NIELS VIGGO BENTZON
Piano Sonatas vol. 2
Christina Bjørkøe, piano

Niels Viggo Bentzon, composer

About
"If I hadn't written music or done something like it, I would surely have ended up in a lunatic asylum", Niels Viggo Bentzon (1919-2000) once said in an interview. During his long composing career, he managed to create more than 650 works, more than a quarter of which were written for piano solo. This recording features Dacapo's 2005 Danish Music Award winning pianist Christina Bjørkøe who ventures into three remarkable Bentzon sonatas from the 50s with amazing results.

Reviews
From Rachmaninovian grandeur through to increasing experimentation ... Fascinating stuff! (Musicweb International)

Christina Bjørkøe lets loose with her most incisive, dynamically charged playing
(ClassicsToday.com - Read full review)

Spændvidden hos Bentzon er også i relativt tidlige værker som disse frustrerende enorm, men Bjørkøe når respektindgydende vidt omkring
(Jakob Levinsen, Jyllandsposten)

cd´en fører os igennem et skelsættende tiår i dansk musik, repræsenteret ved en af den tids mest fremstående skikkelser. Både på grund af dette og på grund af den fremragende udførelse kan den bestemt anbefales
(Jørgen Lekfeldt, Dansk Musik Tidsskrift 05/2006)

Lige så megen gnist, der er over Christina Bjørkøes solospil, er der over hendes pianistiske udfoldelser, når hun indgår partnerskab med violinisten Arne Balk Møller og fyrer op under de romantiske klange i Hakon Børresens, Louis Glass´ og Fini Henriques´violinsonater. Det er rene lækkerier fra salonmusikkens overdrev
(Lolland-Falsters Folketidende)

60 minutters dansk klavermusik fra det 20. århundrede, der bestemt må anbefales musikelskeren, der sætter sig ned og lytter koncentreret.
(Musikeren)

Tænksom og inspireret musik skrevet yderst idiomatisk for instrumentet og her glimrende spillet af Christine Bjørkøe.
(Dansk Musik Tidsskrift)

If spikier in melodic and harmonic profile, it is the music´s concision that really impresses. Very nicely played throughout and the sound has depth and clarity in equal measure.
(Gramophone, 052006)

Bentzons sonater stiller store krav til solisten, men det slipper Christina Bjørkøe godt fra.
(**** Flensborg Avis)

The brilliant Danish pianist Christina Bjørkøe performs all three works as if her life depended on it, her formidable technique and musical acuity providing the best possible platform for this repertoire.
(International Record Review)

Credits
Recorded at Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Odense on 5-6 July 2004 and 21-22 March 2005

Recording producer: Morten Mogensen
Sound engineer: Morten Mogensen

Graphic design:
Publisher: Edition Wilhelm Hansen AS,

This CD has been recorded in cooperation with Carl Nielsen Academy of Music Odense