Subscribe to Dacapo's newsletter

Michael Schønwandt

    conductor
    Miklos Szabo

    From 2000 until May 2011 Michael Schønwandt (conductor) was chief conductor at the Royal Danish Theatre, where he has conducted regularly since his debut in 1979. Alongside this he has been chief conductor of Collegium Musicum since the foundation of the orchestra in 1981. In 1987 and 1988 he was the first Scandinavian conductor ever of the Festival in Bayreuth, and in 1992-1998 he was chief conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Michael Schønwandt, who is a much appreciated and sought-after conductor in many international concert halls and opera houses, appears in several CD and DVD recordings. Among other things he has recorded all Carl Nielsen’s symphonies on CD and headed the Royal Danish Orchestra on the DVD release of Kasper Bech Holten’s staging of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. From 2010 to 2013 Michael Schønwandt was chief conductor and artistic director of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic in Amsterdam, and has been principal guest conductor of the Staatsoper in Stuttgart. In 2011 Michael Schønwandt was appointed ‘Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog’.

    • Paul von Klenau

      Symphony No. 9

      The magnificent symphony that was found in a plastic bag in Vienna after 50 years

    • Carl Nielsen

      Saul & David

      The Royal Danish Opera’s spectacular new production of Carl Nielsen’s dramatic debut opera

    • Carl Nielsen

      Carl Nielsen sung by the Danish National Choirs

      Some of Nielsen’s most beloved songs and rare jewels sung by the Danish National Choirs

    • Carl Nielsen

      Maskarade

      Michael Schønwandt conducts a sparkling cast of today’s finest Nielsen singers and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra

    • Peter Heise

      Songs for Male Voices

      Charming choral songs and quartets from the Danish Golden age. Long live woman, art and the fatherland!

    • Poul Schierbeck

      Fête galante

      A true operatic feast: Schierbeck’s Fete galante from 1931 is lyrical and warm, glitteringly orchestrated and has Denmark’s best singers in the main roles

    • Bent Sørensen

      La Notte

      Bent Sørensen’s captivating piano concerto La Notte from 1998 is a marvel of beauty: the night as dream and reality

    • Carl Nielsen

      The Masterworks Vol. 1 – Orchestral Music

      The Danish National Symphony Orchestra's hailed recordings of Nielsen's orchestral music, including the six symphonies on both CD and DVD, now beautifully boxed

    • Poul Ruders

      Selma Jezková (Dancer in the Dark)

      Poul Ruders' heart-rending opera from 2010 based on Lars von Trier's film \Dancer in the Dark\\\

    • C.E.F. Weyse

      The Key Masterpieces

      The 3rd issue in Dacapo’s Perspectives series fully portrays this ingenious composer of the Danish Golden Age

    • J.P.E. Hartmann

      The Key Masterpieces

      A portrait of the key figure of Danish National Romanticism, who embraced all genres

    • Carl Nielsen

      Maskarade (DVD)

      The Danish national opera in a rebellious, witty new interpretation

    • Richard Wagner, Carl Nielsen, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, George Bizet, Alexander Borodin

      Famous Opera Choruses

      Det Kongelige Operakor og Copenhagen Phils indspilning af berømte operakor

    • Vagn Holmboe

      Requiem for Nietzsche

      An impressive, uncompromising oratorio based on the life of Nietzsche – a major work in Danish music

    • Poul Ruders

      The Handmaid's Tale

      Vor tids stærkeste opera – et genialt og rystende værk

    • Carl Nielsen

      Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6

      Nielsen’s vital debut and his enigmatic, surreal last work in the genre

    • Friedrich Kuhlau, Niels W. Gade, J.P.E. Hartmann, P.E. Lange-Müller, H.E. Krøyer, Jacob Gade, J. Mikel

      Der er et yndigt land

      Danmark i lommeformat – de største klassiske hits og skønneste melodier

    • P.E. Lange-Müller

      Renaissance

      Danish Romantic music by a beloved master

    • Carl Nielsen

      Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5

      Two of the most important symphonies by the great Danish composer

    • Carl Nielsen

      Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3

    • Poul Ruders

      Symphony No. 2

      Ruders’ Piano Concerto and his explosive Symphony no. 2 – a tremendous listening experience!

    • J.P.E. Hartmann

      Liden Kirsten

      The beloved ballad opera with a libretto by Hans Christian Andersen. Denmark in a nutshell!

    • P.E. Lange-Müller

      Der var engang (Once upon a time)

      Songs and music from the Romantic fairytale comedy. A bestseller 100 years ago and today!

    • C.E.F. Weyse

      Cantatas

      Refined classicism in Weyse’s Christmas and Easter cantatas

    • Edouard Dupuy

      Ungdom og Galskab (Youth and Folly)

      A witty, melodious Singspiel, performed hundreds of times since the premiere in 1806!

    • Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

      Orchestral Works

      Three key works by the caustic, energetic absurdist of modern Danish music

    • Poul Ruders

      Solar Trilogy

      The great big orchestral trip – a unique trilogy in European music

    • Niels W. Gade

      Elverskud (The Elf King's Daughter)

      Elverskud represents Danish Romatic music at its finest

    • C.E.F. Weyse

      Symphonies Nos. 6-7

      First recording of Weyse’s two greatest symphonies

    • C.E.F. Weyse

      Symphonies Nos. 4-5

      Vienna Classicism from the 1790s with a Nordic accent

    • C.E.F. Weyse

      Symphonies Nos. 1-3

      The first full-scale Danish symphonies, inspired by Haydn and Mozart

    • Poul Ruders

      Concertos

      Great international excitement in Ruders’ Violin Concerto no. 2 and the intense piano concerto Dramaphonia

    • Niels W. Gade

      Symphonies Nos. 4 and 6

      The lightest and the darkest of all Gade’s eight symphonies

    • Niels W. Gade

      Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

      Gade’s brilliant breakthrough work Symphony no. 1, which was given its first performance by Mendelssohn

    • Niels W. Gade

      Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8

      Gade’s perfection shines through clearly in his last two symphonies

    • Svend Erik Tarp

      Orchestral Works

      Danish Neoclassicism of the finest kind – and with plenty of humour

    • Niels W. Gade

      Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5

      The Fifth Symphony with obbligato piano is one of Gade’s most original works