The Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) let's the melodies of national songs become the musical DNA in powerful sound-evocations of nature; either as a basis for ingenious constructions of great sensuality, or so that anyone in the North Atlantic islands can hum along. Interpreted by members of Lapland Chamber Orchestra under the baton of John Storgards, Rasmussen's music is in strong fellow Nordic hands on this recording.

Per Norgard, who turned 85 this year, is widely regarded as the most influential Danish composer since Carl Nielsen. Since the beginning of his career, Norgard has composed music for all kinds of instruments, but the piano is probably the one he has remained closest to. Illustrating the development of the ‘universe of the Northern mind’ as well as early influences by both Bach and Stravinsky, the acclaimed pianist Niklas Sivelov presents a unique portrait of Norgard’s earliest musical thinking, including world premiere recordings of the Sonata determinate, Miniature Concerto G Major and Trifoglio. In fact, four of these six works are dedicated to Niklas Sivelov because Norgard is supremely pleased with Sivelov’s interpretations, making this a uniquely authentic recording.

Mozart: Idomeneo re di Creta

Bent S�rensen's work Sounds Like You, with text by playwright Peter Asmussen, is a coupling of music and theatre, of orchestral work and drama, or in the composer's own words: a theatrical play that has become an orchestral work and vice versa. The piece was commissioned by DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) in collaboration with the Bergen Festival and is here recorded in a live performance by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, two actors and a selection of singers from the Danish National Vocal Ensemble under Thomas Dausgaard. On the CD, Sounds Like You is combined with Intermezzi, a five-movement suite for two mezzo-sopranos and orchestra, based on S�rensen's and Asmussen's opera Under the Sky.

• Traditional Nordic folk music with Middle Ages roots meet three new compositions by Danish trio Gáman. • Drum songs from Greenland, chain-dances from the Faroe Islands, wedding music from Fanø island and brand new sounds enrichingly elucidate one another. • Gáman (the name refers to the old Norse word for “joy”), are three of Denmark’s most celebrated young classical musicians exploring their common musical passions. Gáman had their US debut at the Other Minds Festival, San Francisco in 2013.

Dalliance, deceit and dastardly blackmail are all in the air at the rococo palace of Versailles, where Schierbeck’s only opera Fête galante unfolds its colorful plot. The opera maintains an exquisite balance between the lyrical and the comic. This recording brings new life to his tuneful music with a strong Nordic cast in front of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

“The works on this CD constitute a major contribution to the international repertoire of choral music, and any choir or vocal ensemble that has not (yet) engaged with this composer still has something to accomplish!” - Paul Hillier

“It is strange that when I write these simple melodies, it is as if I am not the composer – it is people from my childhood or the Danish people who want something through me.” Thus said Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), who was devoted to renewing the Danish song tradition and whose melodies are still at the heart of Danish community song today. On this recording, Ars Nova Copenhagen presents a selection of Nielsen’s most popular songs under conductor Michael Bojesen.

The composer Andy Pape (b. 1955) was born in Hollywood, California but came to Denmark to study in 1971 and ended up making his home in this small Nordic country. The title work of this CD, An Amerikaner in Danmark, is not just a reference to the composer himself, but also a humorous and brilliantly orchestrated tribute to the composer George Gershwin. It is presented on this world premiere recording together with the tuba concerto Suburban Nightmares and the bassoon concerto Traces of Time Lost. - DaCapo

Norgard, P.: Der Gottliche Tivoli

Anders Koppel: String Quartets - Mezzo Saxophone Quintet

The conductor and composer Bo Holten has long been fascinated by Carlo Gesualdo – an Italian prince and one of the most extreme composers of the Late Renaissance, whose dramatic life and bitter fate make up the plot in Holten’s and librettist Eva Sommestad Holten’s ‘modern baroque opera’ Gesualdo – Shadows. Reflecting our own time, this is a drama of a great artist lost between outward duties and inner fragility: from a passionate youth to an old age of mysticism, violence and melancholy. Gesualdo’s own madrigals, fused into the score, contribute to a thrilling universe of pain and beauty. Gesualdo Shadows takes place in three acts, each depicting a different state in Gesualdo’s life, taking place in three different locations.

Simon Steen-Andersen (b.1976) is a Berlin-based composer, performer and installation artist, working in the field between instrumental music, electronics, video and performance within settings ranging from symphony orchestra and chamber music (with and without multimedia) to stagings, solo performances and installations. His audio-visual work Black Box Music is a surprising, energetic, noisy and yet profoundly entertaining deconstruction of traditional musical drama. The starting point is the classical setting of a conductor in front of an orchestra - but quickly the scenery explodes in musical and choreographic energy ad absurdum, bending the conductor's role through puppet theatre, hand choreography and eventually a musical performance involving tuning forks, finger snaps, rubber bands and the construction of a musical machine within the black box. The DVD also includes Steen-Andersen's signature work Run Time Error, filmed at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, as well as a short documentary and thus offers a fascinating meeting with one of Nordic Music's most visionary voices today.

Poul Ruders' opera Selma Jezková (2010) is based on Lars von Trier's film Dancer in the Dark and follows the heart-wrenching story of Selma, a poor factory worker with failing eyesight who sacrifices her life to ensure that her son receives an eye operation. The opera is a dark and compelling story of fate; a highly evocative and epic performance yet also intensely distilled with a duration of just 70 minutes. In this DVD production of the Copenhagen premiere performance, the forces of the Royal Danish Opera are directed by Kasper Holten and framed by Christian Lemmerz' grand Gothic set design. Conductor Michael Schønwandt commands the podium and the demanding title role is sung by Ylva Kihlberg, to whom Poul Ruders has dedicated the role.

Sten Byriel, Anne Margrethe Dahl, Helene Gjerris, Poul Elming, Susanne Resmark, Camilla Nylung, Jon Ketilsson, Johnny van Hal, and John Lundgren star in this 2002 Royal Danish Opera production of the Laggard opera conducted by Thomas Dausgaard.