Bergen International Festival: Arctic Philharmonic perform new music

By Stephen Pritchard, 05 June 2019

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Reviewed at Cathedral (Domkirken), Bergen on 4 June 2019

Chin, Double Bind?

Chin, Akrostichon-Wortspiel

Buene, Violin Concerto for Solo Violin and full Sinfoniette

Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta

Timothy Weiss, Conductor

Sara Hershkowitz, Soprano

Peter Herresthal, Violin

Bergen International Festival: Donald Trump sings Ligeti

Stephen Pritchard, 5th June

A surprise "artist" gatecrashes the Festival's closing concert

*****

Weder Fisch noch Fleisch: György Ligetis Le Grand Macabre in Amsterdam

Michael Klier, 27th November

Musikalisch überzeugend, aber aufgrund der fehlenden Regie bleiben viele Absurditäten und der abgründige Schabernack auf der Strecke.

***11

Elgar and Estonia rub shoulders in Vienna

Zwölftöner, 26th January

Orchestral concerts bookended by Adès and Elgar are nothing new in Britain, but despite both composers being performed with increasing regularity in Vienna over the last few years, this event – to my knowledge – was the first to place them side by side.

***11

Korngold and Mahler from Ray Chen, Vasily Petrenko and the RPO

Roy Westbrook, 12th May

Few violin concertos soar from the first bar as Erich Korngold’s does, especially as in Ray Chen's high-wire account at the Royal Albert Hall.

****1

Energetic Currentzis and Utopia at the Elbphilharmonie

Mengguang Huang, 12th May

From Berg’s crystalline intimacy to Dionysian Mahler, Teodor Currentzis and Utopia defy orchestral tradition with standing musicians, spatial acoustics and an emotional intensity that breathes new life into the concert life.

****1

Era-defining string sound in the Liverpool Phil’s Mahler 9

Rohan Shotton, 10th May

Domingo Hindoyan nears his five-year anniversary at the RLPO with Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

****1

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Stephen Pritchard

Stephen Pritchard began singing as a treble at the age of eight and progressed to become a tenor in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir, the Gibbons Consort and now the English Chamber Choir. Writing about music has been at the core of his 40-year career in journalism, chiefly at the Observer. He has been known to play a pretty mean jazz double bass.

Bergen International Festival: Arctic Philharmonic in a chilly evening of new music