You couldn’t say the Danish National Symphony Orchestra wasn’t thorough in its Proms celebration of Denmark’s most famous composer. Here were works by Carl Nielsen in four genres, plus a lively encore of ballet music from his opera Maskarade.
Under Fabio Luisi, the orchestra’s principal conductor elect, Nielsen’s Helios Overture began and ended with a bass note that was barely a disturbance in the air, and burgeoned in a huge arc in between. The Greek sun god traced his path across the sky, and in a smaller venue the orchestra’s playing at the climax would have blazed; here, where a huge ensemble can sound compact, it glowed.
In his 150th anniversary year, Nielsen’s star shines brighter than ever, but he is still not a crowd-puller – which, presumably, is why Brahms’s violin concerto was thrown in, too. Copenhagen-born Nikolaj Znaider soared through the solo part, including a crazily difficult cadenza by Jascha Heifetz, with gargantuan tone and some old-fashioned slides. But apart from the eloquent oboe solo in the slow movement, he and the orchestra seemed to be ploughing through somewhat; Znaider’s solo encore, a Bach sarabande, brought leaner yet still honeyed playing, and greater intensity.
Three unaccompanied motets, stylishly sung by the 22-strong Danish National Vocal Ensemble, found Nielsen nodding to old choral traditions while still sounding distinctively himself. We’re more likely to hear them again than the early cantata Hymnus Amoris, a jolly and rather foursquare reflection on the ages of love, in which the boys and girls of the Winchester Cathedral Choir were angelic, and the Danish National Concert Choir was robust. There was some audible walking-stick-waving as three chorus members sang Very Old People, and more conventionally lovely singing from soprano Anna Lucia Richter and tenor David Danholt.
Yet none of this would have explained Nielsen’s reputation if it hadn’t been followed by his Symphony No 2, The Four Temperaments, dynamically played under Luisi’s firm, snappy baton. Its shifting, propulsive energy finally made clear this composer’s quirky and unpredictable genius.
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On BBC iPlayer until 19 September. The Proms continue until 12 September.
