— World-class trio unites in Bergen.
They regularly perform in some of Europe's most renowned venues, and this summer we have invited them to play in our summer series both in Håkonshallen and Ramme . Experience some of Norway's finest chamber musicians — in a richly composed and rarely varied program.
During the concert, we will get well acquainted with all three musicians; violinist Miriam Helms Ålien, cellist Sandra Lied Haga and pianist Ole Christian Haagenrud will shine both in the trio format and solo — where we are served everything from piano pieces by Norwegian Edvard Fliflet Bræin and Borghild Holmsen from Bergen, to one of the literature's absolute audience favorites: Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor. Welcome!
Miriam Helms Ålien violin
Sandra Lied Haga cello
Ole Christian Haagenrud piano
Duration approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes including interval.
-
Borghild Holmsen (1865—1938)
Fjord Landscape, Op. 16 No. 2Maurice Ravel (1875—1937)
Gypsy (1924)Edvard Fliflet Bræin (1924—1976)
Bånsull and Scherzo, op. 7Jérôme Ducros (b. 1974)
Encore (2000)— Pause
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809—1847)
Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor -
Ole Christian Haagenrud is considered one of the most sought-after young pianists in Norway. He holds an Artist Diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music and was one of the first participants in Talent Norway's prestigious initiative ArtEx . In 2014 he made his debut in University Aula in Oslo, and in the same year he was awarded the renowned Robert Levin Festival Prize.
Haagenrud has been a soloist with symphony orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the Belarus Chamber Orchestra. He has collaborated with conductors such as Georg Mark and Lawrence Foster and performed on internationally renowned stages such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Brahms Saal in the Musikverein in Vienna, the Shanghai Concert Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Casa da Música in Porto. He is also a highly sought-after chamber musician and accompanist and regularly plays at festivals in Norway and internationally. Together with his international piano trio, the Vilos Trio, he participated for several years in the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) program in Vienna.
Praised for her "extraordinary musicality" and "maturity far beyond her years", Miriam Helms Ålien is one of the most exciting violinists from Norway in recent years. She was born in Alta in Northern Norway and, since her solo debut at the age of 8, has been a soloist with many of the Norwegian orchestras as well as orchestras in Germany, Israel, Denmark, Italy, the Czech Republic and Russia.
Recent and upcoming highlights include performances with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Schweizer Camerata in Lucerne, as well as chamber music performances at the Liszt Academy (Budapest), the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Bergen International Festival and FESTIVALTA — the world's northernmost chamber music festival of its kind, of which Miriam is artistic director.
With a brand new recording and several performances with violinist Maxim Vengerov from last year's season, cellist Sandra Lied Haga has already established herself as one of Norway's leading cellists. She has been a soloist with numerous orchestras in Europe and has collaborated closely with Leif Ove Andsnes, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen and Yo-Yo Ma, to name a few.
Haga began playing the cello at the age of three, and has had, among others, Truls Mørk, Frans Helmerson and Torleif Tedéen as teachers. She is particularly known for her passionate playing and has received several critical acclaim. In recent years, she has performed in concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Salzburger Festpsielhaus and the Verbier Festival, to name a few.
-
This concert takes us to both familiar and unfamiliar, and perhaps all the more refreshing landscapes. Bergen's Borghild Holmsen, who was both a composer, pianist, educator, music critic and music librarian here in Bergen, is said to have been the first Norwegian woman to give a concert with only her own compositions — an achievement in her time. To our great delight, Haagenrud has brushed the dust off one of her piano pieces. He has done the same with Edvard Fliflet Bræins Bånsull and Scherzo, which draws inspiration from European as well as domestic, folk musical impulses.
In the first section we also hear two solo works by Maurice Ravel, the 150th anniversary jubilee, and Jérôme Ducros. Tzigane is primarily known for his ore-filled, Hungarian melody lines — where Ravel, as usual, leaves little to chance. However, the work was strongly inspired by folk music improvisation by the Hungarian violinist Jelly d'Arányi, to whom the work is dedicated, and Ravel has masterfully managed to retain the improvisational element in his composition.
Ducros' Encore is a modern and playful work that, like Tzigane, is bathed in virtuosity and technical brilliance — for both the cellist and the pianist. It is written in the popular style à la Heifetz, Dinicu, Kreisler and others at the height of Romanticism, so one is undoubtedly quickly swept away.
Mendelssohn's piano trios have also grown popular with both performers and audiences — for many good reasons. Tonight's trio is filled with romance and sweet melodies, alternating with drama and great virtuosity. The rhapsodic elements of Ravel and Ducros are found here again; with Mendelssohn's impulsive and almost unstoppable creative power to create beautiful, singing themes.
We wish you an enjoyable, unique concert experience with us. Welcome!
Photo: Øystein Ramstad (Ålien) / Nikolaj Lund (Lied Haga) / Lluis Calm Vidal (Haagenrud)