Ólafsson, Gardner/ Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Grieghallen, Bergen & Harpa, Reykjavík, 24th May 2020
With lots of online attention focused on Glyndebourne’s “Open House” screening of its 2012 Figaro yesterday evening, this live concert slipped in under the wire, almost unnoticed. The Bergen International Festival has decided to go ahead with a revised programme this year, performed to an empty hall but streamed live online. Last night, they opened with a beautiful work for choir and strings, Pēteris Vasks’ The Fruit of Silence, before the main fare. Grieg’s Piano Concerto has become the festival’s signature work – the composer lived at nearby Troldhaugen – so perhaps it wasn’t a surprise to see it featured here. However, scheduled pianist Víkingur Ólafsson is in lockdown in Reykjavík, so what to do? No problem. Beam him in from a Steinway in the Harpa concert hall to join the orchestra in Bergen’s Grieghallen! 
The Covid-19 lockdown has seen some great innovative performances recorded in isolation, from Lieder with singer and pianist in different countries to entire orchestras and choirs whose individual contributions have been skilfully stitched together. But to perform a concerto where the soloist is playing remotely carries a good deal of risk. Ed Gardner, talking before the performance, explained that trying to connect orchestra and pianist via means such as Skype couldn’t work because the connection was too slow so he and Ólafsson – who have never actually met – worked through the concerto together and the pianist’s pre-recorded contribution was linked to Gardner by a click-track to help with tricky transitions. “It’s quite hard to get that by osmosis through a video screen!” 
Gardner also talked about getting used to the new “rhythm” of performing to an empty hall and the importance of not just “putting content out on the internet” but something of the highest level to demonstrate his orchestra’s exceptional qualities. With musicians each having their own music stand, the strings were slightly reduced, but Gardner feels the compensation is that each player has more freedom so they are “playing like an engaged chamber orchestra”. The Bergen Phil knows Greig’s score inside out, yet Gardner still finds a way to keep it fresh and dewy. Ólafsson’s playing was crisp and clear, avoiding over-sentimentalised grand expressions. 
With Ólafsson beamed in on a giant screen at the back of the stage, interleaved with close-up shots of him from the Harpa, this was quite brilliantly done and I wonder if, with travel restrictions presumably still in place when – if – the new season begins in September, it’s a viable alternative for other orchestras finding themselves minus their star soloist, for this was no “phoned in” performance, even if it was… phoned in.
