Pal Eide, born in Bergen, Norway, in 1970, is living in Denmark. His first international release "Grey Clouds" with Liszt, Ravel, Debussy and Stravinsky, received spectacular reviews. Following studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, he made his debut in Copenhagen in 1997 and later studied with Jiri Hlinka in Norway. He has been given numerous recitals in Scandinavia and also recorded the album "Listen!" (2010) with Bach, Norheim, Koch, and Rachmaninoff.

Danish Choral Music

Holmens Kirke is located in the heart of Copenhagen, surrounded by the historic buildings of Christiansborg Palace (which now houses the Danish Parliament) and the old stock exchange “Børsen” from 1625, as well as the newer National Bank, designed by Arne Jacobsen and built between 1965-1978. It was King Christian IV of Denmark who ?rst converted this site from a naval anchor forge into a church in 1619. For more than 400 years, Holmens Kirke has served as the Royal Naval Church. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her consort, the late Prince Henrik, were married in Holmens Kirke on 10th June 1967. Holmens Kirke holds a special signi?cance in Danish musical life, partly due to the church’s rich history, prominent location and excellent acoustic, but also thanks to the great ?gures of Danish music such as Niels W. Gade, Thomas Laub and Mogens Wøldike who all worked as organists at Holmens Kirke. Each year, the church attracts thousands of people for its services and concerts.

This CD showcases the church music composed by the current organist of Holmens Kirke, Jakob Lorentzen. These works were created for use in services, ceremonies and concerts at Holmens Kirke and Christiansborg Palace Chapel.

It is customary in Mass services at Holmens Kirke that, following the Old Testament reading, the choir perform a short "korvers" ("choral verse") whilst the congregation remain standing to listen. A condensed selection of these “mini motets”, which number 140 in all, can be heard on this CD.

Largest church organ in Denmark

The great organ of Aarhus Cathedral is a true masterpiece of North European organ building tradition through four centuries and with 96 stops the largest pipe organ of Denmark. 2018-20 the organ was carefully restored and enlarged by the Danish organ builder Marcussen & Søn Orgelbyggeri Aps.

This publication tells the story of the restoration through text and extensive photo material and for the ?rst time documents the beautiful sounds of the restored instrument in a 2 CD anthology of organ music from Buxtehude to present time. Performers are the two organists Kristian Krogsøe and Anders Johnsson.

An unfairly forgotten Danish master pianist!

Arne Skjold Rasmussen was one of the finest Danish musicians and a truly virtuoso pianist. Nerves and the lack of interest in the concert halls kept him away from the audience. As a professor in piano at the Royal Danish Music Academy he was much sought after. The whole idea of making recordings he detested and his discography is small. Here are all the solo recordings he did for the Danish TONO label. There are no concerto recordings and only a small handful of chamber music recordings done shortly before he died.

His Beethoven sonatas, sadly only those on this 2 CD set, are among the most convincing and overwhelmingly authentic. He was brought up in the Carl Nielsen tradition and his rare Nielsen recordings are probably the closest we will ever get to that Danish composer. Extensive notes from the Skjold Rasmussen specialist Jonas Barlyng and the high class transfers by Claus Byrith underlines the importance of this piano release. Remember the other releases in this series 3 sets featuring Danish Women Pianists One with pioneer Danish pianists and now 6 volumes with the great pianist Victor Schiøler.

More Danish Romantic Piano

Volume 5 of the complete piano music by the leading Danish Romantic composer Hartmann. He was born 1805 and lived nearly to be 100 years. During his time he was the most influential composer in Denmark and wrote beautiful music for solo piano. Here Danish pianist Thomas Trondhjem has reached the fifth volume in this enterprising series.

Few Danish tenors are as popular as young Mathias Hedegaard. He has sung in all the leading venues and is much in demand from all opera houses around the world. His heart is in Lieder singing and here is his truly wonderful version of the Franz Schubert song cycle Winterreise. The relapse, which comes with full texts and translations, is supported by the fine Danish accompanist Tove Lønskov and the recording done in the atmospheric church of Garnisons in Copenhagen. A real event! Award-winning Mathias Hedegaard has quickly established himself as a sought-after light lyric tenor. His recordings of Danish songs and arias has won international recognition, and his interpretations of the Evangelist in Bach’s PASSIONS has rendered collaborations with several of northern Europe’s finest baroque orchestras and conductors. With his strong stage charisma, he has created opera roles in several world premieres by Danish composers. Likewise, his Lied recitals are very popular, and are often broadcasted on the Danish National Radio.

