Chandos continue releasing their Nielsen cycle by the late-lamented Bryden Thomson and the Royal Scottish Orchestra by coupling the Espansiva and the Fifth. What I like about these performances is their freshness and directness. At no point are we aware of the conductor interposing himself between composer and listener, and one can sense an evident enthusiasm on the part of the players. This is Nielsen plain and unadorned without any frills or any trace of the narcissism which afflicted Esa-Pekka Salonen (Sony) in this repertoire. Perhaps an exception comes in the third movement (16 bars after fig. 3; track 3, 1'42'') where Thomson makes a rather steeper ritenuto than is, I think, justified by the poco marking either at this point or in the closing four bars of the movement. But I would forgive him much for his choice of tempo in the finale which feels just right! All in all, a refreshingly sane performance with good singing from the two soloists in the slow movement.
The Fifth Symphony is another unaffected and straightforward performance—though if I were to venture a criticism, it would be that I was often aware of the beat in the first movement; the music rarely floats as it seemed to do in the pioneering accounts of Erik Tuxen and Thomas Jensen (EMI must be persuaded to reissue the former and Decca the latter). However, this performance has a great deal going for it, not least the beautiful clarinet playing in the coda, and the thoroughly committed second movement. Bryden Thomson gets very spirited playing from all departments of the orchestra. The recordings, made in Glasgow City Hall, are very good and present, though at times just a bit bass-heavy. One feels the need in heavily-scored tuttis for more room into which the sound could expand. But if the sound lacks some of the transparency of that achieved by Decca for Blomstedt, these are enjoyable, ardent performances that can be recommended to all admirers of this much underrated conductor.'