The Danish Star Conductor John Frandsen

The Danish Star Conductor John Frandsen

DACOCD 940 (Danacord Records, CD, 2 discs)

COMPILATION (7 October 2022)

Playing time: 79'54"/75'36" - TT 155'30"
Tracks: 8 + 10
Booklet pages: 16
© 2022 Danacord Records
Main country of recording: Denmark
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of The Danish Star Conductor John Frandsen published on 10 November 2022

Eileen Joyce, piano (CD1, tracks 6-8)
The Royal Danish Orchestra (CD1 and CD2 tracks 1-4 and 8-10)
The State Broadcast Orchestra (CD2 tracks 5-7)
John Frandsen, conductor

CD1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

1 Le nozze di Figaro, K 492 - Overture

Johannes Brahms:

Symphony No 4 in E minor, Op 98
2 Allegro ma non troppo
3 Andante moderato
4 Allegro giocoso - Poco meno presto - Tempo 1
5 Allegro energico e passionato - Più allegro

Edvard Grieg:

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
6 Allegro molto moderato
7 Adagio
8 Allegro moderato molto e marcato - Quasi presto - Andante maestoso

CD2

Franz Schubert (1797-1828):

Symphony No 5 in B flat, D 485
1 Allegro
2 Andante con moto
3 Menuetto (Allegro molto)
4 Allegro vivace

J P E Hartmann (1805-1900):

5 Hakon Jarl, Op 40 (1844) - Overture

Niels Wilhelm Gade:

6 Echoes of Ossian - Concert Overture, Op 1 (1840)

Finn Høffding (1899-1997):

7 Evolution, Symphonic Fantasy, Op 31 (1939)

Svend Erik Tarp (1908-1994):

8 Mit Dukketeater - Overture for my marionette-theatre (1949)

9 The Battle of Jerico, Op 51 (1949)

Knudåge Riisager (1897-1974):

10 Torgutisk Dans (Torgot Dance, 1939)

For three decades the principal conductor of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, John Frandsen also brought flexible tempi, broad phrasing and rich orchestral sonorities to concert repertoire. This newly remastered compilation brings together 1950s recordings made for Columbia, Odeon and Philips, including Danish classics such as Gade's Echoes of Ossian and an inspired account of Brahms' Fourth Symphony.