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Nordic Showcase / Lindberg, Tognetti, Et Al

Release Date: 06/26/2007
Label: Bis Catalog #: 1538 Spars Code: n/a
Composer:  Carl Nielsen ,  Johan Svendsen ,  Anders Wesström ,  Jón Leifs  ...  Performer:  Richard Tognetti Conductor:  Christian Lindberg Orchestra/Ensemble:  Nordic Chamber Orchestra Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo Length: 1 Hours 1 Mins.

I fear for the fate of collections like this. Both the playing and Lindberg's conducting are uniformly outstanding, particularly in Leifs' quirky Pastoral Variations on a theme of Beethoven, where a tune from the Septet gets taken on a whirlwind tour of Iceland before returning home, evidently having enjoyed itself. There are other delightful discoveries as well: Anders Wesström's (1720-81) overture to Armida is a delicious three-movement tribute to the Mannheim school, full of characterful syncopations in its opening, while Bo Linde's charming, neoclassical Concerto Piccolo pits a sometimes naughty wind quintet against the larger body of strings. Nielsen's Suite and Sibelius' Impromptu, the pieces that bracket this recital, come off Read more graciously while maintaining a nice, firm rhythmic profile. The sonics are also outstanding. Oh, and I almost forgot Svendsen's Romance for Violin and Orchestra. So will you, most likely.

So what's the problem? Just that a miscellaneous collection such as this very easily gets lost in the shuffle. Most collectors own the familiar pieces already, and the novelties, while delightful in and of themselves, don't stand out in a way that really makes you sit up and take notice (this is, after all, "light" music). The theme that binds these works together may be valid geographically, but it does little to give such a disparate range of styles any discernible musical cohesion (not, I hasten to add, that the program doesn't make for pleasant enough listening at a throw). So by all means, go ahead and try this disc, but make a firm promise to give it a whirl more than once, and file it in such a way that you can find it easily when the mood takes you.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
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