Carl Nielsen joins the legacy of Niels Wilhelm Gade, Edvard Grieg and Johan Svendsen as one of the leading Scandinavian composers. Whereby his music is not very well-known outside of Denmark and thus Carl Nielsen is among those composers whose full importance is yet to be discovered.

Carl Nielsen's Violin Concerto Op. 33 paints an ambivalent picture. On the one hand, it continues the line of the great virtuoso concertos of the 19th century and it is not as advanced harmonically speaking as the third symphony by far. On the other hand, the composer strove to create unique formal solutions and gave his work an inventive touch through its modal colouration.

This recording was made live at a concert to mark the 150th birthday of the composer. The most highly respected violinist Kolja Blacher, together with the Duisburg Philharmonic under Giordano Bellincampi, let Nielsen's great work shine in a fascinating intensity, not heard so far.

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