As commutes go, London to Bergen has its attractions. Nearly a year into the post of chief conductor at the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Ed Gardner has a bounce in his step and exudes genuine enthusiasm for the job. After eight years as English National Opera's music director, a cynic might snipe that he's better off in the Norwegian fjords, especially as the company all but imploded in the past year. But Gardner – who returned to conduct a new production of Tristan und Isolde this summer – is remarkably upbeat about ENO's future. Back in London to record Elgar with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, we meet for lunch at a trendy Islington deli stuffed with Italian delicacies and tempting pastries. His boyish charm is undimmed, whether describing life in Bergen, recording projects or ENO's plans.
“Having done so much in London, it's a culture shock being somewhere really beautiful to do your work, because it is beautiful,” he enthuses. “Rainy, but beautiful! People are so focussed on their work. It feels almost laboratory-like because – if you think of what Haydn had in Esterháza – people live close by. They walk to work, it's an easy commute, so they can focus on family and music and that's really wonderful. It's very much a different pace from London. You do more days of rehearsal so you can delve in deeper.
“The orchestra is very international, but it has a core of string players and a lot of principal woodwinds who are Norwegian and that's where the sound comes from, this special sound. It's cultured, it's like an old-fashioned chamber orchestra with a lot of life – almost Viennese. I fell in love with that sound the first time I stood in front of the orchestra.” Nevertheless, it needs careful balancing. “The Grieg Hall is quite resonant. It dominates the brass, so we spend a lot of time working on getting a good sound. It's a strange place because it's amphitheatrical, which gives it a different dynamic.”
Much of Gardner's time is spent in Bergen. By late August, he'd already completed three weeks of the new Bergen season. “We did some outdoor concerts and finished off a Sibelius disc with Gerry Finley, which is going to be great, with Rautavaara's orchestrations of songs, including one he wrote just two months ago. It must have been the last thing he worked on.” Do the Norwegians like having lots of Scandinavian music on their menu? “I think yes, but strangely, not in their recent history. Andrew Litton did a lot of Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, so they've had a spell without playing too much. Their Sibelius is good – they haven't done the 2s or the 5s recently at all, so I'll do lots with them.
“Doing Peer Gynt last year was scary! But it wasn't once I was there, because they do it so many times with so many different people that they don't have a “this is the way it goes” kind of attitude to it. But their antennae are out to see what you make of it. It was actually one of the most enjoyable things I've done there. We did a very extended suite with some of the vocal movements with people like Lise Davidsen, who's bloody marvellous."
After years in the pit at the Coliseum, Gardner is conscious that there are gaps in his orchestral repertoire. Last season, he conducted Brahms' Second Symphony for the first time and he's recently added Mahler 5, which “went pretty well, but it's one of those pieces that you just want a lot of goes at. I promised the orchestra that I wouldn't try things out on them to start with, so we spent last season doing my rep. I would love to do Mahler 2 and 8. I did a read-through of Mahler 2 when Gilbert Kaplan came to the Hallé. Some of my colleagues have conducted it for 20 years by the time they get to my age, but it's all new to me. I'd like to do the Schubert and Schumann symphonies too, which would suit the Bergen string sound very much.”
When preparing a work for the first time, how soon does one start looking at the score? “As early as you dare. The more I do, the more I realise that an hour a year before is better than a day a week before!”
Does he listen to recordings? “I used to think there was a danger in that, but not any more. You get to a point where you're your own person and you know what you want. It's very interesting, we've just been recording Elgar 1 with the BBCSO, where I basically didn't listen to any other performances because I know the piece very well and if you start listening to other recordings, you start getting belligerent about what you really think. It's got to be natural.”
Bergen streams performances for free on its Digital Concert Hall platform. “It's very much a new departure for us. It's very unobtrusive in performance – I don't even notice the cameras there.” It's a way of spreading the orchestra's reach, something which is important to Gardner. “We do two concerts a week to over 1400 probably, in a town the size of Northampton. They turn out for the concerts, although the Norwegian thing is that at the weekends, they all go off to their huts in the mountains, so don't try and do a Saturday night concert! Thursday night is our best night, Friday night less busy.