Friday 31 May 2019

Romantic songs in idyllic Bekkjarvik harbour.

Pianist Christian Grøvlen and mezzo-soprano Astrid Nordstad thrive in each other's musical company, and the young artists have performed together a number of times. During this year's festival, they also play in the Trollsalen.

With them to Løo in Bekkjarvik they have another mezzo-soprano, Ingvild Schultze-Florey, who has won several awards and has been associated with Bergen National Opera's development program Young Voices since 2013.

Schultze-Florey sings works by the late Romantic Strauss. The rest of the program is also full of national romantic currents with music by Dvořák and Bartók and Grieg's Haugtussa at the forefront.

- Haugtussa is a highlight within the lied art, a moving story about Veslemøy with mysterious ties to nature and her love for the boy Jon. Grieg paints with a broad brush, and the work is perhaps his most poignant and beautiful, says the pianist.