Chances are if you ever heard Carl Nielsen's Violin Concerto (Opus 22, 1911), it was on a recording - except if you live in Denmark or somewhere near where Herbert Blomstedt hangs out. San Francisco has been Blomstedt territory for a long time now, so it's not surprising that when he brought the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig to Davies Hall tonight, the Nielsen was on the program. What was surprising is what a fine, intricate, entertaining work this is - even though not in the same category with its closest contemporary, Nielsen's mighty Third Symphony. Even more than surprising, happily so, was the San Francisco debut of the soloist, Nikolaj Znaider. Mark the name well. This is not your typical Polish-Israeli 26-year-old from Denmark, studying in Vienna and at Juilliard. Znaider, all 6'5" of him - the height making his 1736 Guarneri look like a toy violin - is truly special, with technical brilliance to burn, power and warmth, not a fiddle player at all, but a singer using the instrument to make music. Znaider is a violinist who looms over his many young colleagues in this new golden age of violinists, an artist who made the grand old (a quarter millennium!) orchestra collectively beam at him, always-supportive but seldom demonstrative Blomstedt applaud, hug and kiss as a true fan, and - this was no act - a decent young man who virtually refused three long rounds of ovation, begging Blomstedt and the orchestra to share in the impromptu love feast. (If you think that stage behavior by a youngster is not important, you might have missed - no great loss - Alisa Weilerstein and her physical and musical solo act.) Discovering Znaider may in fact be more important than the chance of hearing the Nielsen live. Even in this setting, with Znaider, Blomstedt (the supreme Nielsen guru) conducting one of the finest orchestras in the world, what remains with the listener is the performance, not the work. The contrast with the "Espansiva" is particularly significant in looking for depth and musical relevance - the symphony is a lasting masterpiece, the concerto is a fine novelty item. Gewandhaus and Blomstedt are good for each other. During the decade of "living with" the conductor here, I always respected, seldom responded emotionally to his music-making. But hearing him conducting the Leipzig band - in the Nielsen and, especially, the smooth-as-silk, broadly singing Brahms Fourth Symphony - there was a wonderful sense of rightness I seldom experienced at his SFS concerts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Janos Gereben/SF [log in to unmask]