Christopher Hogwood - Niels Gade: Symphonies, Vol. 2 (2001)

Christopher Hogwood's recording of Niels Gade's Fourth Symphony originally appeared in tandem with music by another composer, but so successfully does he realize Gade's particular mixture of neo-classical and conservative Romantic elements that it's no surprise that Chandos opted to go for a complete cycle. While the Concert Overture No. 3 sounds a trifle anonymous, the two symphonies contain plenty of interesting music, from an impressive "funeral march" Andante and wonderful Scherzo in Symphony No. 7, to No. 4's irresistibly breezy finale. Say what you will about Gade: he knew how to make his music "go", and so does Hogwood, whose firm rhythmic control and ideally transparent textures, never stinting on timpani, brass, and winds, reveal masterful orchestration and a far gutsier idiom than received opinion generally allows. Gorgeous sonics complete an exceptionally attractive picture of a composer too often dismissed as an unimaginative hack. Terrific.