Greek mythology, is as spicily varied as Nielsen's mature symphonies. I expected more from Cupid and the Poet, but it came off as bits and pieces from the anarchic Fifth Symphony. The two best-known works, the Helios and Maskarade Overtures, have been much better performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen and his Sweidsh orchestra on Sony. South Jutland isn't ready for the world stage, but it's given Nielsen lovers everywhere a valuable colleciton.

Excellent Recordings
This is a great collection of Carl Nielsen's incidental and shorted orchestral works. His music for Aladdin has been recorded in its entirety by Chandos but the suite captures the best of the music, including the evocative The Marketplace in Ispahan. The many dances in the suite are tuneful and memorable. Cupid and the Poet is also incidental music but differs from Aladdin in that it comes from Nielsen's later period prior to his Fifth and Sixth symphonies, which this music is akin to. Saga Dream is a tone poem is a mood piece, somber and contemplative in its music. The piece is somewhat reminiscent of Sibelius' tone poems but with the playful melodies of Nielsen. The Helios Overture was written after a journey to Greece and is beautifully evocative of the azure blue Aegean Sea, taking us from the dawn to dusk and darkness. The Overture has a lively middle section the perhaps was influenced by the spirit of the heroic Greek past.

The overture to the opera Maskarade has enjoyed much more success than the opera itself. The sprightly music is very ear-catching and literally bursts on the audience like the Marriage of Figaro. Pan et Syrinx was composed following the Fourth Symphony and reflects the advances in orchestration the Nielsen reached in the symphony. The extended percussion section makes use of the xylophone, tambourine and glockenspiel.

The music is beautifully recorded and played by the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra and makes a fine introduction to Carl Nielsen's music or a nice addition to ones collection.

2 Great Pieces and a Few Good Ones
Nielsen's Helios Overture is one the greatest tone poems ever written. Even people who hate Nielsen love it. It really leaves you feeling that you have just witnessed a sunrise from the Acropolis. This piece alone is worth the price of the CD.
"Fantasy Voyage to the Faroes" is a beautiful seascape piece that you will want to play again and again. Both of these great tone poems are well preformed.
The other pieces on this CD are good, but they are mostly for lovers of Nielsen's music.

Fleshing Out the Library of Carl Nielsen's Works on a Shoestring
While more and more conductors are regularly programming the gorgeous symphonies of Danish composer Carl Nielsen (and justly so), the other works by this inventive yet resolutely romantic composer appear only as filler on recordings of the symphonies. This fine recording by Niklás Willén conducting the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra of Denmark should change all that. The wealth of beauty and creative ideas in these five shorter works flesh out the thoughts of a composer difficult to categorize.

Nielsen's opera 'Maskarade' receives performances in Denmark and now some smaller opera companies and universities are giving it presence, and if the entire opera follows the pleasures of the Overture, we should hope for greater exposure. The 'Helios Overture' is more of a tone poem then overture in its structure: it makes sonically visual the play of the sun on the sea both at sunrise and sunset. 'Pan and Syrinx' while short suggests some of the wonderful percussion writing found in 'The Inextinguishable' symphony without the overtones of war. 'Saga Dream' is simply Nielsen at his best and for those who know the symphonies, this will conjure the majesty of the 'Sinfonia Espansiva' and the 5th, while for those unfamiliar with the symphonies will gain a quick course on why they are so well loved.

This very affordable album is a must for those who love Carl Nielsen and also a very fine introduction to those for whom this will be an introduction to an important 20th Century master. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

Superb Shorter Orchestral Pieces by Nielsen
We are used to thinking of Carl Nielsen as one of the great symphonists of the twentieth century and there are multiple sets of recordings of them. But he also wrote a fair amount of orchestral music not in symphonic form, and many of those jewels are included in this wonderful issue from Niklás Willén leading the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra, a very fine regional Danish orchestra. Included here are the Aladdin Suite, Cupid and the Poet, Saga-Dream, the Helios Overture, the Overture and Act II Prelude to his opera 'Maskarade,' and Pan and Syrinx.

All are given really quite good performances. Clearly this orchestra and its Swedish chief conductor have this music in their bones. My own favorite of these is the evocative 'Helios Overture' that Nielsen wrote after he and his wife took a trip to Greece; it portrays the sun rising and setting over the Aegean Sea, and unlike some tone-poems, it actually conjures up in sound those phenomena. I'm particularly fond of the contrapuntal section that always makes me think, 'Aha, a fugue of sunbeams.'

The jolly 'Maskarade' Overture is another favorite of mine, but perhaps best of all is the contemplative 'Saga-Dream' ('Saga-drom'), Op. 39, that has some of Nielsen's most beautiful melodies, including some really quite Brucknerian writing for the horns. 'Pan and Syrinx', Op. 49, is thought by some to be Nielsen's finest short tone poem but it doesn't quite measure up, in my books, to that assessment. Still, it contains reminders of Nielsen's unique approach to orchestral timbre, and it includes one of Nielsen's characteristic raucous outbursts from the percussion section (similar to that in his Clarinet Concerto).

Most intriguing of all, though, is the 'Aladdin Suite.' Written in 1919 as incidental music for a play by Adam Oehlenschläger, it has all the gestures that later came, via movie music, to be associated with music from the mysterious Middle East, including the most amazing section, called 'The Marketplace at Ispahan,' that out-Iveses Charles Ives in its overlay of four distinct musics in different keys and meters; it quite effectively calls to mind the multifarious activities of a busy marketplace. It really must be heard to be appreciated. Willén and his orchestra manage to keep all four planes of sound quite distinct and yet they meld into a glorious whole.

Considering that this is a budget issue, and that is contains masterful performances of some of Nielsen's finest music, this CD is a must-buy.

TT=67:56

Scott Morrison