Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Lars Ulrich Mortensen is best known as a harpsichordist focusing on Baroque solo and chamber music repertory. He is also active as a conductor of both instrumental and operatic music.
Mortensen was born on November 9, 1955, in Esbjerg, Denmark. He took up the piano at age three, sang in the Danish Radio Boys' Choir, and attended a high school that allowed him to specialize in music. Mortensen attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying harpsichord with Karen Englund. From the beginning, he was interested in both keyboard playing and conducting, and he traveled to London for studies in both fields with Trevor Pinnock. From 1988 to 1990, Mortensen served as the harpsichordist in the ensemble London Baroque. He then joined Collegium Musicum 90, remaining there until 1993 and also joining violinist John Holloway and cellist David Watkin in Trio Veracini. In 1987, he was heard on the BIS album Music from the Time of Christian IV: Songs and Instrumental Music. Mortensen has also been active as a solo player, and in 1990, he released the solo album Johann Jacob Froberger: Harpsichord Music on the Kontrapunkt label.
In 1999, Mortensen became the artistic director of the historical instrument group Concerto Copenhagen; he continued to hold that position as of the early 2020s. In 2003, Mortensen conducted a performance of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Copenhagen's Royal Theatre. He has frequently returned to that venue in operatic productions. In 2004, he was named the artistic director of the European Union Baroque Orchestra, remaining there until the orchestra disbanded temporarily in 2022. Mortensen has a large recording catalog, with album releases on such labels as Naxos, Dacapo, and CPO, where he issued a cycle of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos with Concerto Copenhagen in 2018. Most of his recordings focus on Baroque music, often on lesser-known items. In the early 2020s, he moved to Berlin Classics, issuing a performance of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, there in 2023. By that time, his recordings numbered more than 40.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Champagne!: The Sound of Lumbye & His Idols
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by Dacapo on 18 aug. 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Muffat: Armonico Tributo
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Klassiek - Released by Berlin Classics on 18 feb. 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
J. S. Bach: St John Passion
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Klassiek - Released by Berlin Classics on 24 feb. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Times of Transition: Cello Concertos by C.P.E. Bach & Haydn
Andreas Brantelid, Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 27 aug. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: The Overtures (Original Versions)
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 30 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach : Harpsichord Concertos, Vol. 3
Concerten voor klavier - Released by CPO on 21 dec. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schmelzer: Unarum Fidium
John Holloway, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Aloysia Assenbaum-Holloway
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 1 jan. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gade : Erlkönigs Tochter & 5 Gesänge
Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Ivonne Fuchs, Sophie Junker, Concerto Copenhagen, Johannes Weisser, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Wereldlijke vocale muziek - Released by Dacapo on 1 mrt. 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Champagne Galop, Op. 14 (Single)
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by Dacapo on 7 jul. 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Buxtehude: Harpsichord Music, Vol. 1
Klassiek - Released by Dacapo on 3 mrt. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gerson: Overture in D Major / Symphony in E Flat Major / Kunzen: Symphony in G Minor
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 1 jan. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Per la notte di Natale: Italian Christmas Concertos
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Fredrik From
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 2 dec. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Le clavecin baroque
Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Anne Gallet, Christiane Jaccottet
Klassiek - Released by Claves Records on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music From The Time Of Christian Iv: Songs and Harpsichord Music
Rogers Covey-Crump, Ulrik Cold, Jakob Lindberg, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by BIS on 1 jan. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Buxtehude: Harpsichord Music, Vol. 3
Klassiek - Released by Dacapo on 11 nov. 1999
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Musique pour clavecin (Volume 1)
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 3 mrt. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Per la notte di Natale: Italian Christmas Concertos
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Unknown Artist, Fredrik From
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 2 dec. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ich bin die Auferstehung: Buxtehude & His Copenhagen Connections
Jakob Bloch Jespersen, Concerto Copenhagen, Fredrik From, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by Dacapo on 14 aug. 2020
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons & String Concerti
European Union Baroque Orchestra
Klassiek - Released by Obsidian on 3 nov. 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Violin Concertos & Oboe Concerto, BWV1060R
Concertmuziek - Released by CPO on 3 feb. 2015
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Biber, Muffat: Der Türken Anmarsch
John Holloway, Aloysia Assenbaum-Holloway, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Klassiek - Released by ECM New Series on 18 okt. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo