The worlds of comedy and classical music don't usually intersect

 Leave it to the cold, dark shores of Scandinavia to finally crack the code on digital music distribution. X5, a tiny music group from the great Scandinavian North has not only made money by selling digital music, it’s beat out music giants like Sony and Warner Music on the Billboard charts.

If you’ve never heard of X5, we can’t blame you. The company, started in 2005, has been quietly making a huge splash on the classical music scene by releasing massive compilation albums. The music group doesn’t have any permanent in-house musicians and seeks to sign licenses rather than artists.

X5 focuses on back catalogs of classical music and creating custom compilations with titles like “The 99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music” or “The 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music” which, since being released in 2008, has made more than $2 million worldwide. Essentially, they buy up a truckload of song licenses at low-rates, package them into winning compilations and resell at a moderate markup. X5 has released more than 8,000 of these thematic albums — some by composer, mood, holiday, etc. — with most falling under the “classical” genre.

In 2010, X5 was the number two classical label in the U.S. with a 20% market share, and had 13 #1 Billboard Classical albums — more than any other label, save for Universal Music Group (with whom X5 is currently in talks).

The company has been able to make all that money through some simple tricks: The albums are inexpensive, the artwork is simple but striking, X5 distributes through all major music sites — iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Rhapsody, etc. — and designs albums with a kind of “music SEO” in mind. “Think of the person that types ‘classical’ into the iTunes search box,” says Scott Ambrose Reilly, X5′s new U.S.-based CEO. “That’s the kind of person we’re trying to sell to.”

 The worlds of comedy and classical music don't usually intersect. But when they do, the results can be  memorable. Victor Borge, the clownish pianist, entertained audiences for decades with his send-ups of solemn classical concerts. Anna Russell owned the market in "Ring" cycle parodies, which she performed as a solo stage show with piano.

Add to this short but illustrious list the comedy duo known as Igudesman and Joo. The musicians are coming to the Broad Stage on Saturday and Carpenter Performing Arts Center on Sunday for the L.A.-area debut of "A Little Nightmare Music," their show that brings together piano, violin and slapstick farce.

Aleksey Igudesman, who hails from Russia, and Hyung-ki Joo, from South Korea, recently spoke to The Times about their stage act, which has toured the world. "Maybe the best public is the USA because you have a very wide understanding of what we're doing somehow," said Igudesman.