These performances
were recorded by an orchestral ensemble
committed, as its name implies, to presenting
programmes of the classical, romantic
and contemporary music of Scandinavia;
including little known or seldom performed
works. The New York Scandia’s dedication
is evident right from the first bar,
by their polished and affectionate performances.
The concert opens with
Nielsen’s early Symphonic Rhapsody
composed shortly after he had completed
his studies at the Royal Danish Music
Conservatory. It looks back to the Viennese
classical tradition of the early nineteenth
century; yet, through its overt joyousness
and pastoral atmosphere, there is heard
emerging, typical Nielsen ‘fingerprints’
of more mature works. An Evening
on Giske has remained unpublished
and is completely unknown and has not
been heard since its first performance
in 1890 at Copenhagen. It was composed
as incidental music for a drama of the
same name. Alas the album’s booklet
gives no hint as to the scope of the
drama. The music is portentous but slow-paced
with moments of pathos - a sort of mix
of Fauré and Wagner; fascinating
material but of no real consequence.
Much more interesting
is the New York Scandia’s performance
of the much better-known Helios Overture,
composed not long after Nielsen’s Second
Symphony The Four Temperaments.
It opens most atmospherically: the horns
calling, echoing across the sound-stage,
beautifully placed by Centaur’s sound
engineers. One can visualise, so wondrously,
the sunrise over Greek Islands – noble
splendour indeed! And that magnificent
heroic tune - and those gorgeous contrapuntal
string passages, so incisive, so polished
in performance here. Only some rather
shaky and ponderous horn calls, signalling
the concluding sunset, mar an otherwise
vital reading.
A colourful and vigorous
‘Oriental Festival March’ opens Matson’s
winsome reading of Nielsen’s Aladdin
Suite followed by a sensitive and
supple ‘Aladdin’s Dream – Dance of the
Morning Mists’ coming before the perkier
‘Hindu Dance’, with its captivating
ethnic rhythms and upward-curving and
intertwining flute figures. Equally
charming is the ‘Chinese Dance’ yet,
as Elgar seemed to stray very little
from Malvern when writing his Far Eastern
figures, so Nielsen also seems, here,
rather grounded in his familiar Danish
locales. ‘The Market Place in Ispahan’,
on the other hand, with its more sinuous
woodwind patterns and drones shows much
more Eastern promise. Nielsen’s mastery
of orchestration is on display here
– a witty delight in Matson’s hands.
Gutsy playing of the turbulent ‘Prisoner’s
Dance’ follows; this is another vividly
coloured creation with timpani well
forward in familiar Nielsen patterning.
The vibrant ‘Blackmoor’s Dance’ with
castanets and some extraordinary yet,
one feels, authentic nasal-like vocalling,
brings Aladdin to a wonderfully
exciting and hedonistic conclusion.
The Imaginary Journey
to the Faeroe Islands makes a fine
companion piece to Nielsen’s Helios
Overture. This, again, is vividly
imaginative sea music. Nielsen himself
described it as: "occasional music
no more than an exercise from my hand";
but he was being unduly modest for this
is a fine evocation. The mood at first
is sombre, one can imagine the scream
of circling, diving seabirds over a
grey sea. The music here is not unlike
Britten’s ‘Four Sea Interludes’ from
Peter Grimes. The mood lightens
as the sea voyage takes us closer to
the islands and to the folksong of its
inhabitants. There is a patriotic ardour
aplenty here.
Finally Amor and
the Poet was written for the 125th
anniversary celebrations of the birth
of Hans Christian Andersen. The composition
is based on that author’s fairy tale,
The Naughty Boy. At the time
Nielsen was 65 years old and his health
was deteriorating. But there is no evidence
of the malady in this short but vibrant
and colourfully inventive evocation
of the mischievous little imp.
Matson is an exciting
and colourful Nielsen conductor and
the dedicated New York Scandia players
respond splendidly to her inspired direction.
Aladdin is magnificent.
Ian Lace
New York Scandia Symphony/Dorrit Matson 
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