Oslo String Quartet - Nielsen: String Quartets, Vol. 1 (1999)

Carl Nielsen was, and still is, best known for his six symphonies. Great works that the symphonies are, Nielsen wrote prolifically in almost every genre, his Wind Quintet the best known of his chamber works. However, I highly recommend purchasing both the Nielsen String Quartet CD's
These two great CD's feature the young, up-and-coming Oslo String Quartet. They play wonderfully together, and they have a thorough mastery of their instruments, the string quartet idiom, and, most importantly in this case, the Nielsen String Quartets. They play wonderfully in tune and create music cooperatively very well. The Oslo String Quartet uses a wide range of dynamics in bringing out Nielsen's music. It is a wonder that these works are not better known and more often heard!
If you are familiar with Carl Nielsen's music and style, you should know what to expect: strange, winding, and engaging melodies, rhythmic complexities, optimistic simplicity, sad mourning, and frequent chordal modulations.
These CD's are real winners (and so are Naxos and the members of the Oslo String Quartet) for making such excellent and affordable renditions of these works available to the public. You will pay two or three times this if you look to other CD labels, and you may not get a better quality set of performances, either!! I highly recommend these two CD's of Carl Nielsen's string quartets.