CANCELLED: The Royal Danish Orchestra / Sabine Meyer

In a village pub in Zealand, Denmark’s largest island, Carl Nielsen saw an image he could not easily forget. It depicted the four human temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic. »The choleric man sat on a horse, a long sword in his hand with which he wildly struck the empty air, his eyes almost falling out of his head and his hair flying madly around his face, which was distorted with rage and devilish hatred to such an extent that I could not help but burst out in laughter. The other three pictures were in the same style, and my friends and I were heartily entertained by the naivety of the images, their exaggerated expressions, and comic seriousness«, Nielsen described. He portrayed each of the four characters with their own movements in his second symphony. A first-time guest at the SHMF, the Royal Danish Orchestra will provide the sound to express the different spiritual mindsets. Sabine Meyer, on the other hand, has long been a true member of the festival family: After last appearing as a portrait artist in 2018, she returns this year with a performance of Nielsen’s challenging and virtuoso clarinet concerto.