Stunning gold find - one of the most important Viking gold treasures ever found in Denmark nordjyskemuseer.dk/sjaeldent-vi...

While Fabio Luisi is busy recording Schönberg's complete orchestral works in Denmark, his complete Ring cycle from Dallas is soon out. Never a dull moment! www.colinscolumn.com/may-22-fabio...

Copenhagen Phil has cut ties with Christoph Gedschold with no comments beyond a very short statement. #classicalmusic #cphPhil politiken.dk/kultur/art10...

Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund appointed chief conductor of the excellent Bergen Philharmonic, following Edward Gardner who steps down in 2027. harmonien.no/en/news/tabi...

It's a First World problem, but Placido Domingo performs in Copenhagen tonight, and I honestly don't know what to expect. www.drkoncerthuset.dk/kalender/202...

Earliest photo of Copenhagen. 1840. Not much has changed here (Gråbrødretorv).

Tensions between Greenland and Louisiana are suddenly escalating on this otherwise peaceful Sunday morning.

Greetings from the commuter train: Here are two elderly ladies with their phones, a business man with a lap top and three young persons READING REAL BOOKS

I just LOVE those broadcasters who include classical music in breakfast television. Shout out to Estonia, Latvia, Poland! And here's Beatrice Rana playing Stravinsky on ZDF's "Morning Magazine" just before the 9 o'clock morning news www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DT-...

A daring debut: In 1919, a Danish noblewoman, Olga Grevenkop Castenskiold, published her opus 1, "Narcose", to be played with "excitement" and "ecstasy"! Trained in Paris, she never achieved a breakthrough in Denmark. I've tracked her down: www.jenscornelius.dk/den-sanselig...

Hi, I've been away from this place for some time. In the meantime I've visited wonderful Tallinn 🇪🇪 meeting with musicians, journalists, and musicologists. And my new book came out: A biography on Danish composer Peter Erasmus Lange-Müller - very well received so far! multivers.dk/product/p-e-...

Tonight: Dream team Susanna Mälkki & Isabelle Faust in Copenhagen with Danish National Symphony Orchestra: Dvorak Violin Concerto + Sibelius Symphony 6 and 7! www.drkoncerthuset.dk/kalender/202...

Arvo Pärt is 90 today! 🎶 Watch (and cry) how he was greeted this morning by family, singers, and the staff at the Arvo Party Centre. The music is a children's song he wrote in 1959, "I'm not just a kid anymore" www.instagram.com/reel/DOdH0c5...

"Deception", 1911. A French waltz. They just don't make sheet music like this anymore!

The annual Rued Langgaard festival in Ribe takes place this week (4-7. September). Thursday at 19.00 I'll be giving a short presentation of this year's guest composers, Tekla Griebel Wandall and Ludolf Nielsen. Two very fascinating artist from Langgaard's time in the early 1900s langgaardfestival.dk

Rodion Shchedrin: A brilliant composer and a very humorous person. I met him for a brief interview in 2008, and you really wanted to stay in his company. Unexpectedly, his wife, the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, also turned up - an astonishing couple!

The Léonie Sonning Music Prize, formerly awarded to Stravinsky, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Boulez, Pärt, Miles Davis & Bernstein, goes to Kirill Petrenko www.sonningmusik.dk/kirill-petre...

100 years ago, Jacob Gade's "Jealousy Tango" was premiered. It's the most performed piece of music ever written by a Dane! Tonight, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra is celebrating Gade and his tango, and a new book on Jacob Gade has just been published: multivers.dk/product/jaco...

A great loss! My favourite radio app has been blocked here in Denmark. BBC Sounds should remain available worldwide, showcasing why the BBC is still the gold standard in public service broadcasting.

Important new release: Works from the modern breakthrough of women in Danish music around 1900 - Hilda Sehested, Nancy Dalberg & Tekla Griebell. The scores newly edited and beautifully recorded. www.dacapo-records.dk/en/recording...

Carl Nielsen now has a delicious apple spirit named after him. Available from the Carl Nielsen museum in Odense (fun fact: subtitled "Bel Canto" after an odd drinking song he composed for a Copenhagen male choir)

This incredible video turned up earlier this week: Percy Grainger playing Grieg's "To Spring" in 1957 - the only audio film of Grainger playing the piano. And musically stunning it is! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp3Z...

Vila i frid käre Per ❤️🎶🌹🕯️Forever grateful for our friendship, and for the fantastic 8th Symphony. For me you remain the greatest symphonist of our time 💎🙏

Per Nørgård dies at 92. For generations he was the greatest and most influential Danish composer. A true visionary! www.dr.dk/nyheder/kult...

ach, Per Nørgård, grootse componist gestorven. Weet nog goed, begin jaren nul sprong hij na een uitvoering van een van zijn cellostukken dolenthousiast vanuit zijn stoel op het podium in een klein Londens theater om de uitvoerenden te feliciteren #RIP www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

A very unsuccessful kalimba!

