NIELS MARTHINSEN
Monster Symphony
Niels Marthinsen, composer

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra
Michel Tabachnik, conductor

About
Niels Marthinsen (b. 1963) knows how to grab the listener’s attention - and hold it. His evocative music is full of expressive force and makes instant contact with the listener. Niels Marthinsen is one of the most virtuosic composers in Denmark, but is at the same time an artist with an open mind. Nothing is forbidden in his music, where drama, humour, subtlety and big bangs all get along famously together.

The works on this CD demonstrate his imaginative and captivating use of the orchestra: from the grotesque vitality of Monster Symphony to Panorama’s study of slowness and the tightly-packed opera trailer with glimpses from his latest opera The Confessional.

Reviews
Det er musik, der tør bekende sig uforbeholdent til et muskuløst senromantisk udtryk, og hvor stort symfoniorkester virkelig lyder som stort symfoniorkester.
(Jakob Levinsen, Jyllandsposten)

Det er musik, der vil noget, og er mere end uhyggelig.
(Berlingske Tidende)

Musikken er brillant instrumenteret, meget underholdende.
(Klassisk)

there is humour and real music here worth giving ear time to...Dacapo´s sound is terrific, as are the performances by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.
(Gramophone, 10/2006)

idérig, velskrevet og velklingende musik!
(High Fidelity)

Musikken er fuld af vitalitet og humor og manøvrer med præcision i udtrykket udenom platheder. Forfriskende.
(Jydske Vestkysten, 11/2006)

Niels Marthinsen får afgjort sagt noget med disse værker. At han med sine egne ord har "det store kørekort" som komponist fremgår med al tydelighed. Denne cd kan fungere glimrende som en indføring i - ja, i ny musik.
(Dansk Musik Tidsskrift, 12/2007)

Credits
Recorded at Frichsparken, Århus, on 7-11 April, 2005
Recording producer: Morten Mogensen
Sound engineer: Claus Byrith

Liner notes: Jens Cornelius

Graphic design: Denise Burt, www.elevator-design.dk

Publishers: Edition Wilhelm Hansen, www.ewh.dk / Edition Samfundet, www.samfundet,dk

Dacapo Records acknowledge, with gratitude, the financial support of the Danish Composers’ Society/KODA’s Funds for Social and Cultural Purposes and KODA’s Collective Blank Tape Remuneration.