NIELSEN: Piano Pieces, all
Rikke Sandberg
OUR 8.226939 [3CD] 206 minutes

This handsome boxed set is subtitled “The Ultimate Solo Piano Collection”. And it may well be the last Nielsen piano collection you’ll ever want, as it has all the canonical works plus arrangements and juvenilia, in radiantly beautiful and perceptive performances.

The first disc has 47 tracks, including a dozen slivers off Nielsen’s workbench: the 25 miniatures of Piano Music for Young and Old, the brief early 5 Pieces, and monumental Symphonic Suite and Chaconne. The 12 little fragments are a mix of juvenilia and mature Nielsen that rarely sound like the composer; a few sound like sketches for the late piano works. They are slight in every sense of the word. Music for Young and Old is Nielsen’s last piano work, structured as a bagatelle in each major and minor key, with 2 bagatelles in G major for some reason. Sandberg makes more of these tiny character pieces than any other pianist I’ve heard, including Rasmussen (M/A 2026), Koppel (Dacapo 8.224095), Seivewright (S/O 1997, S/O 1998), or Roscoe (S/O 2008). Here, as in every other work, she is consistently slower than these 4 pianists, without ever plodding. In `Mignon’ from 5 Pieces, Opus 3, she imposes a rapid tempo on the middle section, reminding me of `Furchtenmachen’ from Schumann’s Kinderszenen— an inspired choice. Her unhurried, spacious tempos in II and III of Symphonic Suite let the music breathe and flow better than the pushy, brittle tempos of the above pianists. She also ignores Nielsen’s prescribed nonstop fortissimo in the opening `Intonation’ and indulges a few mezzopianos that crescendo toward powerful accents in its closing bars. The Chaconne builds over a steady inexorable tread. Sandberg’s luminous, affectionate touch in Music for Young and Old makes me actually enjoy these simple, or even simplistic, trifles for the first time. Normally they bore me and I listen out of a sense of duty.

Disc 2 is Nielsen at his toughest and most recondite: Theme and Variations, Suite, and 3 Pieces, Opus 59. Also included are the charming Humoresque-Bagatelles, Prelude for a New Century, and Dream about `Silent Night’ plus 3 short salon pieces without opus number. The Theme and Variations, Opus 40, is really a chord progression and variations, much like Beethoven’s popular 32 variations in C minor. When you stop trying to identify the theme and instead think of it as a passacaglia, it’s easy to follow—though maybe not easy to love. Both the “Luciferian” Suite, Opus 45, and 3 Pieces are cast in a chromatic, fragmentary, kaleidoscopic idiom. They are best enjoyed moment by moment; their structures are rather inscrutable. Sandberg in these large late works pursues color, beauty, and atmosphere above all. Again she is slower than anyone else. I notice Roscoe and Seivewright impose speed on these leviathans, I think to improve their structural cogency or incite the thrill of virtuosity. And it is true these late works of Nielsen are difficult to play and read. I much prefer Sandberg’s pursuit of their fleeting and prismatic beauties. She also takes the early Humoresques a bit slowly, especially the usually whirlwind finale, `The Musical Clock’. The one music clock I’ve seen and heard (in Mt Angel, Oregon) turns slowly and plays ambling music, so Sandberg’s moderation seems apt.

After the intimidating main course follows a palate-cleansing divertimento, sort of the dessert that rewards a listener for cleaning his dinner plate of disc 3. This final and shortest disc is devoted to Nielsen’s lovely arrangements of incidental music from The Mother, Hagbart and Signe, Snefrid, Sir Oluf he Rides, Parents, and Aladdin. Nielsen had a lot of public and financial success with his incidental music for plays and dramas (think of it as movie music) and much of this is familiar. When he wanted to, Nielsen could write a catchy tune. And he also had a gift for idiomatically translating orchestral sounds to the piano. The largest excerpts are the 6 selections from The Mother and the `Oriental March’ and 5 dances from Aladdin. Sandberg’s playing really sparkles in the latter suite.

Inside the box is a 34-page booklet with 21 pages of information about the music. Each disc is packaged in a cardboard sleeve listing all the tracks on one side and a photo of Sandberg’s hands on the other. Sound is immaculate first note to last. There is one small flaw: the box claims that over an hour of this music is world premiere recordings. Which pieces? Most productions like this mark first recordings with an asterisk, but neither the track listings nor booklet specify the premieres. Otherwise, this is an astonishing accomplishment and possibly the best album I’ve heard all year. It is without question the best Nielsen piano survey I’ve heard. “Ultimate” indeed.

WRIGHT