Orchestral Lollipops
Fine Arts Brass, Brandenburg State Orchestra, Frankfurt/Howard Griffiths
klanglogo 1506
Total Time:  61:48
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

A true “pops concert” release, Orchestral Lollipops does come from a rather unusual place for such an interesting program featuring so much American music.  Some of this is due to the “guests”, the Fine Arts Brass Quintet from England.  The program here consists of a pops concert a bit in reverse with all the classical pieces reserved for the second half of the program and the pops pieces kicking it off.

Perhaps no better composer than Leroy Anderson could help initiate us with two great little pieces he wrote for the Boston Pops.  First up is the delightful orchestral scherzo of the “Chicken Reel”—perhaps more familiar from Warner Brothers cartoons; followed by the popular “The Typewriter.”  The former feels like it needs just a lighter touch at first, but the latter selection is perfect; both well-performed.  Then we are off to the Big Band era as the brass group join in to cover standards from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway.  First up though is “Pennsylvania 6-5000”, this is a rather straight-forward performance that needed to swing just a bit more.  Things pick up though as the Fine Arts Brass appear for “Sweet Georgia Brown” and the subsequent numbers and the orchestra seems to gain from this energy.  Broadway tunes are represented by Gershwin’s “Strike Up the Band” and Porter’s “Love for Sale”.  Hoagy Carmichael’s classic “Stardust” provides a reflective moment in the program before we head to early 20^th Century American pop music featuring Fats Waller’s “Smashin’ 3rds/Valentine Stomp” and Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On the Ritz.”  These latter performances are really great and bring the guest artist section to a close.

Then the music takes a left turn and heads to Britain for pieces that for the most part come from the same period though with quite different musical language.  Elgar’s first Pomp and Circumstance march adds a little dignity to the proceedings in this fine run through featuring crisp introduction and excellent balance for the famous lyrical section.  There is also a touching performance of the “Nimrod” variation from his Enigma Variations.  “The Wild Bears” from The Wand of Youth suite closes off this section with this great little scherzo.  The more substantial piece on the whole album is Henry Wood’s delightful Fantasia on British Seas Songs—a popular Night at the Proms selection.  The ensemble captures the spirit of the piece quite well with some touching solo work highlighting the ensemble.  The “Festival March” from Carl Nielsen’s Aladdin Suite seems an odd companion but picks things up again and it is good to have this rarer piece among the selections here.  Finally, we are treated to two brief Johann Strauss, Jr. polkas (Tik-Tak, Op. 365 and Auf der Jagd, Op. 373) and the Banditen-Galop, Op. 378each with delightful “effects” that have always been audience pleasers, especially at the Vienna New Year’s Eve concerts.

This is overall a fun little disc with good performances.  The sequencing seems a bit odd but that at least puts each half of the program so that those who prefer the jazzier pops components can hear this while those who prefer the classical selections can go right to that part of the disc as well.  The Fine Arts Brass bring a good deal of energy to their selections and highlights here include the Elgar and Strauss selections especially.

Nielsen: Symphony Nos. 1 & 4 (The Inextinguishable)
New York Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert
Da Capo 6.220624
Total Time:  69:24
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

Two years ago, Da Capo released what was a announced as a significant new Nielsen symphony cycle featuring the New York Philharmonic and their director Alan Gilbert.  The historic return to Nielsen’s music with this orchestra was also marked in that review of the 2012 release of the second and third symphonies as they had not been done there since Leonard Bernstein programmed them in the 1960s/1970s.  The present release is also pulled from live concert performances this time recorded more recently (March 2014) .  Paavo Berglund and Herbert Blomstedt are both noted interpreters on disc of Nielsen’s symphonic work.  Gilbert’s approach tends to create a bit more space for outer movements while being fairly close in his slower movements in terms of general time.  Some may find these slightly more expansive interpretations interesting as the emotional punch is certainly heightened by the edginess and attention that occurs in a concert setting versus the studio.

Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) is still a bit of an acquired taste.  He wrote six symphonies (1894-1924).  His first symphony (Op. 7) is a bit more traditional sharing a Nordic sensibility found in the early symphonies of Sibelius, or the work of Grieg as one would suspect.  However, this is not a traditional symphony but instead one that reinvents concepts of themes presented in shorter segments often with powerfully-scored emphasis.  Nielsen was also trying to free himself of more academic formal concerns which some feel weaken this early essay.  Though beginning in g minor, the whole piece finds itself winding around to a different key by its conclusion.  Some of this harmonic tension is what makes this a fascinating work.  More recently, his compositional approach is linked to the swirling motifs of the Danish Art Noveau.  While there may be folklike influences, these too are vaguer than one might expect in a piece of its time.  One might find explorations of the landscapes of Northern Europe in this music.  Nonetheless, it is a work that can be quite odd for some hearing it for the first time.

One might say the same of the composer’s fourth symphony which bears the subtitle ‘The Inextinguishable”.  Though cast in four movements, the conception is of one long, continuous and interconnected series of sections.  The first movement starts with a burst of energy before moving into sweeping lyrical thematic presentation that will later prove to be a core motif that will hold things together.  Sometimes the gestures are almost Beethoven-esque in their victorious climaxes but with a definite modern, and perhaps Nordic, twist.  Towards its center there seems to be a growing intensity and tension, a sort of battle between forces (perhaps belying the stormy middle of WWI).  Things become a bit more innocuous in the allegretto second movement; mostly a lighter setting focusing on winds and lending a sense of an innocent everyday carefree life.  This gives over to a more intense despairing third movement with more sinuous lines for strings.  A bit of hope begins to show through with an almost religious like feel at times.  The final movement is a rather fascinating affair with a showdown of sorts between timpani as the music swirls and grows to an ecstatic conclusion.

In what seems to be a modern sequencing choice, the two symphonies are presented out of historical order.  It may make it harder for those new to the pieces to appreciate them on their own terms.  The fourth is an accessible modern symphonic work with the first having one foot in each century.  The performances here are really quite amazing and are superbly captured in great sound here.  There are moments when one forgets we are listening to an American orchestra as the ensemble has managed to gain a real understanding of the style and aesthetic of this music under Gilbert’s leadership.  It will continue to be interesting to watch what future projects will continue to remind the world of the world-class symphony residing in NYC.  This is easily recommendable for those looking for a more recent survey of the first four Nielsen symphonies and we can hope the remainder are not far behind.