Whisked off in high style to Scandinavia
Bergen Philharmonic/ Gardner
Returning to the Proms for the first time since 2015 – the year of its 250th anniversary – the Bergen Philharmonic proved again how it is not just one of Europe’s oldest orchestras but also one of the most distinguished. This time, it practically blew in with stormy yet polished brilliance by opening with the overture to Wagner’s
Flying Dutchman, a performance that also found room for playing of cultivated warmth.
For the purposes of this Nordic themed programme, Wagner became an honorary Norwegian – his first operatic masterpiece is set on the Norwegian coast and was inspired partly by the composer’s refuge there during a harrowing voyage from Riga to London. Rumour even has it that his brief sojourn resulted in a clan of Norwegian Wagners that endures to this day. Whatever the case, these players under their chief conductor Edward Gardner – who did the complete work during his tenure at English National Opera – took exciting and full possession of the music.
The centrepiece, though, was authentically Norwegian: a new violin concerto by one of Norway’s leading contemporary composers, Rolf Wallin. Written for and premiered by Alina Ibragimova, it demands virtuosity yet never sounds merely showy. Here, Ibragimova brought an apt sense of whirling fantasy to a piece entitled Whirld, its name coyly explained in the programme note: “The world is a whirl, and every whirl is a world.”
It’s hardly necessary to know that Wallin’s aim is to project the patterns of fractal mathematics on to music: the 25-minute score speaks for itself with absorbing beauty. With something like a bird-call (one hesitates to call it a tweet), the soloist sets things in motion, soon to be answered by a halo of sound, and thanks to Ibragimova’s warm, silvery tone and Gardner’s masterful control, this sense of flux never dissipated. The four movements are connected by narrow channels of sound that hold the listener in suspense, and even what sounds like being a dazzlingly rumbustious finale eventually settles wistfully.
Aside from two encores by Grieg – obligatory yet very welcome – the second half of the concert was devoted to Sibelius’s Symphony No 2, a peak of Finnish music despite being conceived in Italy. In a majestic yet cogent performance offering further proof of their good partnership, Gardner – surely the leading British conductor of his generation – and the orchestra revelled in the score’s richness while exploring its many layers of meaning. The Proms continue until Sept 8. Tickets: 020 7070 4441. See and hear this Prom for 30 days via the BBC Proms website