Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Helios Overture, Op.17, FS 32 (1903)
Clarinet Concerto, Op.57, FS 129 (1928)
Symphony No. 5, Op.50, FS 97 (1920-1922)
Alessandro Carbonare (clarinet), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner
rec. Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway, 2023 (Helios), 2024 (others)
Chandos CHSA 5314 SACD [71]

As with the earlier volumes in Edward Gardner’s Nielsen series on Chandos, the results here are mixed. All the performances are at least good, but there is much competition for these works. “Good” is not enough to recommend this disc in totality as a mandatory acquisition.

The programme starts off most promisingly with one of the best accounts of the lovely Helios Overture I have ever encountered. With an expansive dynamic range and orchestral clarity, the quiet horns at the beginning lead to a glorious climax as the sun has fully risen. The atmosphere is palpable and the quiet ending is equally moving. This overture is one of my favourite Nielsen’s short pieces.

I have compared this account with others in my collection, including Neeme Järvi with the Gothenburg Symphony (DG) and the Danish National Symphony under Thomas Dausgaard (Dacapo). Gardner’s performance goes straight to the top, while Dausgaard’s, containing only shorter works of Nielsen, would be equally recommendable for Helios except for a minor bobble in the horns near the beginning. That disc overall continues to be my first choice for the other non-symphonic orchestral works.

The magnificent Clarinet Concerto, one of Nielsen’s last and most important compositions, has also received a number of fine recordings. I have great admiration for this new account by Alessandro Carbonare, although I feel the recorded sound is an issue at times. My comparisons were with Olle Schill and the Gothenburg Symphony / Myung-Whun Chung (BIS), Mark van de Wiel and the Philharmonia / Paavo Järvi (Signum), and Anthony McGill and the New York Philharmonic / Alan Gilbert (Dacapo).

I found Schill rather shrill and Van de Wiel short on character, but McGill and Gilbert have everything going for it. Like the present disc, Dacapo’s is also SACD; their sound is little short of spectacular even in two channels. McGill and Carbonare are outstanding clarinetists, and they get stellar support from their orchestras and conductors. I find McGill’s tone just a tad warmer and Carbonare’s reedier, but both are superb. Chandos’s recording, very close up, needs more air around the instruments. DaCapo’s has real presence and does not get congested as the Chandos recording can in loud passages when the orchestra is at full throttle.

Both recordings allow the important snare drum part its head. The horns and bassoons in their solo passages are given due prominence in both performances, but the New Yorkers are rather more characterful. The quiet strings after the riotous passages in the Poco adagio second movement are especially breathtaking in Gilbert’s account. While equally subdued in Gardner’s, they are not quite as memorable. Overall I have enjoyed these accounts immensely and will certainly return to this new one, though my allegiance will likely remain with McGill/Gilbert.

Gardner’s recording of the powerful Symphony No.5 has more issues that keep it out of the top tier of accounts for this magisterial work. Still a very good performance, it lacks only a little in intensity. The problems, I suspect, may have more to do with the engineering than the actual playing. Gardner sets fine tempi throughout, and the orchestra performs well for him. The sound, however, is diffuse whenever the orchestra is loud, and the important percussion can get swallowed up in the texture. I am thinking particularly of the timpani and snare drum that do not have the effect they should.

I compared this recording with three others that I find superior to it: Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National Symphony (Naxos), Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony (Decca), and Thomas Søndergård with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC Music cover disc). Schønwandt’s treatment is somewhat broader and tamer than the others, but still exciting enough; Blomstedt is even more electrifying with terrific timpani and a snare drummer who goes berserk in attempting to take over the orchestra; Søndergård’s live performance in its spontaneity leaves one limp at its conclusion. I have never heard those brass octaves in the last section played so clearly as there. Gardner has its moments, too, but the whole does not add up as a version to challenge others, including those I have listed.

For collectors of Gardner’s Nielsen series this is still a very worthwhile purchase, particularly for the Helios Overture and the Clarinet Concerto. The release is further enhanced by Paul Griffiths’s detailed analysis of the music.

Leslie Wright

Previous review: William Hedley (October 2025)

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