Andrew Mellor visits the Alsion Concert Hall in Sønderborg, Sweden, on 11 September 2025 for the performance of Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Ysaÿe
Once considered Denmark’s lowliest orchestra, the South Jutland Symphony (rebranded in English as the Danish Philharmonic after a tour of Japan this summer) is determined to change the narrative. It snagged Johan Dalene to open its season at the gorgeous Alsion Concert Hall in cutesy Sønderborg, but the sharp-eared were listening to more than just the Swedish violinist.
New management and a generational change have seen section leaders from around the world take up positions here recently, though new leader Niklas Walentin is Danish and new principal double bass, 28-year-old Mathilde Qvist, is from up the road in Kolding.
The orchestra was at its best in a deep, driven but detailed Brahms Symphony no.1 under Andris Poga, having sounded a little unsteady in Nielsen’s Helios overture. In between came a Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Dalene’s trademark uninterest in virtuosity for its own sake; flair was confined to a few moments at the end of the outer movements.
The pay offs were worth it, given Dalene’s intense concentration of sound and intent, his convincing sense of phrasing and the richness of his 1725 ‘Duke of Cambridge’ Strad. It made for a meditative Tchaikovsky concerto but those craving panache got it in Dalene’s encore – Ysaÿe’s Fifth Solo Sonata played with elasticity, humour and an astonishing agility that drew the audience in rather than dazzling them from on high.
Andrew Mellor
No comments yet