The double album Musical Sanatorium is the musical genius Stian Carstensen's preliminary masterpiece, and at the same time it is a running commentary on the composer's mental breakdown and subsequent recovery through music. Lars Elling has stood close to the creator and everything he experienced in the time it took to complete the work, so close that Lars almost believes he has done it himself.

 

In "At the gate to the forest of silence", Lars Elling tells about the creation of this work, about life-threatening downs and cautious ups, about gigs and exhibitions, bangs and falls, and about the duty to praise the very best. Lars Elling moves effortlessly and articulately between high and low in this portrait of a friend in need. It's about friendship and artistry, genius and madness, grief, aesthetics and the healing power of music.