When sound is a passion

At the side of the stage in the Concert Hall there is a technical facilities room hidden away, the size of the cockpit in a spacecraft. But a great deal more technology is needed when the sound of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra is to be transmitted every week to listeners and viewers.

To capture the sound of a large symphony orchestra requires not only a vast numbers of microphones, cables and soundtracks. Artistic flair is also needed to lead the recordings and create the absolutely right sound picture around the orchestra. Bernhard Güttler is one of Europe’s most coveted producers of classical music and he heads most of the transmissions and recordings with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

‘In actual fact, my background is just as much musical as it is technical. I sang and played the piano as a child, but at the same time I was fascinated by science. As early as 16, I decided to become a recording producer, because the profession is a symbiosis between two worlds – those of music and science.’

‘Studying to become a recording producer takes place at a classic academy of music, so alongside the technical and theoretical disciplines we were close all the time to the artistic process that must always be the focal point of a producer room,’ Bernhard Güttler explains. As a professor in Germany he now helps train new recording producers.

He emphasises that creating fine sound is not an end in itself. ‘As a producer my role should preferably be invisible. I must get the orchestra and the artists on stage to radiate out from the loudspeakers while ensuring that the sound picture remains as natural as possible for the listener. It is not a question of finding the perfect sound but of capturing the intensity and the presence on stage.’

As DR, Bernhard Güttler collaborates closely with the recording engineer Mikkel Nymand, who is responsible, among other things, for the positioning of microphones in the Concert Hall and the sound-mix the listeners hear from the loudspeakers. He personally knows a number of the musicians in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra from his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

‘Sometimes the musicians almost queue up to come inside the producer room and listen to the recordings. It really is an exciting process to help both the conductor and the musicians achieve the optimum recording – and at the

same time enhance the experience for the listeners at the other end,’ Mikkel Nymand says.

‘Many of those who listen to our recordings here from the Concert Hall actually listen on their computers of smartphones. So the sound we produce has to function on all platforms. I personally listen to the music on both phone and computer to ensure that everything is working well – every time,’ Mikkel Nymand adds.

Listen to the Danish National Symphony Orchestra

• Live on P2 Thursdays, 19.20, re-broadcast on Sundays, 12.15 • Find earlier concerts on the app

DR Lyd – search for ’P2-koncerten’ • Listen to recordings and albums via your streaming services

Photo: Kim Kruse Petersen, Per Morten Abrahamsen

1st Violin

Christina Åstrand Johannes Søe Hansen Soo-Jin Hong Vacant Elna Carr Jan Rohard Anders Fog-Nielsen Helle Hanskov Palm Per Friman Sarah McClelland Tine Rudloff Sabine Bretschneider-Jochumsen Sophia Bæk Trine Yang Møller Runi Bæk Patricia Mia Andersen Monika Malmquist Egholm Anna Zelianodjevo Johanna Qvamme Kern Westerberg

2nd Violin

Teresa La Cour Gunvor Sihm Vacant Bodil Kuhlmann Julie Meile Line Most Marianne Bindel Morten Dulong Anne Marie Kjærulff Andrea Rebekka Alsted Hedvig Oftedahl Vivanco Jonida Tafilaj Stanislav Zakrjevski Christian Ellegaard Benedikte Pontoppidan Thyssen Ida Balslev

Viola

Michael Grolid Dmitri Golovanov Claus Myrup Gunnar Lychou Carina Andersson Kristian Fogh Astrid Christensen Katrine Bundgaard Anne Soren Katarzyna Bugala Stine Hasbirk Alexander Butz Magda Stevensson

Cello

Henrik Dam Thomsen Soo-Kyung Hong Carsten Tagmose Vanja Louro Birgitte Øland Johan Krarup Peter Morrison Louisa Schwab Richard Krug Chul-Geun Park Cansin Kara

Double Bass

Joel González Vacant Einars Everss Michal Stadnicki Michael Dabelsteen Henrik Schou Kristensen Gerrit Mylius Ditlev Damkjær Mads Lundahl Kristensen

Flute

Ulla Miilmann Vacant Mikael Beier Russell Itani

Oboe

Eva Steinaa Kristine Vestergaard Ulrich Ortmann Sven Buller

Clarinet

Johnny Sabatier Teyssier Pedro Franco Lopez Klaus Tönshoff Søren Elbo

Bassoon

Audun Halvorsen Sebastian Stevensson Dorte Bennike Aksel Trige

Horn

Lasse Mauritzen Vakant Dominika Piwkowska Oscar Lejonklo Henning Hansen Jakob Arnholtz

Trumpet

Michael Frank Møller Laszlo Molnar Karl Husum Andreas Jul Nielsen

Trombone

Lars Karlin Marek Adam Stolarczyk Brian Bindner Thomas Dahlkvist

Tuba

Thomas Røisland

Tympani

René Mathiesen Niccola Carrara

Percussion

Gert Sørensen Jakob Weber Egholm

Piano/organ

Per Salo

Harp

Zachary Hatcher

See photos of all member of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra at

drsymfoniorkestret/musikerne