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Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Michael Schønwandt
Founded in 1925, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR is regarded as Denmark’s leading symphony Michael Schønwandt was born in 1953, and is Chief Conductor at the Royal Theatre orchestra. It has performed under many of the 20th century’s greatest conductors, including Nicolai Malko, Bruno in Copenhagen and of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Since his début in the Tivoli NIELSEN Walter, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Rafael Kubelik and Daniel Barenboim, and has collaborated with Gardens in 1977 he has been one of the most sought-after conductors of his composers as soloists and conductors such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Boulez, Lutosławski, Stockhausen generation. He has been Chief Conductor of Collegium Musicum from the founding and Henze. Regular conductors have included Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and now include Yuri of the orchestra in 1981. In 1987-91 Schønwandt was Principal Guest Conductor of Symphony No. 1 Temirkanov as Principal Guest Conductor, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Gielen and the opera and symphony orchestra in Nice, and in 1989-2000 he was Principal Guest Marek Janowski. Chief Conductors have been Herbert Blomstedt (1967-77), Leif Segerstam (1988-95), Ulf Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR. Finally, in 1992-98 he Schirmer (1995-98) and Gerd Albrecht (2000-04). In 2004 Thomas Dausgaard took up the appointment as Chief was Chief Conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Besides his permanent Symphony No. 6 ‘Sinfonia semplice’ Conductor. From its home in Copenhagen the orchestra undertakes extensive concert and recording activities, and connection with Danish musical life he appears regularly with the leading orchestras makes regular tours in Denmark and abroad. The orchestra’s discography includes Sibelius and Mahler symphony of Europe. The Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the cycles as well as a long succession of Danish works – including several operas – for Dacapo, Chandos, EMI and French Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Decca. National de France and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are just some of the orchestras Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR he has conducted in recent years. The opera houses in London, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Nice and Stuttgart have also been regular ports of call for him. In 1987 and Michael Schønwandt 1988 he was the first Scandinavian conductor ever to conduct at the Wagner Festspiele in Bayreuth. He headed last season’s successful performances of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he has conducted a succession of operas since 1979.
Photo: Marianne Grøndahl
Photo: Agnethe Schlichtkrull 8.570737 5 6 8.570737 8.570737 NIELSEN bk US.qxp:NAXOS 2/18/08 5:04 PM Page 2
Carl Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) that is the counterpart of the usual trio, here entrusted melancholy. The capricious Humoreske leaves the field NIELSEN Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 7 • Symphony No. 6 ʻSinfonia sempliceʼ, Op. 116 to the brass, before the return of the excitement and open to the wind and percussion sections of the tenderness of the opening, with its sinuous figurations. orchestra with an inconsequential opening in which the (1865-1931) A leading influence on Scandinavian music of the violin sonatas, as well as a relatively small amount of The brass chorale returns before the conclusion. The side-drum attempts to call the proceedings to order, present century, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen was music for the piano, an instrument that he had first finale starts with the vigour of the first, the conflict of after which the clarinet, with the help of the bassoons, born in 1865, the son of a painter and village musician, taught himself as a young bandsman. His musical keys again apparent in the opening. There is delicacy in suggests a more coherent melodic shape, which draws The Symphonies • 1 in whose band he had his earliest musical experience language, as demonstrated in the symphonies, is the start of the central development, rising to a climax various comments from percussion and trombone. The playing the violin. In 1879, after learning to play the idiosyncratic and individual, essentially tonal, but with the return of the first material in recapitulation and next movement, with