Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Norwegian: Bergen filharmoniske orkester) is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall.
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
1765 – Det Musicalske Selskab (The Musical Society) established
1769 – Society renamed Det Harmoniske Selskab (The Harmonic Society)
1770 – Society has over 30 members, one-third are singers. Thursday set as concert day.
1771 – Fire destroys concert locale.
1773 – Society rents Altona as concert locale (until 1807).
1774 – Society has 20 instrumentalists, mirroring 's Esterhazy orchestra of 1766 to 1790
Joseph Haydn
1783 – Society engages as a paid violinist.
Ole Rødder
1785 – Society's orchestra has 25 members.
1811 – Society buys its own building on King Oscar's street. Orchestra has c. 30 members.
1812 – Society's members give free instruction to young musicians, some of whom play in the orchestra.
1818 – violinist begins playing in the orchestra at age 8.
Ole Bull
1819 – violinist Ole Bull performs concerto with orchestra.
Ignaz Pleyel
1820 – Swede becomes orchestra's conductor.
Mathias Lundholm
1827 – Prague-born named conductor. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven dominate orchestra's repertoire.
Ferdinand Giovanni Schediwy
1839 – As a promotion, the society advertises that each man can bring two women to concerts.
1855 – Otto Lübbert becomes musical leader.
1856 – Society renamed Musikselskabet Harmonien. named orchestra leader. First part of Haydn's "Creation" performed after over 100 rehearsals.
Ferdinand A. Rojahn
1859 – August Fries named conductor.
1862 – Musicians from Harmonien assist the 18-year-old with his first concert in his home city of Bergen after his studies in Leipzig. Amadeus Wolfgang Maczewsky becomes orchestra leader.
Edvard Grieg
1863 – Edvard Grieg performs a sonata with Maczewsky on a Society concert.
Beethoven
1865 – August Fries leads Grieg's Symphony in C Minor.
1870 – Orchestra has 41 permanent members
1871 – 's Symphony in D Major is played for the first time in Bergen.
Johan Svendsen
1873 – hired as conductor.
Richard Henneberg
1875 – German Adolf Blomberg becomes Kapellmeister.
1879 – hired as conductor after Grieg declines offer.
Hermann Levi
1880 – Edvard Grieg becomes artistic director.
1881 – Orchestra performs Grieg's A minor Piano Concerto with Alice Lindberg as soloist.
1882 – Composer Iver Holter becomes conductor.
1883 – Orchestra premieres Grieg's Landkjenning
1885 – hired as concertmaster
Johan Halvorsen
1886 – named conductor.
Per Winge
1889 – No concerts.
1893 – Johan Halvorsen becomes conductor. During his six seasons as conductor, he introduces music of , Delibes, Dvořák, Humperdinck and Sibelius to Bergensers.
Glinka
1907 – Death of .
Edvard Grieg
1908 – becomes principal conductor. "Edvard Grieg's Fund" established.
Harald Heide
1915 – Orchestra celebrates 150th season. First concert in Koncert-Palæet.
1919 – Orchestra reorganized and employs 40 full-time musicians.
1923–24 – conducts his own works, including The Four Temperaments. Orchestra premieres Harald Sæverud Symphony No. 2.
Carl Nielsen
1924–25 – guest conducts.
Pierre Monteux
1925–26 – Orchestra celebrates its 160th season.
1927–28 – First radio broadcasts of orchestra's concerts.
1930–31 – solos with orchestra three years before her London debut. Kurt Atterberg conducts his own Symphony Nr. 6.
Marian Anderson
1931–32 – Orchestra premieres Symphony No. 3.
Harald Sæverud
1934–35 – featured as soloist in his own Sinfonia Concertante for piano and orchestra.
Karol Szymanowski
1938 – First "Young Soloists Concert."
1939–40 – Orchestra holds first "Worker's Concert"
1941 – At the orchestra's 175-year jubilee concert, a Nazi mob protests against , a Jew who was scheduled to perform as soloist on Ole Bull's violin. He is whisked away by rescuers and the concert is cancelled after the first number.
Ernst Glaser
1942–43 – Orchestra gives five memorial concerts for 's 100-year jubilee.
Edvard Grieg
1943 – Air-raid warning interrupts season opening concert.
1944–45 – Concert time changed to 6:00 p.m. because of 9:00 curfew. Orchestra holds for victims of bombing in Laksevåg.
benefit concert
1946–47 – Orchestra premieres Oboe Concerto. School concert series begins.
Harald Sæverud
1947–48 – Site for Grieg Hall selected. Haakon B. Wallem donates one million to building fund.
Norwegian Kroner
1948 – becomes principal conductor.
Olav Kielland
1951 – Orchestra employs 54 full-time musicians.
1952–53 – named Artistic Director.
Carl von Garaguly
1953 – Bergen International Festival begins. conducts.
Leopold Stokowski
1953–54 – Harmonien's fund for New Music established.
1954–55 – guest conducts.
Eugene Ormandy
1956–57 – Orchestra premieres Symphony No. 2.
