Half the towns of Denmark claim some kind of festival between June and September. Whether it’s a medieval festival, flower festival, shellfish festival, or an origami festival (okay, I made that one up), they’ve all got something to offer.
Frederiksværk, a small city just over 50 kilometres northwest of Copenhagen, is no exception. They actually host Denmark’s largest chamber music festival: Frederiksværk Music Festival. Both well-established ensembles and the rising stars of Danish music perform every year with 17 concerts spread out over the month of July.
The festival is being held in a building called Gjethuset. Dating from 1767, the building was used as a cannon foundry until 1928, and afterwards for heavy industry until 1976.
Then the building was restored to preserve the history of the town and reopened in 1996 as an art and culture centre with theatre performances, concerts and art exhibitions.
This former foundry is the setting for the entire month of classical concerts including top-name ensembles, as well as the most talented, promising young names on the Danish music scene.
TOP PICKS:
Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet
Copenhagen Saxophone Quartet is one of Denmark’s most recognised ensembles in the field of classical chamber music. Since the debut in 1998, the quartet has toured Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia, Austria, Croatia, the USA, Iceland, UK, Italy, and Poland, and has taken part in an official state visit to Slovenia with the Danish royal couple. “If you think you can imagine the tone of a well-played saxophone without having heard this recording, you should think again,” Politiken newspaper wrote.
SAT 7 JULY, 12:15; 120KR
Nikolaj Znaider
“Znaider is one of his generation’s greatest artists,” wrote the respected British magazine Gramophone in 2009. Nikolaj Znaider is both a charismatic violinist and conductor. He has directed the orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Dresden Staatskapelle and the Russian National Orchestra, and he is the first guest conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
MON 9 JULY, 20:00; 150KR
Leipzig String Quartet
This quartet has been described as the true sound of Leipzig, and for this concert it has prepared three pieces for strings by Mendelssohn, Shostakovitch, and Schubert – each full of intense emotion and drama. The quartet was founded in 1988, and three of its members have also held solo positions in the renowned Gewandhaus Orkester in Leipzig. The classical music-focused Strings Magazine praised the quartet’s ability to play Schubert. “Of the highest standard, the interpretation is clear and intense, and the recording itself has the ideal clarity, richness of tone and natural acoustics,” it wrote.
MON 16 JULY, 20:00; 15KR
Frederiksværk Music Festival
GJETHUSET; GJETHUSETGADE 5, 3300 FREDERIKSVÆRK; STARTS MON, ENDS JULY 30; TICKETS: EVENING CONCERTS 150KR, FRI 120KR, SAT MATINEE 100KR, UNDER-15S 50KR, ENTIRE EVENT PASS 1,500KR, 7015 6565, WWW.BILLETNET.DK; WWW.FRV-MUSIK.DK
