The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra eventually returned to Antwerp after half a century on Thursday. A formation with such a rich pedigree (dating back to 1765) deserves better, yet even the presence of the much-touted Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson couldn’t sell out the Queen Elisabeth Hall. Led by Principal Conductor Edward Gardner the Norwegians brought above all a deeply involving performance of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.
The concert opened, quite naturally, with a piece from Norway’s most famous composer, Edvard Grieg, a native from Bergen and for a couple of years artistic director of the orchestra. His rarely heard Funeral March was created in 1866 after the untimely death of Grieg’s friend, fellow-composer Rikard Nordraak (who wrote Norway’s national anthem). Since the sad news of Nordraak’s passing only reached Grieg weeks after the fact, the March was not played at the funeral, yet it was performed at the composer’s own in 1907, in an orchestration by Johan Halvorsen.
Employing a large orchestra, the Funeral March has all the moody orchestral ingredients for the occasion, but also quickly expands into violent, triple forte tutti of Wagnerian impact. It was most impressively played.
Less so was Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Ólafsson made it sound like a conflict rather than a subtle cooperation between piano and orchestra. His mannered phrasing, torpid lyrical passages and whimsical accentuation grew old very quickly and frequently disrupted the balance with the orchestra. Schumann’s relaxed melodic style was thrown out of the window as well. Either very soft or abruptly forceful, Ólafsson’s piano sound in this hall acquired an unpleasant tone in the loudest passages.
Gardner responded with unsubtle, loud tuttis in the first movement. On the other hand, he underplayed the expressiveness of the strings and winds in the Intermezzo when the piano takes a back seat. Only the final movement acquired a sense of direction. Ólafsson’s crystalline articulation worked well in the cross-rhythmic writing even though occasional hiccups in his phrasing continued to interrupt the music’s expressive urgency.
Ólafsson gave two encores, arguably demonstrating his real forte for piano miniatures – a heartfelt reading of his own transcription of Ave Maria from Icelandic composer Sigvaldi Kaldalóns, and a joyfully phrased Le Rappel des oiseaux by Rameau.
The orchestra fully came to show its remarkable strengths in Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances. Through repeated programming the work obviously holds very few secrets for the Bergen Philharmonic and Gardner proved the ideal guide. He kept all three movements at a fluent pace, harvesting the rich sonority of his orchestra to display Rachmaninov's colourful orchestration with its ever-lurking nostalgic, sometimes pitch-black undertones.
The BPO clearly relished every moment, responding with impeccable ensemble and always distinctive solos from all sections, the warm, divided strings playing as if possessed. With well-judged rubatos the second movement veered between heady abandonment and a Valse triste. The final movement was edge-of-seat stuff. Gardner superbly handled Rachmaninov’s mood swings with a frightening opening and thoroughly exciting climaxes – the horns were glorious in the Dies irae and the final tam-tam strike resonated for a long time. As did this performance.