Egil Hovland
1957–58 – Orchestra premieres Brudlaupssuiten.
Geirr Tveitt
1958–59 – becomes Artistic Director. Orchestra employs 60 full-time musicians.
Arvid Fladmoe
1961–62 – guest conducts.
Pierre Monteux
1962–63 – Orchestra has first international tour, to Copenhagen, Denmark.
1964 – becomes principal conductor
Karsten Andersen
1966 – Tour to the U. S. A. under the name "Norwegian Festival Orchestra." Orchestra celebrates 200th season. Karsten Andersen named Artistic Director.
1969–70 – Orchestra premieres Polaris.
Ragnar Søderlind
1970–71 – conducts Rileys in C. Orchestra tours England.
Lukas Foss
1972–73 – Orchestra tours Germany. Orchestra premieres Bøn.
Magnar Åm
1974–75 – Orchestra premieres Symphony No. 11
Allan Pettersson
1975–76 – conducts his own works.
Aaron Copland
1976–77 – Orchestra premieres Ketil Hvoslef Cello Concerto.
1978 – Orchestra moves to the Grieg Hall.
1979–80 – Orchestra tours Tallinn, Moscow and Leningrad. guest conducts.
Antal Doráti
1980–81 – conducts his own works. Dmitri Kitajenko conducts orchestra for first time. Orchestra employs 72 full-time musicians.
Witold Lutosławski
1982–83 – conducts his own works. Aldo Ceccato conducts orchestra for first time.
Krzysztof Penderecki
1984–85 – Orchestra tours Belgium and France.
1985 – becomes principal conductor
Aldo Ceccato
1986 – Name changed to Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester. Orchestra employs 83 full-time musicians.
1989 – Orchestra employs 89 full-time musicians.
1990 – becomes principal conductor
Dmitri Kitajenko
1997 – becomes managing director
Lorentz Reitan
1998 – becomes principal conductor
Simone Young
2002 – Orchestra tours Austria (, Salzburg, Vienna and Graz) and Croatia (Zagreb) with Spanish conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Bregenz
2003 – becomes principal conductor, takes orchestra on tour to Spain.
Andrew Litton
2006 – Orchestra roster increased to 98 musicians. Orchestra goes on during Bergen International Festival. Sten Cranner becomes managing director.
strike
2007 – Touring to the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Birmingham Symphony Hall and Royal Albert Hall, PROMS (London), with Boris Berezovsky as piano-soloist. 12-concert tour of the US including Carnegie Hall, New York. Soloist: André Watts, piano.
2008 – Concert at Musikverein, Vienna. Soloist Johannes Moser, cello. Three-concert tour of Poland, Estonia and Sweden with soloist Nikolaj Znaider, violin.
Peter Tchaikovsky and Alexander Glazunov: Violin Concertos. , violin. Andrew Litton, conductor
Vadim Gluzman
Peter Tchaikovsky: Suites from , The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker. Neeme Järvi, conductor
Swan Lake
Edvard Grieg: The Complete Orchestral Music. BIS-CD-1740/42 (8cds). Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor
Kalevi Aho – Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra. Lewis Lipnick, contrabassoon. Andrew Litton, conductor. BIS-CD-1574. 2007
– Romeo and Juliet, Andrew Litton, conductor. BIS-SACD-
Sergei Prokofiev
Edvard Grieg – Olav Trygvason, Orchestral Songs. Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor, Solveig Kringelborn, soprano, Ingebjørg Kosmo, mezzo-soprano, baritone, Marita Solberg, soprano, Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Kor Vest, Voci Nobili. 2006. BIS-SACD-1531
Trond Halstein Moe
Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suites. Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor. 2006. BIS-SACD-1591
Edvard Grieg – Holberg Suite, Music for Strings. Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor. 2005. BIS-SACD-1491
– Peer Gynt (The Complete Incidental Music) (May 2005) SACD-1441/42
Edvard Grieg
– Spiegel im Spiegel (April 2005) CD-1434
Arvo Pärt
Edvard Grieg – Sigurd Jorsalfar (March 2004 SACD-1391
Edvard Grieg – Orchestral Dances (May 2003) SACD-1291
Edvard Grieg – Piano Concerto (February 2003) SACD-1191
– The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (January 1989) CD-420
Benjamin Britten
– Symphonies No. 3 & No. 4, re-orchestrated by Gustav Mahler (January 1988) CD-394
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann – Symphonies No. 1 & No. 2, re-orchestrated by Gustav Mahler (January 1987) CD-361
– Symphony No. 4 (January 1986) CD-227, also available in a compilation of the Tubin symphonies, CD-1402/04
Eduard Tubin
BIS records:
Hyperion:
Chandos:
Nkf:
Simax:
Virgin Classics:
Decca:
Other:
Official Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra website
BergenPhilLive - Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra Live-stream Concerts
Spill orkester, spill! Edited by Lorentz Reitan and Reidar Storaas; A.s. John Grieg 1990; Bergen, Norway. 82-992215-0-1