Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Scandinavian Culture – Denmark
Concerto Copenhagen and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Photo: TS-Foto
Making old music vital, relevant and contemporary Concerto Copenhagen has a clear mission. The Scandinavian music ensemble wants to spread the beauty and joy of live classical music from the 17th to 19th centuries, and they want to do it in a way that makes the music communicative and present for its audience. By Nicolai Lisberg
Where most symphony orchestras performing Mozart, Vivaldi or Bach are trying to create their own modern interpretation, Concerto Copenhagen does just the opposite. The Baroque orchestra does not go on to reproduce an already tested concept, but instead examines what happens when one considers all aspects of old music and its instruments. “We use instruments from the time when the music was written, or at least instruments built to resemble them. We don’t do this in order to create an illusion of a historic ‘truth’; we do it because we find that it’s the only way we can make the music contemporary, vibrant and relevant to a modern audience,” explains Nikolaj de Fine Licht, general manager of Concerto Copenhagen. 40 | Issue 98 | March 2017
The orchestra played its first concert in 1991 and has since developed into Scandinavia’s leading early music ensemble, joining the league of the world’s most exciting and innovative baroque orchestras.
The experiential and nerdy paradox The fact that Concerto Copenhagen searches for the original sound of the old music does not make its sound and expression old-fashioned. It is quite the contrary, in fact. “It seems like a paradox, but by playing old music on old instruments, you actually achieve a modern communication on the art’s own conditions. Bach’s music, for example, was composed for the present-day instruments of his time and will reconnect in an organic way when played on period instruments,” says de Fine Licht.
Concerto Copenhagen is what you would call a baroque orchestra. It is the nerdy niche of classical music, as they say, but in recent years the orchestra has also been experimenting with performing newly composed music. “Our composer -in-residence, Karl Aage Rasmussen, has written music specially for the instruments we have in our orchestra. This gives the music a different sound and a different life than usual. I wouldn’t mind us being labelled an experimental orchestra, because we like to try new things where we can’t be sure of the outcome. Of course we have a good feeling whenever we take on a new project, but the fact is that we don’t know how it will turn out,” de Fine Licht says. One of the projects the orchestra is experimenting with right now is the famous Danish composer Niels Wilhelm Gade and his ballad Elverskud from 1854.
Exceptional art projects Concerto Copenhagen’s music delivery is about contemplation and devotion,