Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

Marking his appointment as the Seattle Symphony\'s next music director, Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard follows his magnificent Mahler Tenth with two of his countryman Carl Nielsen’s finest symphonies. The powerful and intense No. 4 (“Inextinguishable”) receives a staggering performance of seismic intensity and coiled power. The less-often-heard Third (“Sinfonia espansiva”) is also very fine: Dausgaard’s creation of atmosphere, vividly aided by his fine Seattle players, is highly accomplished, and the two vocalists in the second movement add potently to the mood. A terrific recording.