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Title: Surprising Nielsen from Vanska
Review: I've heard Vanska's other Nielsen recordings and generally don't like them, but I have to admit this is one of the finest recordings of the 1st. (My other favorite readings include Chung and Rozhdestvensky.) In other symphonies like the 4th, Vanska tends toward a blustery and overly fast and vehement treatment that really fails to capture the scale, depth, and majesty of the music. Here, however, his tempos are perfectly judged, and even the "pastoral" dreaminess of the second movement comes through. Arguably some of the tympani playing in the first movement is overly vehement, but this performance nevertheless is first rate and I listen to it often, as the 1st is one of my favorite Nielsen symphonies.
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