40 YEARS WITH THE NORWEGIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
40, Loud and Proud
Classic gems revitalised.

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra celebrates its fortieth anniversary during the Bergen International Festival with an entire evening of no fewer than three concerts (!), showcasing the orchestra's musical breadth. They encompass everything from the hardcore baroque to the contemporary, the sentimentally romantic to the intellectually systematic and the deadly serious to the sheerest madness.

The evening begins with this concert in classical mood, with new life injected into what we thought we knew so well: the orchestra's version of the Holberg Suite, performed from memory and with visual stage features. Then cellist Kian Soltani from the Crescendo programme takes centre stage in Haydn's Cello Concerto no. 1 – the orchestra is known for incorporating young new talent.

As a contrast to the light and bright mood the classical format closes with Shostakovich's string symphony – a veritable tsunami of broadly bowed strings heading for the abyss, but eventually lifted up by the hope beneath.


The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
Terje Tønnesen artistic director

Kian Soltani cello

EDVARD GRIEG (1843–1907)
Holberg Suite, op. 40

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)
Cello concert no. 1 in C major, H VIIb:1

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975)
Chamber symphony in C minor, op. 110a (arr. for string orchestra by Rudolf Barshai)