Compare The Bergen Festival - Music & art in the western fjords by Martin Randall Travel
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| Trip |
4 | Great
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| Duration | 5 days |
| Price From | $ 3,147 |
| Price Per Day | $ 629 |
| Highlights |
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| Trip Style | Small group tour |
| Lodging Level | Premium |
| Physical Level |
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| Travel Themes |
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| Countries Visited | |
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| Flights & Transport | Ground transport included |
| Activities |
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| Meals Included |
All Breakfasts, 1 Lunch and 3 Dinners |
| Description |
The festival mixes theatre, ballet and fringe spectacle of all kinds but its focus is classical music. Boasting several excellent venues, it hosts international artists of the highest calibre. This year’s festival has enormous variety, mixing well-known classics with Grieg and a celebration of the music of Finland. We start with a concert of French Chamber music in the Håkonshallen (including the Ravel Piano Trio) followed by a concert in a wonderful modern hall, built next to Grieg’s country residence and looking out (as Grieg did) onto a lake. This celebrates the music of Finland in its centenary year – Sibelius songs and a Quartet movement, as well a piece by Kaija Saariaho, a prolific Finnish female composer whose music has a particularly passionate appeal. |
Day 1: London to Bergen
Fly at c. 10.45am from London Gatwick to Bergen (Norwegian Air). Transfer to the hotel in the Bryggen. Lecture and dinner before the evening concert at the Håkonshallen with Mathias Kjøller (clarinet), Chloe Hanslip (violin), Andreas Brantelid (cello), Mariana Shirinyan (piano): Debussy, first rhapsody; Ravel, piano trio in A minor; Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time.
Day 2: Bergen, Troldhaugen
A morning lecture followed by an optional walk with the tour leaders through the historic Bryggen. In the early afternoon, drive to Troldhaugen, the summer home of Edvard Grieg. His villa remains much as he left it, his Steinway in the drawing room among memorabilia and photos. There is also the hut where he composed overlooking the lake, his tomb chiselled into the rock, a small museum and the Troldsalen (concert hall). Afternoon concert in the Troldsalen with the Nordlyd Kvartett; Hugo Hilde (violin), Aliisa Neige Barrière (violin), Ester Forsberg (viola), Andreas Øhrn (cello); Lydia Hoen Tjore (soprano) and Ingrid Andsens (piano): Sibelius, Spring is flying Op.13 No.4, The Diamond on the March snow Op.36 No.6, The Girl Returned from Meeting her Lover Op.37 No.5, Black Roses Op.36 No.1, ‘Voces Intimae’ for string quartet Op.56; Saariaho, Terra Memoria for String Quartet. Return to Bergen for dinner before an evening opera at the Grieghallen: Peter Grimes (Britten) (semi-staged) with Ed Gardner (conductor), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuart Skelton (Peter Grimes), Giselle Allen (Ellen Orford), Annika Schlicht (Auntie), Ida Falk Winland (first niece), Vibeke Kristensen (second niece), Roderick Williams (Balstrode), Catheryn Wyn-Rogers (Mrs Sedley), Matthew Best (Swallow), Marcus Farnsworth (Ned Keene), Colin Judson (Bob Boles), James Gilchrist (Rev. Horace Adams), Barnaby Rea (Hobson).
Day 3: Lysøen, Bergen
In the morning, a private boat from Lysekloster to the island of Lysøen, bought by the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull in the 1870s and where he created his fairy-tale villa and romantic garden. There is a private guided tour after which return to Bergen for a lecture and some free time in the city. Evening concert at the National Theatre: Handel’s Messiah, performed by the Baroque Soloists, Bjarte Eike (conductor), Edvard Grieg Choir, Michael McCarthy (choir master), Malin Christensson (soprano), Renata Pokupic (mezzo-soprano), Pierre Derhet (tenor), Igor Bakan (bass).
Day 4: Troldhaugen, Bergen
A morning lecture is followed by some free time. Afternoon visit to the Fantoft stave church, a meticulous reconstruction following a fire in 1992. It has been rebuilt exactly as it was before the fire. Afternoon recital in the Troldsalen, Troldhaugen: 1B1 Ensemble with Sonoko Miriam Welde (violin): Britten, Prelude and Fugue, Op.29; Tchaikovsky, Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher, Op.42; Schnittke, Concerto Grosso No.1; Shostakovich, Chamber Symphony Op.110. Return to Bergen for dinner. Evening concert at the Grieghallen with Lang Lang (piano): Debussy, Ballad, L.70; Liszt, Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178; Albeniz, ‘Granada’, ‘Cataluña’, ‘Sevilla’, ‘Cádiz’, ‘Asturias’ and ‘Cuba’ from Suite Española, Op.47; Granados, Quejas, o la Maja y el ruiseñor, el fandango de candil from Goyescas, Op.11; Falla, Danza Ritual del Fuego.
Day 5: Bergen to London
Guided visit of the excellent Bergen Art Museum, a collection particularly strong on Edvard Munch and modern art, after which the day is free. Leave for the airport at c. 4pm for the flight, arriving London Gatwick at c. 8.15pm.