the indicative title Proposta cornet, he joined a military orchestra at Odense and by covering an extended range of keys within a tonal leading to the final triumph of C major. seria, restores the strings to their rightful rôle in a Symphony No. 1, FS 16, Op. 7 33:03 1884 had been able, with the help of sponsors, to enter system, with a cogent use of rhythms that adds impetus Nielsen’s Symphony No. 6, which he suggested strongly felt Adagio, into which the woodwind at first the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen as a to an idiom that is, in some ways, a reaction against calling Sinfonia semplice, was completed in 1925 and insert a contrapuntal element. The music sinks into 1 I. Allegro orgoglioso 9:23 student of violin, piano and theory. After graduation in romanticism, while extending post-romantic harmonic, again has a certain tonal ambiguity, opening in G major impressionist tranquillity, to be followed, without a 1886 his compositions began to win a hearing, with a melodic and rhythmic vocabulary. but moving forward to B flat. The composer’s break, by the final movement in which the theme is 2 II. Andante 6:55 significant success in 1888 for his Little Suite, Op. 1, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 1, in G minor at the outset suggested idyllic intentions are soon belied by an announced by a single bassoon. Nine variations follow, 3 III. Allegro comodo - Andante sostenuto - Tempo I 8:04 for strings. The following year he became a violinist in but ending, remarkably enough, in C major, was started element of harsher realism in music of clear sunlight clear enough in their form and imaginative variety. 4 the royal chapel, broadening still further his musical in Berlin in 1890 and completed in 1892. It was and sudden shadows. A cheerful violin melody leads to These include a waltz, interrupted by the brass and bass IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 8:41 experience and in particular his knowledge of the dedicated to his wife, the sculptress Anne Marie a passage of strong polyphony, an element that recurs. drum, and moments of solemnity before tuba, bassoons music of Wagner, a subject of his serious study in Brodersen, whom he had met and married in Paris in A chorale-like passage is followed by the sound of the and percussion make their ominous contribution in the Symphony No. 6, FS 116, ‘Sinfonia semplice’ 34:43 Germany in 1890. Here he began the first of his six 1891. The symphony was first performed, with some triangle and by successive woodwind entries and the ninth variation. The last section of the movement symphonies, completed in 1892. His work as a player success, in 1894 in Copenhagen with the Royal entry of the strings, preceding a strident climax with a brings another treatment of the theme, the strings 5 I. Tempo giusto 14:24 in the royal chapel continued until 1905, followed by a Orchestra under Johan Svendsen, while the composer, strongly felt melancholy strain from violas and cellos. rushing forward towards the final bars of mock 6 II. Humoresque - Allegretto 4:15 growing demand for his services as a conductor, as usual, kept his place in the second violin section. It This subsides into the recapitulation, the opening music triumph. particularly of his own works, while a state pension has been suggested that there are traces of the influence of the movement, now with muted violins, but 7 III. Proposta seria - Adagio 5:13 allowed him to turn from teaching, a hitherto necessary of Brahms in the writing, and the spirit of Beethoven, proceeding to an expression of turbulent feelings of 8 IV. Theme And Variations 10:51 means of survival, to concentrate on composition. His whose Fifth Symphony had made a profound great intensity and to a final serenity tinged with Keith Anderson second symphony, The Four Temperaments, impression on him, cannot be far away. The marking of Allegro - Tema: Allegretto un poco - Var. 1 - Var. 2: Allegretto completed in 1902, characterizes the four humours of the first movement, Allegro orgoglioso, is quasi andantino - Var. 3: Più vivo - Var. 4 - Var. 5: Brioso - Var. 6: early medical theory. A third symphony, the Sinfonia characteristic of a composer who was later to write Tempo di valse - Var. 7 - Var. 8: Molto adagio - Var. 9: Tempo di espansiva, followed in 1911, three years after his choleric, phlegmatic and sanguine allegros in his appointment as conductor at the Royal Theatre, a second symphony. Here there is a conflict of key at the tema (Allegretto un poco) - Fanfare position he held until 1914. The fourth symphony, The start, as C major heralds G minor. Flute