Herbert Blomstedt rehearsing with Danish National Orchestra as he has done regularly since 1956. In a few months, he turns 98.

Fredensborg Castle this evening, the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Denmark. Queen Margrethe's home. One guard. Peaceful indeed. We need more of this.

A second volume of Rued Langgaard's music in early pioneering recordings (1963-74). Just a decade after his death, the rediscovery started. Langgaard's widow Constance luckily witnessed the beginning of the revival. www.danacordbutik.dk/product_info...

AI, you can do better than this... Fanny and Felix didn't look like that at all.

In 1929, a young Danish soprano was invited to perform in private for Mussolini. I have unearthed her own detailed account of this unforgettable evening with the great and "enchanting" dictator - and traced her later destiny. www.jenscornelius.dk/den-danske-s...

One to watch! Yesterday Adrianna Kubica-Cypek won the Danish "Carl Prize" for best classical composition of 2024: "Printemps", a part of her choral cycle Saisons. Adrianna Kubica-Cypek (b. 1996) is Polish, but in recent years based in Copenhagen. www.adriannakubicacypekmusic.com

This is the most Estonian thing I have ever heard: "The Estonian Composers’ Union owns grave sites in the Forest Cemetery, which are reserved for members of the Estonian Composers’ Union and their spouses." www.helilooja.ee/en/estonian-...

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor Fabio Luisi to perform at the BBC Proms in August: Beethoven 9, Anna Clyne's The Years and the orchestra's new signature piece, Evening Land by Bent Sørensen (2017) www.bbc.co.uk/events/ezc9hn

Tonight: Exciting world premiere of Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen's Violin Concerto. Always a very personal composer with a big heart and a unique imagination. Simone Lamsma soloist, Otto Tausk conducting the Danish National Orchestra www.drkoncerthuset.dk/kalender/202...

Morgen „Antikrist“ an der Deutschen Oper Berlin! Das Buch kommt auf meine Kaufliste!

For the first time a book on Danish composer Rued Langgaard is published in an international language! A German translation of the recent (2024) Danish biography by the no. 1 Langgaard capacity Bendt Viinholt Nielsen. It's a must read - in both languages! www.wolke-verlag.de/musikbuecher...

Understandable confusion in the Vatican today - I tuned in to Radio Vaticana this morning after the announcement of Pope Francis' death and was surprised to hear jolly music (incl. the complete Carnival of the Animals!) for a full hour before the schedule was changed. www.vaticannews.va/en/epg.html

A strong recommendation of this insightful blog by Finnish music journalist Jari Kallio! @jarikallio.bsky.social jarijuhanikallio.wordpress.com

"Gothenborg Symphony Orchestra was my first love in the world of orchestras. The musicians were my idols. I knew them all by name." A wonderful homage by 97 year old Herbert Blomstedt - who is conducting the orchestra tonight. www.gso.se/2025/03/17/g...

I'm in St Matthew Church, Copenhagen, ready for the St John's Passion performed by Camerata Øresund & Det Unge Vokalensemble

My least favorite Beatles song (barring some of John Lennon's late horrors) has always been Taxman. Even in my teens I balked at the sound of wealthy young working-class men moaning about contributing to an equitable society. They should have seen it as a privilege.

Recommended - if you happen to be in South Korea! And if not, the music of Hans Abrahamsen is recommended anyway. www.wisemusicclassical.com/news/5046/Ha...

A 1966 West German record sleeve that gives a depressing answer to its own question. Happy Monday everyone!

Astonishingly generous awards to six major Danish musicians: Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's Prize 2025 go to composers Kirstine Lindemann, Signe Lykke & Bára Gísladóttir and to accordionist Bjarke Mogensen, recorder virtuoso Michala Petri & bass singer Stephen Milling. 1 million DKK each.

Sutton Hoo helmet may actually come from Denmark, archaeologist suggests

Tonight: A delightful evening at the Royal Danish Ballet performing the classic Don Quixote. Tutus, toreadors and even some flying guitars. After the final bow, radiant ballerina Silvia Selvina was appointed Solo Dancer on stage in front of the audience kglteater.dk/det-sker/sas...

Congratulations to Greenland’s new government and Premier-elect Jens-Frederik Nielsen. You deserve partners who respect you and treat you as equals. And the European Union is proud to be such a partner for you.

I wasn't aware that conductor Fabio Luisi is also an excellent blogger, sharing his personal views in a very honest way www.fabioluisi.com/thoughts/

Arvo Pärt news: A very exciting collaboration between Concerto Copenhagen - a baroque orchestra on period instruments - and renowned Pärt experts Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and conductor Tonu Kaljuste. New Pärt album out on Berlin Classics. www.epcc.ee/en/2025/03/a...