Both the symphony and the concerto are amply represented in the catalogue though no other version couples them together. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra under their gifted Finnish conductor give a fresh, straightforward account of the symphony that renews enthusiasm for this delightful score. In his later years Nielsen himself had a soft spot for it – and rightly so! Its melodic spontaneity and fertility of invention are an unfailing source of delight. Ari Rasilainen sets sensible tempos and gets a very musical response from his fine players (he shapes the second group of the first movement affectionately) and the Finlandia-Norwegian Radio team get very clean and well-balanced recorded sound in an acoustic that has clarity and warmth. All the same, I have to say that good though this newcomer is, one’s allegiance to Blomstedt, Chung and going a bit further back, the pioneering account by Thomas Jensen, remains unchanged.
A similar situation arises in the concerto. Henrik Hannisdal, now in his forties, studied with Camilla Wicks and Pierre Amoyal and was at one time leader of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. There is no doubt from this performance that he is an artist of high accomplishments. He gives a very pleasing and straightforward account of this lovely score in which Terje Mikkelsen proves a supportive conductor. All the same this newcomer does not displace either of his countryman Arve Tellefsen’s recordings with Blomstedt or Menuhin (Virgin, 11/94 – nla). Nor does he match the Gramophone Award-winning Cho-Liang Lin with Salonen and the Swedish Radio orchestra, who remain a clear first choice in this work, or Dong-Suk Kang on BIS. However, taken on its own merits, this is still an enjoyable and recommendable coupling.'