and oboe lead Inextinguishable, was finished in 1916, to be followed to the second subject material, the classical symphonic in 1922 by a fifth. The last of the six was completed in form continued with a central development and a 1925, six years before Nielsen’s death in Copenhagen subsequent recapitulation, ending in a dynamic climax. in 1931. The Andante is tender and pastoral in character, but Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Nielsen’s work as a composer includes two operas mounts in intensity before the serenity of the opening is Michael Schønwandt and a number of orchestral works beside the restored. Something of the same mood recurs in the symphonies, with concertos for violin and for clarinet. third movement, a gentle scherzo in E flat, but with To choral works and songs may be added three reference again to the conflicting keys of G minor and published string quartets, a wind quintet and three C major in a lyrical Allegro comodo. There is a section
8.570737 2 3 8.570737 4 8.570737 8.570737 NIELSEN bk US.qxp:NAXOS 2/18/08 5:04 PM Page 2
Carl Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) that is the counterpart of the usual trio, here entrusted melancholy. The capricious Humoreske leaves the field NIELSEN Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 7 • Symphony No. 6 ʻSinfonia sempliceʼ, Op. 116 to the brass, before the return of the excitement and open to the wind and percussion sections of the tenderness of the opening, with its sinuous figurations. orchestra with an inconsequential opening in which the (1865-1931) A leading influence on Scandinavian music of the violin sonatas, as well as a relatively small amount of The brass chorale returns before the conclusion. The side-drum attempts to call the proceedings to order, present century, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen was music for the piano, an instrument that he had first finale starts with the vigour of the first, the conflict of after which the clarinet, with the help of the bassoons, born in 1865, the son of a painter and village musician, taught himself as a young bandsman. His musical keys again apparent in the opening. There is delicacy in suggests a more coherent melodic shape, which draws The Symphonies • 1 in whose band he had his earliest musical experience language, as demonstrated in the symphonies, is the start of the central development, rising to a climax various comments from percussion and trombone. The playing the violin. In 1879, after learning to play the idiosyncratic and individual, essentially tonal, but with the return of the first material in recapitulation and next movement, with the indicative title Proposta cornet, he joined a military orchestra at Odense and by covering an extended range of keys within a tonal leading to the final triumph of C major. seria, restores the strings to their rightful rôle in a Symphony No. 1, FS 16, Op. 7 33:03 1884 had been able, with the help of sponsors, to enter system, with a cogent use of rhythms that adds impetus Nielsen’s Symphony No. 6, which he suggested strongly felt Adagio, into which the woodwind at first the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen as a to an idiom that is, in some ways, a reaction against calling Sinfonia semplice, was completed in 1925 and insert a contrapuntal element. The music sinks into 1 I. Allegro orgoglioso 9:23 student of violin, piano and theory. After graduation in romanticism, while extending post-romantic harmonic, again has a certain tonal ambiguity, opening in G major impressionist tranquillity, to be followed, without a 1886 his compositions began to win a hearing, with a melodic and rhythmic vocabulary. but moving forward to B flat. The composer’s break, by the final movement in which the theme is 2 II. Andante 6:55 significant success in 1888 for his Little Suite, Op. 1, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 1, in G minor at the outset suggested idyllic intentions are soon belied by an announced by a single bassoon. Nine variations follow, 3 III. Allegro comodo - Andante sostenuto - Tempo I 8:04 for strings. The following year he became a violinist in but ending, remarkably enough, in C major, was started element of harsher realism in music of clear sunlight clear enough in their form and imaginative variety. 