Danish violinist Emil Telmányi, son-in-law of composer Carl Nielsen, was one of the famous pupils of the Hungarian Jenö Hubay, himself close friend to Liszt and the leading violinist of his day. He only recorded a small handful of recordings and they are here collected in new transfers. Known for his recordings of Bach, Telmanyi was also an enthusiast of his father-in-law Carl Nielsen’s music. He recorded Nielsen's violin sonatas and concerto and after settling in Copenhagen he married Nielsen's daughter, Anne Marie from 1918 to 1933. Later in life, Telmányi became most well-known for his 1954 recording of Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas performed with the Bach (or Vega) bow, which could be adjusted for violinists to play three to four strings of the instrument simultaneously. He died at aged 95 in Denmark. Telmányi was the leading violinist in Denmark and some of his rarest recordings are here presented for the first time in new digital transfers, some featuring Ferenc Fricsay and pianist Gerald Moore.

Classical Music

Danish composer J.P.E. Hartmann was the leading romantic Danish composer who influenced generations of Danish composers, not least Niels W. Gade and the son Emil Hartmann. He was a prolific composer and composed in all genres. His extensive music for piano is sadly too little known outside Denmark, but with its romantic tone, melodic charm and harmonies known from Schumann and Mendelssohn it will come as a pleasant surprise to all lovers of romantic music for piano. Danish pianist Thomas Trondhjem is here presenting the first of a complete recording of all the works for solo piano by J.P.E. Hartmann. Volume 2 to be released late Autumn 2020.

Paying futher tribute to the distinguished Danish cellist Erling Blondal Bengtsson, this new release includes the first performances in Denmark of each work. Works include masterworks by Britten and Lutoslawski, as well as the idyllic Concerto by Frederick Delius, all of which offer testimony to Bengtsson’s inquisitiveness and versatility. Erling Blondal Bengtsson began studying cello at age five. His performing career as an adult spanned the globe, and his memorized concert repertoire encompassed the entire cello literature. He also commissioned and introduced many new works, including 14 cello concertos by Scandinavian composers. He died in 2013 at the age of 81.

Danish conductor and composer Launy Grøndahl (1886-1960) was the leading figure developing the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra all from the very first beginning of the orchestra in the 1920s until his retirement in 1956. He worked closely with composer Carl Nielsen and his recording of the Nielsen 2nd and the 4th Symphonies are now the benchmark for how these works should be heard. The new series of album releases will contain every single recording which can be found of Grøndahl, both live and studio recordings as well as his commercial releases. New digital transfers and extensive booklet notes. Volume 2 is in preparation for a September 2020 release and will have Launy Grøndahl conducting Grøndahl, 2 albums with his own orchestral works. Another first ever release.

The first-ever complete LP collection of Ignaz Friedman’s recordings has been much sought after by collectors and admired by critics since its original LP release in 1985. Newly remastered for its first modern release, this set celebrates the artistry of a uniquely gifted musician. The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata, Chopin mazurkas and Songs without Words of Mendelssohn are classics of the gramophone, which now speak to a new generation of listeners more clearly than ever before.

The great pianist Paderewski said: "After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique". Presented here on this album, Etsuko Hirose showcases the wide range of the piano music by an extraordinary composer who was a star in his lifetime but is now in need of a romantic revival. Born in Nagoya in Japan, Etsuko Hirose began studying the piano at the age of three. When she was only six, she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto no.26 with orchestra. After pursuing her studies at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the class of Bruno Rigutto and Nicholas Angelich, she has received the guidance of Alfred Brendel, Marie-Francoise Bucquet and Jorge Chamine. A prizewinner at prestigious international contests such as the Frederic Chopin Competition for young pianists (Moscow), the G. B. Viotti and the Munich ARD Competition, she won First Prize at the Martha Argerich Competition in 1999, which launched her solo career.

Fini Henriques composed three albums of piano music inspired by children. Like Robert Schumann in his Kinderszenen all the music is within the frame of a few minutes playing time. It’s pleasantly melodic and harmonic, and it sounds easier to play than it is. Danish pianist Thomas Tronhjem has collected over 50 of these miniatures in this first ever recording. Do not miss this wonderful collection. Charming, engaging and utterly lovely! Thomas Trondhjem was born in Denmark in 1954. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Århus under Poul La Cour, where, after attending the Academy’s soloist class, he took a diploma with distinction in 1983 and made a successful concert début in 1985 with excellent reviews. He has received many prestigious and highly esteemed awards and scholarships in Denmark including Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik’s Scholarship and the Jacob Gade Scholarship. He has performed as a soloist with various orchestras in Denmark and abroad and has played piano concertos by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann and Saint-Saëns as well as Rachmaninov’s first and second piano concertos.

Undoubtedly the greatest and most prolific Danish composer of the last century was Niels Viggo Bentzon who had a strong and individual composing style, but was also considered one of the finest pianists in Denmark. Here are some of his early and rare recordings released on album for the first time including his last LP sessions with items never published before. Not only does this set give us Niels Viggo Bentzon as pianist and solo piano composer, but two essential chamber works are also included.Niels Viggo Bentzon studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Knud Jeppesen and Christian Christiansen. He then taught at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and at The Royal Danish Academy. His compositions extend to 664 opus numbers, including 24 symphonies, operas, ballets, concertos, string quartets, and many piano works.