Closing concert and farewell to Edward Gardner

Received rave reviews!

https://www.nrk.no/anmeldelser/anmeldelse_-mahler-symfoni-nr.-8-under-festspillene-i-bergen-1.16912037

Grieghallen, Edvard Griegs plass 1, 5015 Bergen 

Tuesday, June 4 at 19.30

Wednesday, June 5 at 18.00

"To heaven!" wrote Bergens Tidende's reviewer after Mahler's sumptuous and groundbreaking eighth symphony was performed at the Bergen International Festival in 2005. There is no reason to expect anything else when outgoing chief conductor Edward Gardner closes this year's festival and says goodbye after nine years as the rarely successful chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. His first concert as chief conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2015 was Mahler's First Symphony, the same work with which he opened this season.

With his eighth symphony, Mahler broke all existing norms for what a symphony should be. He saw it as an ode to the creative spirit, human ability and the infinite grandeur of the universe. With its enormous choral forces, eight soloists and a large orchestra combined with drama and liturgical inspiration, the premiere in Munich in 1910 was a triumph for the composer, who conducted himself. The symphony was also innovative in its use of the voice from beginning to end. It has only two movements, and the first, with its energetic opening, is built around the Latin hymn Veni creator spiritus. The large second movement is based on Goethe's Faust with its humanistic perspectives and belief in the power of love.

Welcome to two unforgettable and epic concert evenings with Gustav Mahler's symphonic celebration of our creative spirit and the redemptive power of love!

The concerts are organized in collaboration with the Bergen International Festival.

Edward Gardner - conductor
-Håkon Matti Skrede - choirmaster

Elisabeth Teige - soprano 1 (Magna Peccatrix)
-Marita Sølberg - soprano 2 (Una poenitentium)
-Mari Eriksmoen - soprano 3 (Mater Gloriosa)
-Wiebke Lehmkuhl - alto 1 (Mulier Samaritana)
Jess Dandy - alto 2 (Maria Aegyptiaca)
-David Butt Philip - tenor (Doctor Marianus)
-Yngve Søberg - baritone (Pater Ecstaticus)
-John Relyea - bass (Pater Profundus)

-Edvard Grieg Kor
-Georgia Boy Choir - David R. White, artistic director and conductor
-Edvard Grieg Boys Choir
-Edvard Grieg Girls Choir
-Operakoret ved Den Norske Opera & Ballett
-Collegium Musicum Kor
-Bergen Filharmoniske Kor

-Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
-Bergen Philharmonic Youth Orchestra

Photo: Synne Sofi Bårdsdatter Bønes