On tour with Leif Ove Andsnes
International touring is a vital part of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’s artistic activities. Since its first tour in 1963, the orchestra has performed over 320 concerts across more than 60 tours, visiting nearly 200 concert halls in 22 countries. Next up are concerts in Italy and France, featuring none other than Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist.
The orchestra has visited Italy seven times so far. The first tour, in 1987, comprised no fewer than twelve concerts in cities ranging from Palermo in the south, via Rome, to cities such as Milan, Bergamo, and Verona. The then-chief conductor Aldo Ceccato led the tour, with violinist Arve Tellefsen as soloist. The programme included works such as Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and Arne Nordheim’s Canzone per Orchestra. In 1989, the orchestra and Ceccato returned to Italy, specifically Bergamo and Brescia, to perform the complete Beethoven symphonies across eight concerts; a tour described by the musicians as legendary. In 1990, the orchestra visited Verona again, with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos conducting and Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist in Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Italy was also visited in 1991, 2005, 2012, and 2018.
France was visited for the first time in 1984, another legendary tour consisting of eleven concerts led by the then-chief conductor Karsten Andersen, featuring pianist Eva Knardahl and Arve Tellefsen as soloists. The programme at the time included Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. It was one of those rare tours where one of the concert venues had burned down by the time the orchestra arrived. In total, the orchestra has toured France five times: in 1984, 2001, 2004, and 2019. In 2019, the then-chief conductor Edward Gardner led the orchestra in a concert at La Seine Musicale in Paris, with Alice Sara Ott as soloist in Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Neither Dijon nor Besançon has been visited previously.
