Nielsen: Symphonies 4 & 5 LSO Live SACD LSO 0694 * * *

The title, The Inextinguishable, says a lot about Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, written in the war-ravaged years of 1914-16. The composer explained the title as a one- word indication of "what the music alone is capable of expressing to the full: the elemental Will of Life." But he was also at pains to point out that the music was not actually programmatic. Colin Davis takes an approach that's not only forceful but also forced, and, at times, a bit blustery. His sheer energy and drive are never in doubt, but the approach seems to me to compromise the freedom of the very spirit the composer was seeking to celebrate. Davis's approach to the Fifth Symphony, which famously pits a solo drummer, ad lib, against the full orchestra, is more rewardingly rounded. See url.ie/4u5f MICHAEL DERVAN