in brief
15.02.2023

Draculas mixtape 

Aarhus Teater/Den Jyske Opera: »Dracula«
© Emilia Therese
© Emilia Therese

Hvis nu verdens yndlingsvampyr selv kunne vælge et soundtrack til sit liv og levned, hvordan ville det lyde? Sådan en forfængelig type – og det er Dracula (Jakob Madsen Kvol) i denne opsætning, hvidklædt aristokrat men også uplettet engel – går selvfølgelig op i ambience. »When I Am Laid In Earth (Dido’s Lament)« og bidder fra fem lækre dødsmesser dirrer bag ordene som ørehængende underlægning. 21 sangere fra Den Jyske Opera og en pianist bebor smukt scenen og næsten hvert minut i Martin Lyngbos version af dramaet, vi alle kender. Men det frapperende er, at vi netop også via den allestedsnærværende lyd mærker, hvad der sker, når en epidemisk frygt kortslutter et samfund. 

»Blodet er livet,« fortæller Dracula. Vi ser Kvol (tidligere Bowie-inkarnation i Aarhus Teaters Lazarus) dirigere sangerne. Dracula er typen, der står ved boomboxen og vil male Transsylvanien og London rød; tvinge gæsterne til at danse efter sin drabelige pibe. »Se la mia morte brami« er selvfølgelig med på lyddesigner Marcus Aurelius Hjelmborgs Dracula-mix, for Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613) var både elsket komponist og morder, ja, de über-passionerede madrigalkomponister siges at have levet i en forvirret tid, der skabte spaltede individer. Psyken, i al sin pragt og grimhed, er også begravet i lyd. 

Forestillingen Dracula – ej opera, ej musical, nok noget tredje – er skabt før corona og krig. Som et sansende menneske i 2023 kan man ikke undgå at blive berørt af musikkens sofistikerede, næsten elektriske elegance, som lader os mærke, at volden er på vej. Alt det, vi kender, er ved at vælte.

© PR

»To me, music is love. I love how music allows you to skip the small talk and connect directly with people’s innermost selves. It is an extraordinary and moving way to meet one another.«

Fenja wrote her first song at the age of twelve – about a polar bear dying due to climate change – and themes of existentialism, nature, and her own sensitive nature came to define the lyrics and sound she has since developed. She released her debut album, Flugtdyr, in 2021, and in February 2026, she released the album Menneskedyr.

© PR
© PR

Danish composer Sofus Forsberg has died at the age of 56. With his distinctive blend of melodic sensibility, electronic processing and rhythmic precision, he created a musical world that moved effortlessly between IDM, pop and the avant-garde.

© Simon Weyhe

»Music for me is my hobby, my job, my outlet, my mood, an endless source of discovering new music and new, old music, some of the best and can be some of the worst. And I love it!« 

Track72 aka Tue Track aka Anders Lundby Brixen. Producer, DJ, rapper and more. Known for his role in the trio Malk De Koijn, which since the mid-1990s has created a personal universe in Danish hip-hop. Has performed in Ponyblod, Xtra Naan, Track Abdullah Rock, Booty Cologne and others.

© PR
© PR

On Wednesday, 5 August 2026, it happened again: a chord in John Cage’s Organ2/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) changed after two and a half years. Classic FM reports.

The work was written by the American avant-garde composer John Cage in the mid-1980s. The score consists of eight pages of music, and, as the title suggests, the instruction is to play it »as slow as possible.«

»What music is to me? Where have the great feelings gone?«.

Gellért Szabó is a composer, conductor and performer based in Leipzig, Germany. His work combines contemporary composition with influences from free improvisation, noise and the expressive richness of the late nineteenth century. He is the founder and artistic director of the 23-piece Ideal Orchestra, an ensemble dedicated to large-scale experimental music of sweeping emotional intensity. Alongside this work, Szabó performs internationally with his solo project Radical Radio Show, exploring symphonic textures and immersive sound worlds through a single electric guitar and live electronics. His music is driven by a search for intensity, vulnerability and uncompromising emotional expression.