NEW YORK SCANDIA SYMPHONY, DORRIT MATSON CONDUCTOR; "Orchestral Works of Carl Nielsen" (Centaur) ****
Not all "new" music has been written recently. There are still pieces, written in previous eras and in previous styles, that surface after decades of obscurity.
Some of the most welcome music of that nature to come to light is that of the Scandinavian composer Carl Nielsen.
The "Orchestral Works of Carl Nielsen," performed by the New York Scandia Symphony and conducted by Dorrit Matson, could be subtitled "rediscovered jewels." The music is vibrant, colorful, interesting, imaginative and appealing.
The most dramatic and striking work, "Aladdin Suite," serves as the album's centerpiece. At times, it's almost theatrical in its romanticism, as in the opening "Oriental Festival March." But it avoids being heavy-handed because of its most appealing feature — variety.
Each piece in the set has such a distinctive — and charming — personality that it plays out more like a Mardi Gras parade with all the accompanying vitality. Kudos to the orchestra and conductor for giving it such a sparkling performance.
The rest of the works on the album are equally appealing, although more classical and less theatrical in tone. The first, "Symphonic Rhapsody," is an early work that sounds heavily influenced by other composers. But that's not uncommon, even among the famous "greats." Since it is a worthy piece, it stands on its own as well as being an interesting study in the development of Nielsen's style.
The program selection on the CD flows well, with interesting variety to keep the listener going. This album gets four stars for quality-music selection, quality performance and the quality idea that this is music that should resurface.
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com