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, Rovi