Alan Gilbert: My Nielsen Top Five
"Nielsen is a composer who deserves to be more widely heard," says Alan Gilbert. In an exclusive playlist, the conductor selects his favourite five works by the Danish composer.
Read more…Symphony No. 3 in D minor "Sinfonia espansiva"
The Fourth Symphony, “The Inextinguishable”, is played often and is a true masterpiece, but if anything I might even prefer the Third Symphony, “Espansiva”. It’s a gorgeous piece, where Nielsen manages to assimilate the dramatic symphonic tradition and make it really his own. It’s a piece that’s easy to get into – sometimes it sounds like Elgar, sometimes like Brahms – but it’s always got that quirky Nielsen edge to it.
Symphony No. 6 "Sinfonia semplice"
I love the Sixth Symphony: it’s whacky! He really goes off in the deep end here. It's almost tongue in cheek, but I have the feeling he’s also totally sincere in the way he writes it. And in having it end inconclusively, he’s kind of thumbing his nose at music history and tradition. It’s difficult to conduct because it gives you less to grab on to; it goes away from this lush dramatic sound and is more fragmented. It can sound disjointed, but Nielsen was a really well-schooled musician with an amazing ear so there’s nothing random about it.
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra op. 33
The violin concerto is one of the great pieces and the recording we did with Nikolaj Znaider was a real success. Nikolaj is simply a great violinist, and with his Danish background I think he feels very close to this concerto. He plays it inimitably and it's really an unbelievable interpretation. It was great fun to work on the piece with him. It's fiendishly difficult for both orchestra and soloist, and then putting it together is another level of challenge. But if I may say so myself, I think we were pretty successful. I don't generally enjoy listening to my own recordings, but this one I'm allowing myself to feel really proud of!
Symphony No. 4 "The Inextinguishable"
It’s interesting: there are many great recordings of the Nielsen symphonies, mostly done by Danish orchestras and conductors. Herbert Blomstedt is obviously not Danish, but his Nielsen set with the San Francisco Symphony is really great, if not definitive. When Nielsen really came alive to me was a live performance of the Fourth Symphony that Blomstedt conducted with the New York Philharmonic. That was a revelation for me. I must have been at High School or something and I had no idea about this music. And suddenly I heard it and that amazing performance planted the seed for me to try and do my own Nielsen project.
Maskarade: Overture
I don’t think the opera itself is a great piece from beginning to end, but the overture is brilliant. It’s a brilliant showpiece and makes a glittery, dazzling encore.