Petrusjka I Eventyrland by Fundal, Nielsen, Stravinsky, Fra (2023/2023), Dirigent Pierre Bleuse, Musikhuset Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark

A tragic fairy tale about headless love is flanked by two mad and brilliant Danish works, and in more than one case the music manages to bring the dead back to life. Carl Nielsen's violin concerto can simply only be heard too rarely. The concert is fiddle music from another dimension – written by a man who himself knew the instrument inside out. It is sparkling and brilliant music; and as always with Nielsen, it is as if the underground lurks just below the surface of the music. The concert will be played by Michael Germer, the phenomenally talented winner of the Danish String Competition 2020. Karsten Fundal's Incognito Royal was called "the year's most insane and thought-provoking opera" when it premiered in 2021. The music is too good to only be played for the opera performances, and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra has therefore commissioned a suite of music from the opera, which will be premiered at this concert. We round off the concert with colorful and imaginative music about the tragic Petrusjka. In four kaleidoscopic and fiery images, we get the story of the marionette that is brought to life. Stravinsky plays with both banalities and grotesqueries when he draws the story of Petrushka's dramatic life.