NEW MUSIC AND VIDEO KLIP 2011

Niels Wilhelm Gade
Symphonies Vol.1
Danish NSO, Christopher Hogwood
Chandos CHAN 9862

If you like Mendelssohn and the Leipzig School in general, you'll like Gade. A gentle composer at heart, even when Gade says "con fuoco", as in the first movement of the Eighth Symphony, this isn't Tchaikovsky or even Schumann we're talking about here. Nor will you find much ethnic or "Nordic" character in his music, least of all in the overture In the Highlands. But enough of what his music is not. While conservative in form and harmony, it often offers considerable melodic appeal, and even when he's not at his best (as in the relatively placid Second Symphony), there's usually something ear-catching to hold your attention--in this case, for example, the interesting minor-key slow movement. Also, you always can count on Gade to score transparently, and one of the best things about Christopher Hogwood's performances is the way in which he consistently allows the winds to penetrate the textures in the scherzos and slow movements. He also secures real warmth and richness of tone from the brass in the Eighth Symphony's outer movements, and keeps the music moving along effectively with nicely inflected rhythms and a secure sense of each movement's architecture. In short, these are fine performances, very well recorded, not necessarily better than Schonwandt (Da Capo) or Järvi (BIS), but just as good in their way. More to the point, they demonstrate the positive direction in which Hogwood's career as a conductor of "normal" music seems to be evolving.

David Hurwitz, Classics Today.com