★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Foruden at synge med forbilledlig teksttydelighed og fornem, mørk klang spiller Jakob Bloch Jespersen også trommestemmerne.
- Magasinet Klassisk 2026

When one first imagines the sound of a magisterial bass voice and a pipe organ, one cannot help but imagine some sort of glorious Vox Dei pronouncing eternal truths from the numinous beyond, but in this extraordinary recital from Danish-Spanish organist and composer and acclaimed Danish bass-baritone Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Eros and Agape are twined and intertwined. Three incredibly different song cycles from three outstanding Danish composers explore this unique sound world; the late Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen is represented in what may well be his musical Last Will and Testament, a set of transcriptions from his opera Sun Rises, Sun Sets, based on the Biblical Song of Solomon. Bent Lorentzen, one of the key figures and pioneers of early Danish electronic music, explores the themes of love, sensual, and divine in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a Nordic Messiaen in his song cycle Erotic Hymns. Our recital concludes with Nicolai Worsaae’s emotionally (and sonically) devastating theatre piece for bass voice and organ, A Shipwreck, which explores the themes of life, death, and resurrection, pushing the magnificent organ at Our Saviour’s Church (Vor Frelsers Kirke), Copenhagen, to its expressive limits, all captured vividly by one of Denmark’s most celebrated recording engineers, Preben Iwan.

Works:
Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen: Syv Salomon-sange - arr. Peter Navarro-Alonso (2025)
Bent Lorentzen: Erotiske salmer (1998)
Nicolai Worsaae: A Shipwreck (2017)