Carl Nielsen - String Quartets volume 1 (Da Capo Audio CD)

CARL NIELSEN
String Quartets vol. 1
Den Unge Danske Strygekvartet
Tim Frederiksen, viola

Carl Nielsen, composer

About
Carl Nielsen took Danish music into the 20th century, and his chamber music has a prominent position in the international repertoire. In spite of this Carl Nielsen only composed a limited number of chamber works for strings. This CD features two of his string quartets (in G minor and G major) and the only string quintet (in G major) he ever composed. All three works played a central role in Carl Nielsen's musical career, since they were major successes for the debuting composer and contributed to his initial breakthrough.

Reviews
GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE JUNE 2007

Politiken Critic's Choice 2007

The new Quartet, all in their early twenties, bring a freshness and energy plus a level of sheer accomplishment that I don’t ever remember hearing in these works.
(The Gramophone

It is an auspicious début. These musicians play with tremendous energy, complete understanding of the idiom and consistently appealing tone.
(International Record Review)

The group's sonority is warm and full ... You can tell right away that this group knows how to project Nielsen's music with genuine impact and tension.
(Classics Today)

The Young Danish Quartet brings plenty of focused energy to this music, and every movement has that 'certain current', without which Nielsen claimed his music was 'no good anymore'.
(BBC Music Magazine)


These are youthful and energetic performances. And the maturity and authority of the playing suggests that national identity matters. These young Danes seem to have a genuine insight into the music of their country's best known composer.
(New York Times)

The Young Danish String Quartet play with lovely tone and plenty of poise ... An interesting sidelight on the career of a great symphonist.
(Dallas Morning News)

Selten hat man bei einem Quartett ein so hohes Mass an Unmittelbarkeit erlebt.
(Klassik.com)


Hvor de dog kan bevæge og begejstre, de drenge! De lyser af overskud og spilleglæde, fra første sekund.... En cd, som ingen Nielsen-samling bør være foruden.
(***** Berlingske Tidende, Søren Kassebeer)

Modnede og indlevede fortolkninger der kan stå mål med snart sagt hvad som helst
(* * * * * Klassisk)

Den Unge Danske Strygekvartet imponerer med den første cd i en lille serie med Carl Nielsen ... Smidighed, rytmisk lethed, udtryksmæssig styrke, men også humor, hvor den er på sin plads, gør det til en bemærkelsesværdig stærk, ung Nielsen.
(* * * * Jyllandsposten)

Her spilles intenst, virtuost og med brændende indlevelse, jeg synes, de gør musikken (endnu) større, end den er.
(High Fidelity)

Det ligger förstås automatiskt en viss tjusning i mötet mellan mycket unga musiker och klassikerna. Men dessa danskar parar upptäckarglädje med ett musicerande som känns helt färdigt.
(Betyg 5 - Dagens Nyheter)

Nielsens værker bliver fremført med forbavsende lethed og transparens
(Flensborg Avis)

Credits
Recorded in the Danish Radio Concert Hall on 27-31 July, 11-13 and 19-20 August 2006.

Recording producers: Tim Frederiksen and Karl Bjerre Skibsted
Sound engineer: Karl Bjerre Skibsted
Mastering: Lars C. Bruun

Graphic design: Elevator, www.elevator-design.dk

The musical material from the Carl Nielsen Edition was used for this production.

This SACD has been recorded in cooperation with the Danish Broadcasting Cooperation.