This week, the young Danish conductor Magnus Larsson highlights some of the classical concerts he is looking forward to the most, and tells a little about himself. Welcome Magnus!
"My name is Magnus Larsson, I'm 28 years old, and I'm a conductor who has been honored to recommend some concerts for the coming week. Currently, I work at the Royal Danish Theatre, where I conduct Maskarade. We have missed standing on a stage and feeling an audience out in the hall. Therefore, my recommendations are also characterized by music and experiences on a grand scale:
Light - Bach Dances (May 13th and 15th | Royal Opera House & Concerto Copenhagen)
Baroque music and dance? Yes, it is actually possible! And not just possible - it is brilliant! In the performance "Light - Bach Dances," choreographer Hofesh Shechter and opera director John Fulljames have created a theater production with singing, dancing, and music about what can hardly be described in words. I have attended several rehearsals, and all I can say is: see it!
Maskarade (May 14th - June 5th | Royal Opera House & The Royal Orchestra)
What is currently the most forbidden thing? Party! And in Carl Nielsen's opera Maskarade, we are at the forbidden party! Leonora and Leander fell in love with each other at one of the masquerades in old Copenhagen. Maskarade is a story about the young people's rebellion against the old, about love and loyalty, about control and powerlessness. Kasper Holten has lifted the production into 2021 - and the show also has a small corona twist incorporated. It is also my debut as a conductor at the Royal Danish Theatre - and I'm excited!
Hannigan and La Voix (May 13th and 14th | DR Symphony Orchestra)
One of our time's wildest multitaskers, Barbara Hannigan, does what others would see as impossible: she both conducts AND sings the opera "La Voix Humaine" by Poulenc. It is an opera that has been played quite a few times in the last year because it is as coronavirus-friendly as anything else: there is only one singer on stage. In addition, she conducts one of the strongest works I know, namely Richard Strauss's "Metamophoses" for 23 strings, written at the end of World War II in memory of the many victims of the war. Therefore, I think it fits so well into this time!"
