Intérprete: Halvor F. Melien

Despite some very creditable orchestral playing, conductor Joshua Weilerstein never quite got anywhere with his programme of Bach, Weill and Brahms.

Director Ole Anders Tandberg's production of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse expertly balances the line between irreverent humour and human tragedy.

Calixto Bieito's production of Carmen attempts to humanise the title character, but in doing so leaves the rest as caricatures.

Strassberger’s production of Don Giovanni raises interesting questions about modern society and our relationship with religion. Unfortunately, this production lacked focus, but is redeemed by occasionally glorious singing.

When Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (“The Creation”) had its public première in 1799, the forces were nothing less than gigantic; the orchestra numbered 120 people and the choir 60, considerable forces even today. The forces in use on Thursday’s performance were perhaps not of the same size, an orchestra of about 70, and a choir of 26.

Pairing Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony, the so-called “Reformation Symphony”, and Bruckner’s Third Mass in F minor seemed to me at first a rather novel, but very interesting idea. It was perhaps not the most daring of programmes, but certainly a very interesting one, picking a symphony steeped in Protestant tradition and then a Catholic mass.