Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra: Northern Lights (Carl Nielsen)

College of Music Auditorium.  Mahidol Salaya.  Nakhon Pathom,Thailand.  September 7, 2013.  Over the years, I’ve heard some works of the Danish composer, Carl Nielsen (1866-1931), but I’ve never really seriously listened to any of them, although I remember liking some.  When I learned that the TPO was going to perform Nielsen’s last symphony, his sixth, I decided to pay it some attention by downloading both the CD and the orchestra score.  My time spend was well-rewarded.  The symphony is complex, and not terribly easy to listen to at first.  But the score is illuminating and gave me an appreciation of what Nielsen was doing, which aided the listening experience tremendously.  After going through the 35 minutes of the symphony a few times, and no longer losing my place in the score, I realized that I liked the music.  It is one thing to understand and appreciate a work, and quite another to actually like it.  In this case, the appreciation preceded the enjoyment. 

I was quite sure that the TPO would give the Nielsen Symphony No. 6 (nicknamed “Sinfonia semplice” by the composer himself, for reasons best known to him inasmuch as there is nothing “semplice” about it) an excellent performance and in this, I was not mistaken.  The TPO does its best with modern music which suits its mostly young players, music which is loud and fast most of the time, and which features intricate solo work, music which does not require immaculate and large string forces, or a heavy dose of gravitas.  It was an exciting and beautiful rendition.  Judging by the comments I heard from the audience following the concert, the music was just too strange for many, for as one man said to me:“I wish the TPO would play more Mozart,” as he expressed relief when the symphony ended.  As for me, I waited 24 hours and listened again at home.

The first half of the program consisted of two works for solo clarinet, both slight pieces by great composers, Donizetti and Verdi, but nicely played by the visiting Italian clarinetist, Giampero Sobrino.