4 the royal chapel, broadening still further his musical in Berlin in 1890 and completed in 1892. It was and sudden shadows. A cheerful violin melody leads to These include a waltz, interrupted by the brass and bass IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 8:41 experience and in particular his knowledge of the dedicated to his wife, the sculptress Anne Marie a passage of strong polyphony, an element that recurs. drum, and moments of solemnity before tuba, bassoons music of Wagner, a subject of his serious study in Brodersen, whom he had met and married in Paris in A chorale-like passage is followed by the sound of the and percussion make their ominous contribution in the Symphony No. 6, FS 116, ‘Sinfonia semplice’ 34:43 Germany in 1890. Here he began the first of his six 1891. The symphony was first performed, with some triangle and by successive woodwind entries and the ninth variation. The last section of the movement symphonies, completed in 1892. His work as a player success, in 1894 in Copenhagen with the Royal entry of the strings, preceding a strident climax with a brings another treatment of the theme, the strings 5 I. Tempo giusto 14:24 in the royal chapel continued until 1905, followed by a Orchestra under Johan Svendsen, while the composer, strongly felt melancholy strain from violas and cellos. rushing forward towards the final bars of mock 6 II. Humoresque - Allegretto 4:15 growing demand for his services as a conductor, as usual, kept his place in the second violin section. It This subsides into the recapitulation, the opening music triumph. particularly of his own works, while a state pension has been suggested that there are traces of the influence of the movement, now with muted violins, but 7 III. Proposta seria - Adagio 5:13 allowed him to turn from teaching, a hitherto necessary of Brahms in the writing, and the spirit of Beethoven, proceeding to an expression of turbulent feelings of 8 IV. Theme And Variations 10:51 means of survival, to concentrate on composition. His whose Fifth Symphony had made a profound great intensity and to a final serenity tinged with Keith Anderson second symphony, The Four Temperaments, impression on him, cannot be far away. The marking of Allegro - Tema: Allegretto un poco - Var. 1 - Var. 2: Allegretto completed in 1902, characterizes the four humours of the first movement, Allegro orgoglioso, is quasi andantino - Var. 3: Più vivo - Var. 4 - Var. 5: Brioso - Var. 6: early medical theory. A third symphony, the Sinfonia characteristic of a composer who was later to write Tempo di valse - Var. 7 - Var. 8: Molto adagio - Var. 9: Tempo di espansiva, followed in 1911, three years after his choleric, phlegmatic and sanguine allegros in his appointment as conductor at the Royal Theatre, a second symphony. Here there is a conflict of key at the tema (Allegretto un poco) - Fanfare position he held until 1914. The fourth symphony, The start, as C major heralds G minor. Flute and oboe lead Inextinguishable, was finished in 1916, to be followed to the second subject material, the classical symphonic in 1922 by a fifth. The last of the six was completed in form continued with a central development and a 1925, six years before Nielsen’s death in Copenhagen subsequent recapitulation, ending in a dynamic climax. in 1931. The Andante is tender and pastoral in character, but Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Nielsen’s work as a composer includes two operas mounts in intensity before the serenity of the opening is Michael Schønwandt and a number of orchestral works beside the restored. Something of the same mood recurs in the symphonies, with concertos for violin and for clarinet. third movement, a gentle scherzo in E flat, but with To choral works and songs may be added three reference again to the conflicting keys of G minor and published string quartets, a wind quintet and three C major in a lyrical Allegro comodo. There is a section
8.570737 2 3 8.570737 4 8.570737 8.570737 NIELSEN bk US.qxp:NAXOS 2/18/08 5:04 PM Page 2
Carl Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) that is the counterpart of the usual trio, here entrusted melancholy. The capricious Humoreske leaves the field NIELSEN Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op. 7 • Symphony No. 6 ʻSinfonia sempliceʼ, Op. 116 to the brass, before the return of the excitement and open to the wind and percussion sections of the tenderness of the opening, with its sinuous figurations. orchestra with an inconsequential opening in which the (1865-1931) A leading influence on Scandinavian music of the violin sonatas, as well as a relatively small amount of The brass chorale returns before the conclusion. The side-drum attempts to call the proceedings to order, present century, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen was music for the piano, an instrument that he had first finale starts with the vigour of the first, the