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Fabio Luisi conducts the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in a programme that blends two modern works with Beethoven's Ninth.

Fabio Luisi and the DNSO did not disappoint audiences in San Francisco, presenting a captivating program of Beethoven, Strauss and Nielsen.

“Denmark is not all Lego and pastries!” quipped Nikolaj Znaider to the Albert Hall audience. Indeed not. It is the land of Carl Nielsen, whose 150th birthday was celebrated in a packed Prom given by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. 

Admittedly, it has been quite some time since I heard a St Matthew Passion in a concert hall as opposed to a church. The Concert Hall of the Danish Radio in Copenhagen is an impressive building both inside and out; it was well-filled and buzzing with excitement for a passion featuring the radio orchestra, choir as well as young and attractive international soloists.

The evening’s music commenced with Ligeti’s Night; Morning, one of the composer’s last works before his emigration to the West. Although only a very short piece, it exhibits some of the compositional approaches that are now synonymous with Ligeti’s style.