— Grieg as you (probably) have never heard before.
This August evening we will have an exclusive Bergen meeting on historical grounds: A carefully composed programme with piano music by Sæverud, Tveitt and Grieg is set against a chamber music work by Grieg that you may have never heard before: His unfinished Piano Quintet in Bb major — masterfully completed by the British Michael Finnissy as recently as 2012.
On stage we meet pianist Oda Voltersvik from Bergen, who in recent years has established a solid foothold with tours, especially in the USA and Norway. With her she has an equally solid group of musicians from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra: Concertmaster Melina Mandozzi, violinist Jutta Morgenstern, violist Ilze Klava and cellist Agnese Rugevica. Welcome to a true, West-Norwegian concert evening in the atmospheric Håkonshallen.
Melina Mandozzi violin
Jutta Morgenstern violin
Ilze Klava viola
Agnese Rugevica cello
Oda Voltersvik piano
Duration approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes including interval.
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Harald Sæverud (1897—1992)
Little Bird Waltz, Op. 18 No. 2
Kvelling-wool and lid, op. 21 no. 4Edvard Grieg (1843—1907)
Home, op. 62 no. 6
Old Mother, Op. 53 No. 6
Nils Rekve's halling, op. 72 No. 9Geirr Tveitt (1908—1981)
From 50 Folk tunes from Hardanger, op. 50
Welcome to the era
Friar's feet
Last goodbye
Harding Fiddle Season
The long, long evening night
Elderberry in the beard
The Langofar tone
Harding beer— Pause
Edvard Grieg
Piano Quintet in Bb major, EG 118. Completed by Michael Finnissy (2012) -
“ (…) An artist with the talent to make a serious name for herself (…)”
— Calum Petrie, Scottish Press and JournalPianist Oda Voltersvik was born and raised in Bergen, and has performed at international festivals and venues such as Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Victor Borge Hall, Wigmore Hall, St Martin in the Fields, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, Festspillene i Bergen and Palermo Classica. Her three recordings have received rave reviews for their thoughtful program choices, technical skills and artistic expression.
Voltersvik won first prize at the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in 2017, was a finalist in the Jaques Samuels Intercollegiate Competition in London in 2016 and was awarded the Norwegian State Artist Scholarship in 2021—2022. After a joint Bachelor's degree from the Grieg Academy in Bergen and the Royal College of Music in London, she completed a Master in Performance at the latter institution and an Artist Diploma at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London with highest distinction. She currently tours several times including solo engagements in the USA with a visa for 'Individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts'.
Melina Mandozzi is concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. She is from Locarno in Switzerland, and began playing the violin at an early age. At the age of eight she won her first competition, and after studying in her hometown she was a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. In 1989 she became a student of Professor Zachar Bron in Lübeck, and then followed a two-year study with Professor Boris Kushnir at the University of Graz.
She made her solo debut at the age of twelve with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and has since performed in numerous venues in Europe, the United States, South America and Japan. In 2003 she became concertmaster of the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra and then of the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has also been engaged as concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich. Mandozzi is a sought-after soloist and is also active as a chamber musician.
Jutta Morgenstern is from Germany and has studied violin in Freiburg, Utrecht and Bloomington in the USA. She worked at the Deutsche Oper Berlin before joining the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, where she is group leader for 2nd violin.
Jutta is a member of the Spellemann award-winning ensemble BIT20. As a chamber musician, she has played at a number of festivals both nationally and internationally, such as the Bergen International Festival, Aix en Provence, Berliner Festspiele and more.
Solo violist Ilze Klava comes from Latvia and joined the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1996. She was raised among professional musicians, with three generations of female professional violists in her family. Ilze graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music. She has been a member of the RIX Piano Quartet for over twenty years and has been a soloist with a number of orchestras.
When Harmonien celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2015, the world premiere of Olav Berg's viola concerto was first performed with Ilze Klava as soloist. The composer himself contacted Ilze after he had heard her play at a concert. He immediately decided to compose a work for her.
Agnese Rugevica is from Liepaja, Latvia, but grew up in Riga, where her parents were employed by the radio symphony orchestra. She began playing the cello at the age of five at a music school, and from 1985 to 1990 she studied with Professor Eleanora Testelec. She has participated in several music competitions, winning second prize in Belgrade and first prize in Prague.
Until 1996, Agnese played in the cello group of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, and for the next five years she was the solo cellist in the same orchestra. Since 2001, she has been the 2nd solo cellist in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. She has had solo assignments in Latvia, Estonia, France and Portugal, is a member of the contemporary music ensemble BIT20 Ensemble, and has participated in several chamber music groups in Bergen.
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The first part of the concert contains a carefully composed excerpt from a tour program Oda Voltersvik recently did in the United States on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the first Norwegian emigrants to America in 1825. The music of Sæverud, Grieg and Tveitt reflects Norwegian folk traditions and music that were continued in America, and which represented feelings related to creating a new home in a completely new and unknown country.
Michael Finnissy completed Grieg's Piano Quintet in 2012, 120 years after Grieg wrote down the exposition in his “Sketch Book” in 1892. From Finnissy's pen we hear a performance consisting of a scherzo inspired by Norwegian folk music, hallingdans with imitation of music for Hardanger fiddle, followed by a slow and introverted section. In the closing section, built on Grieg's exposition, material previously presented by the strings is played in the piano part and vice versa.
The quintet was first performed in Håkonshallen during the Bergen International Festival in 2013 with the Kreutzer String Quartet and Roderick Chadwick. Tonight the latest, revised edition will be performed.
— Oda Voltersvik (August 2025)
We wish you an enjoyable, unique concert experience with us. Welcome!
Photo: Magnus Skrede (Voltersvik & Mandozzi) / Tommy Næss (Klava)