Danish National Symphony Orchestra Presents Extensive Survey and New Insight into the Music of Composer Carl Nielsen
· Danish National Symphony Orchestra presents an extensive survey of the music of Carl Nielsen in a series of live concerts in Copenhagen 20 – 29 April 2023.
· The Orchestra will also release a three-disc box set of the complete symphonies of Nielsen on Deutsche Grammophon to tie in with the concert series.
· All of the orchestra’s Nielsen concerts will be broadcast on international TV and streaming channels via the media partner EuroArts and DG Stage +
· A new documentary film about Carl Nielsen entitled Carl Nielsen – between heaven and earth, produced by EuroArts, will also be broadcast on DR and internationally.
· 2 June 2023 will see a new museum dedicated to Carl Nielsen opening in the composer’s hometown of Odense.
Throughout 2023, the music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen will be at the centre of a comprehensive tribute across cultural institutions and media partners in Denmark, including the opening of a new museum, two weeks of live concerts from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, more than 50 hours of broadcast by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), and the culmination of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Nielsen’s complete symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon.
The Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1861 – 1931) is known as one of the greatest 20th century composers, creating dynamic and innovative works throughout his life. But this year, his music will gain a much larger audience worldwide.
Concert series and media productions
On 20 – 29 April 2023, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra will presents an extensive survey of the music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen with a total of 10 live concerts and more than 50 hours of radio broadcasts, TV and international streaming.
Under the baton of Chief Conductor Fabio Luisi, the concert series at DR Koncerthuset – entitled Nielsen, Nielsen, Nielsen! – focuses on the composer’s key works for orchestra including the six symphonies and three concertos together with wide-ranging musical tributes from all DR’s ensembles from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble to the Danish Radio Big Band.
In total, DR will broadcast more than 50 hours of radio and TV with and about Nielsen’s music during 2023, divided into approximately 40 hours of radio on DR P2 and 10 hours of TV on DR2.
On an international level, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra’s publishing series for the iconic record label Deutsche Grammophon culminates on 21 April 2023 with the release of a special three-disc box set that collects all of Carl Nielsen’s six symphonies.
All of the orchestra’s Nielsen concerts will be broadcast on international TV and streaming channels, including DG Stage +, via the media partner EuroArts.
A new documentary film about Carl Nielsen entitled Carl Nielsen – between heaven and earth will also be broadcast on DR and internationally, where it has so far been sold to eight countries.
Fabio Luisi, Chief Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, said: ‘Nielsen’s music really belongs to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and it has been a beautiful experience for me as a conductor to get to know this highly interesting, complex and deeply original composer. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and I are delighted to join Deutsche Grammophon for this important release cycle. I am particularly pleased to see the complete symphonies of Carl Nielsen being featured under the famous yellow logo, placing the composer in the canon of great 20th century composers which is fully deserved.’
New museum in Odense
On 2 June 2023, a newly designed museum dedicated to Carl Nielsen will open in Odense.
Here, guests will be greeted by Nielsen’s musical universe in a way that invites new discoveries and reflections. The celebrations for the opening of the museum continue with a full programme of events throughout the summer.
Museum inspector Ida-Marie Vorre from Museum Odense says about this year’s Nielsen effort: ‘Carl Nielsen’s music is diverse and deeply original. His special combination of spontaneity, humour, passion and depth speaks to us perhaps more now than ever. With Carl Nielsen, the superfluous is stripped away, and therefore his music speaks to today’s listeners – also internationally. That is why music is the focus of the joint efforts that we have come up with in a network of Danish cultural institutions, DR and international media partners.’
Broadcasts
Live broadcasts will be presented on DR P2 from most of the Nielsen concerts with additional broadcasts throughout Europe via EBU. In the autumn of 2023, the Nielsen, Nielsen, Nielsen! concerts are shown on DR2 and DRTV as well as many international TV and streaming channels.
Kim Bohr, director of DR Koncerthuset and P2, said about the joint effort behind this year’s Nielsen tribute: ‘There are strong collaborations and common blood behind this year’s Nielsen tribute, both nationally and internationally. I am happy that everyone can listen and watch when DR broadcasts more than 50 hours of radio and TV with and about Nielsen’s music during the year, and that the new Carl Nielsen Museum has a special eye for a new, young audience to Nielsen’s music. At the same time, we really put Nielsen on the modern world map through new, ambitious publications and media productions that see the light of day during the year in collaboration with leading international media partners.’
Monograph, dance project and wild nature walk
Towards the end of 2023, a long-awaited cultural monograph will be published as the result of a research project led by Professor Michael Fjeldsøe, published by Multivers, which puts Carl Nielsen in perspective as a European composer and as a central figure in Danish cultural life.
There will also be an opportunity to get closer to Carl Nielsen and explore his life, through a dance performance Nielsen danser, created by DR Musikariet and to be performed in DR Koncerthuset by dance students from all over the country in January 2024.
Later in 2024, there will be a celebration of the composer and his connection with nature through a 110km walking route with 40 listening posts along the way – Carl’s Camino – from Odense to Faaborg. This walk is in collaboration with Nordic Performance Art, Carl Nielsen’s childhood home and others.