conflict of after which the clarinet, with the help of the bassoons, born in 1865, the son of a painter and village musician, taught himself as a young bandsman. His musical keys again apparent in the opening. There is delicacy in suggests a more coherent melodic shape, which draws The Symphonies • 1 in whose band he had his earliest musical experience language, as demonstrated in the symphonies, is the start of the central development, rising to a climax various comments from percussion and trombone. The playing the violin. In 1879, after learning to play the idiosyncratic and individual, essentially tonal, but with the return of the first material in recapitulation and next movement, with the indicative title Proposta cornet, he joined a military orchestra at Odense and by covering an extended range of keys within a tonal leading to the final triumph of C major. seria, restores the strings to their rightful rôle in a Symphony No. 1, FS 16, Op. 7 33:03 1884 had been able, with the help of sponsors, to enter system, with a cogent use of rhythms that adds impetus Nielsen’s Symphony No. 6, which he suggested strongly felt Adagio, into which the woodwind at first the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen as a to an idiom that is, in some ways, a reaction against calling Sinfonia semplice, was completed in 1925 and insert a contrapuntal element. The music sinks into 1 I. Allegro orgoglioso 9:23 student of violin, piano and theory. After graduation in romanticism, while extending post-romantic harmonic, again has a certain tonal ambiguity, opening in G major impressionist tranquillity, to be followed, without a 1886 his compositions began to win a hearing, with a melodic and rhythmic vocabulary. but moving forward to B flat. The composer’s break, by the final movement in which the theme is 2 II. Andante 6:55 significant success in 1888 for his Little Suite, Op. 1, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 1, in G minor at the outset suggested idyllic intentions are soon belied by an announced by a single bassoon. Nine variations follow, 3 III. Allegro comodo - Andante sostenuto - Tempo I 8:04 for strings. The following year he became a violinist in but ending, remarkably enough, in C major, was started element of harsher realism in music of clear sunlight clear enough in their form and imaginative variety. 4 the royal chapel, broadening still further his musical in Berlin in 1890 and completed in 1892. It was and sudden shadows. A cheerful violin melody leads to These include a waltz, interrupted by the brass and bass IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 8:41 experience and in particular his knowledge of the dedicated to his wife, the sculptress Anne Marie a passage of strong polyphony, an element that recurs. drum, and moments of solemnity before tuba, bassoons music of Wagner, a subject of his serious study in Brodersen, whom he had met and married in Paris in A chorale-like passage is followed by the sound of the and percussion make their ominous contribution in the Symphony No. 6, FS 116, ‘Sinfonia semplice’ 34:43 Germany in 1890. Here he began the first of his six 1891. The symphony was first performed, with some triangle and by successive woodwind entries and the ninth variation. The last section of the movement symphonies, completed in 1892. His work as a player success, in 1894 in Copenhagen with the Royal entry of the strings, preceding a strident climax with a brings another treatment of the theme, the strings 5 I. Tempo giusto 14:24 in the royal chapel continued until 1905, followed by a Orchestra under Johan Svendsen, while the composer, strongly felt melancholy strain from violas and cellos. rushing forward towards the final bars of mock 6 II. Humoresque - Allegretto 4:15 growing demand for his services as a conductor, as usual, kept his place in the second violin section. It This subsides into the recapitulation, the opening music triumph. particularly of his own works, while a state pension has been suggested that there are traces of the influence of the movement, now with muted violins, but 7 III. Proposta seria - Adagio 5:13 allowed him to turn from teaching, a hitherto necessary of Brahms in the writing, and the spirit of Beethoven, proceeding to an expression of turbulent feelings of 8 IV. Theme And Variations 10:51 means of survival, to concentrate on composition. His whose Fifth Symphony had made a profound great intensity and to a final serenity tinged with Keith Anderson second symphony, The Four Temperaments, impression on him, cannot be far away. The marking of Allegro - Tema: Allegretto un poco - Var. 1 - Var. 2: Allegretto completed in 1902, characterizes the four humours of the first movement, Allegro orgoglioso, is quasi andantino - Var. 3: Più vivo - Var. 4 - Var. 5: Brioso - Var. 6: early medical theory. A third symphony, the Sinfonia characteristic of a composer who was later to write Tempo di valse - Var. 7 - Var. 8: Molto adagio - Var. 9: Tempo di espansiva, followed in 1911, three years after his choleric, phlegmatic and sanguine allegros in his appointment as conductor at the Royal Theatre, a second symphony. Here there is a conflict of key at the tema (Allegretto un poco) - Fanfare position he held until 1914. The fourth symphony, The start, as C major heralds G minor. Flute and oboe lead Inextinguishable, was finished in 1916, to be followed to the second subject material, the classical symphonic in 1922 by a fifth. The last of the six was completed in form continued with a central development and a 1925, six years before Nielsen’s death in Copenhagen subsequent recapitulation, ending in a dynamic climax. in 1931. The Andante is tender and pastoral in character, but Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Nielsen’s work as a composer includes two operas mounts in intensity before the serenity of the opening is Michael Schønwandt and a number of orchestral works beside the restored. Something of the same mood recurs in the symphonies, with concertos for violin and for clarinet. third movement, a gentle scherzo in E flat, but with To choral works and songs may be added three reference again to the conflicting keys of G minor and published string quartets, a wind quintet and three C major in a lyrical Allegro comodo. There is a section
8.570737 2 3 8.570737 4 8.570737 8.570737 NIELSEN bk US.qxp:NAXOS 2/18/08 5:04 PM Page 5
Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Michael Schønwandt
Founded in 1925, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR is regarded as Denmark’s leading symphony Michael Schønwandt was born in 1953, and is Chief Conductor at the Royal Theatre orchestra. It has performed under many of the 20th century’s greatest conductors, including Nicolai Malko, Bruno in Copenhagen and of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Since his début in the Tivoli NIELSEN Walter, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Rafael Kubelik and Daniel Barenboim, and has collaborated with Gardens in 1977 he has been one of the most sought-after conductors of his composers as soloists and conductors such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Boulez, Lutosławski, Stockhausen generation. He has been Chief Conductor of Collegium Musicum from the founding and Henze. Regular conductors have included Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and now include Yuri of the orchestra in 1981. In 1987-91 Schønwandt was Principal Guest Conductor of Symphony No. 1 Temirkanov as Principal Guest Conductor, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Gielen and the opera and symphony orchestra in Nice, and in 1989-2000 he was Principal Guest Marek Janowski. Chief Conductors have been Herbert Blomstedt (1967-77), Leif Segerstam (1988-95), Ulf Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR. Finally, in 1992-98 he Schirmer (1995-98) and Gerd Albrecht (2000-04). In 2004 Thomas Dausgaard took up the appointment as Chief was Chief Conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Besides his permanent Symphony No. 6 ‘Sinfonia semplice’ Conductor. From its home in Copenhagen the orchestra undertakes extensive concert and recording activities, and connection with Danish musical life he appears regularly with the leading orchestras makes regular tours in Denmark and abroad. The orchestra’s discography includes Sibelius and Mahler symphony of Europe. The Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the cycles as well as a long succession of Danish works – including several operas – for Dacapo, Chandos, EMI and French Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Decca. National de France and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are just some of the orchestras Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR he has conducted in recent years. The opera houses in London, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Nice and Stuttgart have also been regular ports of call for him. In 1987 and Michael Schønwandt 1988 he was the first Scandinavian conductor ever to conduct at the Wagner Festspiele in Bayreuth. He headed last season’s successful performances of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he has conducted a succession of operas since 1979.
