![]() White Boxer Short with Jonathan Rhys Meyers $12.99 The Classic Boxer. Heavyweight, soft 100% cotton material, false fly and longer out-seam make these boxers ideal for party favors or promotional give aways. Available in Adult S-XXL. ![]() Jonathan Rhys Meyers Signed the Tudors 8x10 $45.00 Authentic in person comes with COA this is NOT a copy or pre-print. SINCE 1999 we've been in the business of collecting all sorts of Hollywood Memorabilia from movie poster, scripts, props, & autographs! Buy with confidence all of our items comes with our certificate of authenticity guaranteed for life! PLEASE NOTE the watermark on the lower left of the photo does not appear on the original. ![]() Nielsen: Violin Concerto; Clarinet Concerto; Flute Concerto $8.99 Here we have the complete concertos of the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). Nielsen originally planned to compose a concerto for each member of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet; however Nielsen only got around to the Flute Concerto (1926) and the Clarinet Concerto (1928). The Violin Concerto (1912) is an earlier work. If you enjoy the ultra Romantic third and fourth symphonies, you will definitely enjoy the Violin Concerto. Nielsen remarked that he wanted to concerto to be "popular and showy without being superficial." And indeed, this is a very "showy" concerto. The concerto is divided into two sections, each beginning slowly, but concluding briskly. The fast section of the first movement contains a great theme and a lot of fiery violin playing, with an exhilarating coda to boot. The final movement takes the form of a delightful rondo. Those familiar with the symphonies will note all of Nielsen's melodic and harmonic trademarks in this concerto. Listen to the aggressive lower strings battle against the soaring French horn clarion calls at the 3:40-mark on the third track and you'll know what I'm talking about. This is a fantastic piece, and I am a little baffled why it is not better known. The Flute Concerto and Clarinet Concerto belong to Nielsen's later period, with the spiky and sparse sixth symphony coming to mind. The soloist has an antagonist in each of these concertos. In the Clarinet Concerto, it is the snare drum, while in the Flute Concerto, it is the trombone. The snare part heard in the Clarinet Concerto is reminiscent of the conclusion of the sixth symphony. The solo part in the Clarinet Concerto is extremely difficult, and Nielsen makes dual use of the instrument, sometimes exploring the warm and lyrical aspects of the clarinet's timbre, while in others the piercing and menacing quality of the clarinet's upper register is used. The Clarinet Concerto is a bit bizarre, sometimes frightening (11-minute-mark), but is generally interesting. The Flute Concerto is a bit more "traditional" in comparison to the Clarinet Concerto, and contains some of the lyricism found in Nielsen's earlier symphonies. But, this lyricism is often offset by more modern ideas. Nielsen's intent is to contrast the graceful flute part against the rude interjections of the trombone player. I especially enjoy the conclusions to each of the concerto's two movements, with the exotic and beautiful ending of the first movement contrasted against the frolicking finish to the second movement where the flute and the "glissando-ing" trombone seem to reach a truce. Wind concertos are a bit of an oddity in twentieth century music, but perhaps these two concertos were an influence on Nielsen's fellow Dane, Vagn Holmboe (1909-1996), as he was composing his fantastic wind concertos and concertinos. If you like these works by Nielsen, the concertos of Holmboe are well-worth exploring. Nielsen's concertos are far less known in comparison to his symphonies. This is a shame, as these pieces deserve to be better known, especially the dramatic violin concerto. The playing by the soloists and orchestra is very good and is matched by the excellent engineering by Naxos. Recommended. 78:59 |
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