Symphonies nos. 1 & 3

"Vurdering: Ugens album" - "På Ugens Album er Stockholm Filharmonikerne helt på bølgelængde med komponisten. Symfonierne bliver spillet rent og stærkt, til den nøgterne side, men Nielsens musik skal netop have en fremdrift, der er lige på og hårdt ... At orkestret samtidig lyder glasklart og velklingende er ikke en naturlov!".

"These are quite marvellous ... performances. There's something about the temperament of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra when they rejoice in the bracing and songful adventures of their favourite son and with an Italian at the helm there is further assurance that this music will sing ... The fledgling First Symphony already has the spirit of the open air about it ... The Third Symphony where one automatically calls to mind Leonard Bernstein and The Royal Danish Orchestra (who, I'd say, is trumped here) and their joyride on this gigantic carousel of a first movement".

"Recording of the month - Editor's choice: Speed requires confidence, and you can feel the Seattle Symphony's building with this further exploration of what remains an alien aesthetic to so many orchestras. More to the point, Nielsen's first two symphonies can take it ... Fresh, fascinating but not uncontroversial accounts, which is just what this neglected early Nielsen needs".

"Oramo had his Royal Stockholm Philharmonic wind players relax into [No. 1's] almost Baroque-like ornateness, and when the tune 'turns' in the violins, its does so with effortless charm ... The 'Espansiva' heart of the [Third] is the second movement ... and is a departure in every sense - it's a rarefied air that Oramo breathes".

"Previous exponents (for all its oddities, this is not the least played of the Nielsen cycle) have tended to stress its expressive extremes or its formal non sequiturs, but Davis opts for a more integrated approach ... Those familiar with Ole Schmidt's shattering reading or Osmo Vänskä's hardly less intense account may find Davis underselling what is a symphony in constant and unfulfilled transition. The First Symphony, however, is an almost total succes".

"The First Symphony here is beautifully paced, balancing drive with poetry ... With the Sinfonia Semplice ... it is his [Davis] Stravinskian credentials that stand him in good stead. In the great first movement the LSO strings seize on the fearsome counterpart with fantastic relish, and David has his finger on the psychological as well as the rhythmic pulse".