Photo: Marianne Grøndahl
Photo: Agnethe Schlichtkrull 8.570737 5 6 8.570737 8.570737 NIELSEN bk US.qxp:NAXOS 2/18/08 5:04 PM Page 5
Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Michael Schønwandt
Founded in 1925, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR is regarded as Denmark’s leading symphony Michael Schønwandt was born in 1953, and is Chief Conductor at the Royal Theatre orchestra. It has performed under many of the 20th century’s greatest conductors, including Nicolai Malko, Bruno in Copenhagen and of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Since his début in the Tivoli NIELSEN Walter, Eugene Ormandy, Leopold Stokowski, Rafael Kubelik and Daniel Barenboim, and has collaborated with Gardens in 1977 he has been one of the most sought-after conductors of his composers as soloists and conductors such as Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Boulez, Lutosławski, Stockhausen generation. He has been Chief Conductor of Collegium Musicum from the founding and Henze. Regular conductors have included Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Giuseppe Sinopoli, and now include Yuri of the orchestra in 1981. In 1987-91 Schønwandt was Principal Guest Conductor of Symphony No. 1 Temirkanov as Principal Guest Conductor, Herbert Blomstedt, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Gielen and the opera and symphony orchestra in Nice, and in 1989-2000 he was Principal Guest Marek Janowski. Chief Conductors have been Herbert Blomstedt (1967-77), Leif Segerstam (1988-95), Ulf Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra/DR. Finally, in 1992-98 he Schirmer (1995-98) and Gerd Albrecht (2000-04). In 2004 Thomas Dausgaard took up the appointment as Chief was Chief Conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Besides his permanent Symphony No. 6 ‘Sinfonia semplice’ Conductor. From its home in Copenhagen the orchestra undertakes extensive concert and recording activities, and connection with Danish musical life he appears regularly with the leading orchestras makes regular tours in Denmark and abroad. The orchestra’s discography includes Sibelius and Mahler symphony of Europe. The Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the cycles as well as a long succession of Danish works – including several operas – for Dacapo, Chandos, EMI and French Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Decca. National de France and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are just some of the orchestras Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR he has conducted in recent years. The opera houses in London, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Nice and Stuttgart have also been regular ports of call for him. In 1987 and Michael Schønwandt 1988 he was the first Scandinavian conductor ever to conduct at the Wagner Festspiele in Bayreuth. He headed last season’s successful performances of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he has conducted a succession of operas since 1979.
Photo: Marianne Grøndahl
Photo: Agnethe Schlichtkrull 8.570737 5 6 8.570737 NAXOS NAXOS The most important Danish composer of the first part of the twentieth century, Carl Nielsen was prolific in almost all genres. Dissociating himself strongly from Late Romanticism, Nielsen orientated himself increasingly towards the new currents in European music without at any time abandoning his very personal and idiosyncratic style. The Six Symphonies, which become increasingly adventurous as the cycle progresses, are essentially tonal, emotionally direct works, which alternate long lines of 8.570737 melody with passages of blazing energy. The exuberant Symphony No. 1 is here coupled with the enigmatic Symphony No. 6, which has been described as “music of clear sunlight and sudden shadows”. NIELSEN: NIELSEN: DDD Carl Playing Time NIELSEN 67:47 (1865-1931) The Symphonies • 1 Symphony No. 1 • 6 Symphony No. 1 • 6 Symphony No. 1, FS 16, Op. 7 (1889-94) 33:03 1 I. Allegro orgoglioso 9:23 2 II. Andante 6:55 3 III. Allegro comodo - Andante sostenuto - Tempo I 8:04 4 IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco 8:41 Symphony No. 6, FS 116, ‘Sinfonia semplice’ (1924-25) 34:43 www.naxos.com Disc made in Canada • Printed and assembled USA Booklet notes in English Ⓟ 2000 & 5 I. Tempo giusto 14:24 6 II. Humoresque - Allegretto 4:15 7 III. Proposta seria - Adagio 5:13 © 8 IV. Theme And Variations 10:51 2008 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Allegro - Tema: Allegretto un poco - Var. 1 - Var. 2: Allegretto quasi andantino - Var. 3: Più vivo - Var. 4 - Var. 5 : Brioso - Var. 6: Tempo di valse - Var. 7 - Var. 8: Molto adagio - Var. 9: Tempo di tema (Allegretto un poco) - Fanfare Danish National Symphony Orchestra / DR Michael Schønwandt
Recorded at the Danish Concert Hall, Copenhagen, 27-28 March 2000 (1-4), 29 March, 10 April, 20 June 8.570737 8.570737 and 31 July 2000 (5-8) • Producer: Claus Due • Engineer: Jørn Jacobsen • Booklet notes: Keith Anderson Publisher: Edition Wilhelm Hansen A/S • Cover image: Spring (Jean Schweitzer / Dreamstime.com) A co-production with DR / Danish Broadcasting Corporation Previously released on Dacapo 8.224169