This is the second of two Double Decca “twofers” that contain Herbert Blomstedt’s celebrated second complete cycle of the six Carl Nielsen symphonies. The first disc features Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5, while Symphony No. 6, Little Suite for Strings, and a terrific 20-minute choral work titled Hymnus Amoris occupy disc two. The latter two works were borrowed from a separate Decca CD, never released domestically, that also contained a truly second-rate Fourth Symphony conducted by Ulf Schirmer. It was smart of Decca to include the two most successful performances from that release with the symphonies, making this reissue set by far the best value in a complete Nielsen symphony cycle–despite the fact that you can find slightly better performances of Symphonies 4 and 5. Specifically, both Sir Alexander Gibson (Chandos) and Paavo Berglund (RCA) drive home the final section of the Fourth Symphony with far greater momentum than does Blomstedt, and in the Fifth Symphony, both Leonard Bernstein (Sony) and Rafael Kubelik (EMI) allow their snaredrummers to “duke it out” against the orchestra with more vehemence during the famous first movement ad libitum cadenza. However, these are small shortcomings, especially when you throw in Decca’s generally stellar sonics, and the extra music. There’s also some glorious singing in the Hymnus Amoris–particularly from Barbara Bonney and John Mark Ainsley. All things considered, this is the way to go.
