Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen played at the opening of Nordic Music Days 2010. Christine Christiansen of Jyllandsposten was excited:
Dreams and a sense of presence
Inviting the number one ensemble specializing in new music, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, to play a sequence of atmospheric pieces was the ideal choice.
Most impressive of all was the beautiful piece by last year’s Finnish Sonning Prize winner Kaija Saariaho (1952): Lichtbogen for chamber ensemble and live elektronics. In trickling chromatic sequences the music moved from planes of noise to quiet moments.
The contrast between whirring strings and a meditative, deep flute created by turns dreams and a sense of presence. In a stream of high pitched, flickering flageolets, the piece faded away at the end. The French Chief Conductor of Athelas, Pierre André Valade, radiated calm and communicated with precision with each and every musician in the ensemble.
(Jyllandsposten 09.09.2010)
> Read the review here [in Danish].