The concerto for the silent, lyric harp, and the more punching percussion perhaps sound like an uneven couple – a kind of Beauty and the Beast. And that is what it sounds like here – most of the time.
First and foremost, there is an orphic light about this concerto. Perhaps this is a “situation description” from the riverbed of Styx, with a foggy view of “campi di pianti e di dolore” – the lowest kingdom, to which the most serious law, formed in iron and written in stone, forbids living creatures to set foot.
Mogens Christensens koncert for harpe (Mette Nielsen) og slagtøj (Ulla Schmidt) gjorde sig godt. Komponisten taler om en orfeusk situationsrapport fra Styx’ bred, men det er en underverdenens flod, som også findes mere nære steder.
(Jyllands-Posten)