All recordings on this album were made by Swedish Radio in the Concert Hall of Stockholm, except for CD 1, tracks 6-9, which were recorded in the Royal Academy of Music.
Performer Biography
Tor Mann, the conductor on this album, is unique in Scandinavian music history, having served as musical director for two famous Swedish orchestras.
Performer Biography
Tor Mann was a scrupulous score reader and became famous for spotting composers' "slips of the pen," even conducting his own corrected versions of symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms.
Interpretation
Conductor Tor Mann played cello under Carl Nielsen's baton in Symphony No. 4, but found Nielsen to be a very poor conductor, though he respected Nielsen the composer as a true genius.
Recording & Production
The recording of Carl Nielsen's opera "Saul and David" on this album is considered a discovery, thanks to Tor Mann's observations during fifteen performances of the opera in Gothenburg.
Historical Context
In Sweden, during the initial decades of broadcasting, the company Radiotjänst borrowed musicians from other orchestras rather than employing its own, leading to complex arrangements for radio orchestras.
Recording & Production
Many of Tor Mann's recordings of Carl Nielsen's symphonies were preserved on imperfect acetates, full of crackles, clicks, and screeching, and some were even erased by his employers.
