Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto; Helios; Symphony No. 5 Alessandro Carbonare, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra & Edward Gardner

• Carl Nielsen (1865 - 1931): Helios, Op. 17, FS 32:
• 1 Nielsen: Helios, Op. 17, FS 32 11:30
• Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, FS 129:
• 2 Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, FS 129: I. Allegretto un poco 08:15
• 3 Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, FS 129: II. Poco adagio 04:46
• 4 Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, FS 129: III. Allegro non troppo 07:20
• 5 Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 57, FS 129: IV. Allegro vivace 04:29
• Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97:
• 6 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: Ia. Tempo giusto 10:16
• 7 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: Ib. Adagio 08:48
• 8 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: IIa. Allegro 05:39
• 9 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: IIb. Presto 02:50
• 10 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: IIc. Andante poco tranquillo 04:03
• 11 Nielsen: Symphony No. 5, Op. 50, FS 97: IId. Allegro (Tempo I) 02:45
• Total Runtime 01:10:41

Info for Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto; Helios; Symphony No. 5

Edward Gardners series of Nielsen symphonies with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra continues with this recording of No. 5, complemented with the overture Helios and the Clarinet Concerto, featuring Alessandro Carbonare as soloist. Nielsen composed Helios in 1903 on a trip to Greece, as his wife, Anne Marie, a sculptor, had won a grant to copy sculptures on the Acropolis. Over its ten-twelve-minute duration, the work depicts sunrise, noontime, and then sunset over the Aegean Sea, and is one of the composers most performed works. The Clarinet Concerto dates from 1928 and is cast in one long movement falling into four sections. It is dedicated to Nielsens friend Aage Oxenvad who gave the first performance. Composed between 1920 and 1922, the Fifth Symphony is unusually laid out in just two movements the only piece by Nielsen to adopt this structure. Unlike his other mature symphonies, the fifth lacks a subtitle, and so could be considered to be more pure music compared to the descriptive nature of the others. Nielsen described the symphony as the division of dark and light, the battle betwe en evil and good and the opposition between Dreams and Deeds. Considered by many as a war symphony, Nielsen insisted that he had not been thinking of World War I whilst he was composing the work, but also commented not one of us is the same as we were before the war.

Alessandro Carbonare, clarinet
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Edward Gardner, conductor

Alessandro Carbonare
born in Desenzano del Garda (Italy), is principal clarinet of the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome since 2003.

Prior to this, for 15 years he lived in Paris where he served as principal clarinet of the Orchestre National de France.

Carbonare was awarded many international music competitions around the world, among others, Geneva in 1990, Prague in 1991, Toulon in 1991, ARD Munich in 1991 and in 1992, and Paris in 1992.

His concerto appearances include the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the National Orchestra of Spain, the Oslo Philarmonic Orchestra, the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester, the Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich, the Wien the Sinfonietta, the Orchestre National de France, the Berlin Radio Orchestra and all major Italian orchestras.

As principal clarinet Carbonare also performed with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Personally invited by Claudio Abbado, he played with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and under him has live-recorded the Mozart clarinet concerto K622 for Deutsche Grammophon, which won the 49th Record Academy Awards 2013. Many other recordings are available, such as “Alessandro Carbonare, the Art of Clarinet” for Decca.

Alessandro Carbonare plays not only classical music but also Jazz and Klezmer in several occasions and with different high calibre musicians.

He is an active member of FESNOJIV in Venezuela, teaching music for free to hundreds of poor young people in Caracas.

He often works together with many famous musician friends, such as Leonidas Kavakos, Pinkas Zuckerman, Alexandre Lonquich, Lang Lang, Martha Argherich, Paquito D'Riveira, Luis Sclavis, Enrico Pieranunzi and Stefano Bollani.

Carbonare is professor at Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and during summer courses at Accademia Chigiana di Siena.

The Bergen Philharmonic
a Norwegian national orchestra, is one of the oldest in the world, dating back to 1765. Edvard Grieg served as its artistic director from 1880 to 1882. The Orchestra, enjoys a high international standing through recordings, touring and international commissions, and was nominated Orchestra of the Year 2020 by Gramophone, and won two Gramophone Classical Music Awards in 2021; Recording of the Year and Opera Award Winner for the recording of Britten’s Peter Grimes.

During the last few seasons the orchestra has played in the Concertgebouw, at the BBC Proms, Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, New York, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Philharmonie, Berlin. The Orchestra and Edward Gardner appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival (2017) and Royal Festival Hall (2019) with their critically acclaimed production of Peter Grimes. In 2022 the orchestra’s production of Richard Strauss’ Salome was hailed as an artistic highlight at the Edinburgh International Festival.

The orchestra offers a free streaming service, Bergenphilive.no, with a fine selection of works performed by the orchestra and a range of conductors and soloists.

The Orchestra has an active recording schedule. Projects include Messiaen’s Turangalîla, ballets by Stravinsky, and the complete symphonies, ballet suites, concertos by Prokofiev, Bruckner symphonies, Mendelssohn symphonies and the complete orchestral music of Edvard Grieg.

Under former Chief Conductor Edward Gardner, the Orchestra released a series of recordings: orchestral works by Janáček, including a Grammy-nominated recording of his Glagolitic Mass, Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder, songs by Sibelius, Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Incidental music to Peer Gynt, featuring Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ann-Helen Moen and Lise Davidsen, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Rhapsodies with James Ehnes, Bartóks Bluebeard’s Castle, Brahms symphonies Nos 1 and 3, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Pelleas und Melisande, Britten’s Peter Grimes with Stuart Skelton and Erin Wall, songs by Britten and Canteloube with soprano Mari Eriksmoen, a cd with saxophonist Marius Neset, The Tempest by Arne Nordheim and a cd with Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto (James Ehnes) and Symphony No. 4.

Edward Gardner
is the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra's Honorary Conductor, following his tenure as Chief Conductor from 2015 to 2024.

Edward Gardner took over the baton from Andrew Litton at the Bergen Philharmonic's 250 Years Anniversary Concert in October 2015. In his nine years as Chief Conductor he devoted himself to the orchestra and has been the prime force in further developing the artistic quality of the orchestra.

He has taken the orchestra on eleven international tours with a total of 47 concerts in venues/festivals like BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Royal Festival Hall London, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt and Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

Edward Gardner and the Orchestra have released a series of recordings: orchestral works by Janáček, including a Grammy-nominated recording of his Glagolitic Mass, Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder, songs by Sibelius, Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Incidental music to Peer Gynt, featuring Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ann-Helen Moen and Lise Davidsen, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and Rhapsodies with James Ehnes, Bartóks Bluebeard’s Castle, Brahms symphonies Nos 1 and 3, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Pelleas und Melisande, Britten’s Peter Grimes with Stuart Skelton and Erin Wall, songs by Britten and Canteloube with soprano Mari Eriksmoen, a cd with saxophonist Marius Neset, The Tempest by Arne Nordheim and a cd with Carl Nielsen’s Violin Concerto (James Ehnes) and Symphony No. 4.

The recording of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes was awarded Gramophone Recording of the Year Award and Opera Recording of the Year Award. ...

Booklet for Nielsen: Clarinet Concerto; Helios; Symphony No. 5