Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 & Hamlet Overture
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Right from the lugubrious opening clarinet solo, you can feel him nuancing with tender loving care, adding dynamic variations of his own in the manner of Mariss Jansons, and pacing the longer-term...
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 & Hamlet Overture
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Purchase product
Right from the lugubrious opening clarinet solo, you can feel him nuancing with tender loving care, adding dynamic variations of his own in the manner of Mariss Jansons, and pacing the longer-term...
About
ORFEO is proud to present their first CD of Andris Nelsons with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where the young Latvian has been principal conductor since September 2008. Nelsons has been influenced and fascinated by Russian music since his youth as well as by the emotional power and deeply confessional element in Tchaikovsky's music. At just 29 years old, Nelsons is not quite the youngest conductor ever to shepherd the CBSO through its repertoire- Sir Simon Rattle took on the role at just 25- but this highly energetic individual has the youthful fresh image that many of the UK orchestras [Liverpool, Bournemouth] of late, seem to be pursuing. Nelsons, born 1978, in Riga, studied conducting with Alexander Titov in Saint Petersburg and participated in master classes with Neeme Järvi and Jorma Panula. He came to the attention of Mariss Jansons when he guested with the Oslo Philharmonic in their trumpet section. He counts Jansons as a mentor, and has been a conducting student with him since 2002. In 2003, Nelsons became principal conductor of the Latvian National Opera and within only a few seasons he has created a sensation with many of the most important concert orchestras, from Amsterdam to Philadelphia, as well as at major opera houses such as the Vienna State Opera. The announcement that he would be taking over from Sakari Oramo, after ten years, was made at the end of 2007, so audiences and critics were on tenterhooks in anticipation of his arrival at what is widely recognised as one of the foremost symphony orchestras in the world.
Andris Nelsons' first commercial recording was released by ORFEO at the end of 2006, featuring him conducting the Bavarian RSO Munich and violinist Arabella Steinbacher, in a recording of Shostakovich's two violin concertos. The disc received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik in January 2007. Future plans include the Beethoven and Berg violin concertos, also with Steinbacher.
“terrific news for the CBSO, which now joins other regional orchestras in securing a conspicuously talented young conductor and giving the orchestra a new direction and artistic boost.” Daily Telegraph
“With a guest-conducting diary that includes the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna Staatsoper and forthcoming engagements at Covent Garden and Bayreuth, Andris Nelsons is a serious catch for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.” The Independent
“Damn! No chance of snatching a snooze at City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra concerts in the future. Not now that Andris Nelsons has made his electrifying debut as the CBSO's music director” The Times
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
September 2009
Right from the lugubrious opening clarinet solo, you can feel him nuancing with tender loving care, adding dynamic variations of his own in the manner of Mariss Jansons, and pacing the longer-term arguments to hit the climaxes in exactly the right places. Hamlet... makes a challenging companion: incisive on the attack, awesome with tam-tam as the ghost declaims, again attractively phrased by the woodwind in Ophelia's very Russian reverie.
October 2009
A high level of refinement is evident throughout these immaculately voiced performances.
18th December 2013
Nelsons is very persuasive in the symphony...the playing of the CBSO is splendid and they work very effectively with their conductor in playing this music with delicacy or ardour, as appropriate...[Hamlet is] a very fine piece and when one hears it played as it is here its relative neglect is all the more inexplicable.
24th July 2009
It is a measure of Nelsons's success that the CBSO sound as if they've been playing this music all their lives...the dividends are enormous when he turns to Hamlet, a superb performance, which develops from its low-key opening into something very scary without ever once tipping towards melodrama.
28th June 2009
The strings are good, but woodwind and brass - earthy, raw, plangent - give the necessary edge and soulful particularity.
25th June 2009
The standard is set immediately, with the recurring “motto” theme on low clarinet carefully sculpted yet at the same time given room to breathe. Nelsons has clearly thought about the music carefully, and concentrates on bringing every phrase alive. At the same time, the players are given room to express themselves, and they rise to the challenge, with delicious woodwind playing and ripe brass, while the strings have an almost Mantovanian sheen in places.
The Independent on Sunday 28th June 2009
Sleek and full-bodied, almost brazen, the performance is not so much a revelation as a confirmation of Nelsons' dynamism.
