Nielsen: Violin Concerto / Clarinet Concerto / Flute Concerto
Nielsen's three Concertos, uniformly great pieces, barely fit on one long CD (78:59!), making it an ingenious program. Kees Bakels, a Dutch conductor now active in Bournemouth and Kuala Lumpur, leads vigorous, characterful, deeply committed performances of all three works. None of his noncelebrity soloists plays with the kind of individual personality heard in the orchestral performances. This provides an effective contrast in the Flute Concerto, where the rude orchestra battles the refined soloist and makes fun of him. The other two Concertos are just a bit disappointing in performance. But the disc is still a fine introduction to some great music and may lead listeners to investigate even better (and somewhat more expensive) performances byTellefsen (Violin Concerto, EMI)orDrucker (clarinet) and Baker (flute) with Bernstein (CBS). Naxos has the superior recorded sound, though.--Leslie Gerber