Scan Magazine

By Andrew Mellor
After a small Norwegian orchestra with a distinctive sound bagged a string of rave reviews, music journalist Andrew Mellor went in search of its secrets…

In the rarefied world of classical music criticism, it was once de rigueur to talk of world orchestras having distinctive voices: there was the recognisable ‘wobbling’ brass of Soviet orchestras, and the trademark confident sheen of American ones. But while migration and globalisation in the musical community have driven standards among most world orchestras up, they have also muffled such geographical idiosyncrasies.

In western Norway, though, there’s a rare exception. On a critically acclaimed CD released last year by Oslo-based surround-sound label 2L, string orchestra The Trondheim Soloists played Mozart Concertos with a rare combination of musical perfection and somehow innate ‘Norwegianness’. Listening to the ensemble’s pure, breezy performance could put you immediately in mind of clean air, endless views and the rigours of outdoor life.

“A tradition of Norwegian orchestral playing emerged in the last century which was very much connected to mountain folk music, and it was instilled in this orchestra by its founder,” explained Øyvind Gimse, the Trondheim Soloists’ Artistic Director, between performances at the city’s St Olav’s Festival in July. “It’s a very clear sound; if you’ve ever been up a Norwegian mountain in September or October, you’ll know how pure the air is. You can see for hundreds of miles.”

Then there’s the Hardanger Fiddle, a multi-string folk violin from this part of Norway, the thick, resonant voice of which employs overtones – sounds created from strings that aren’t bowed or plucked but resonate purely from the vibrations of other strings. These lend the Hardanger a spacious, almost outdoor feel. “If you cultivate the sound of those high overtones – harness their pureness – it sounds like ice or glass. It’s this clearer, more light, more open sound that’s one of our signatures,” says Øyvind.

Trondheim’s distinctive sunsets and collective disdain for authority are also behind the orchestra’s very energetic, no-nonsense sound, say its members – most of whom, vitally, were born in or near the city. When the ensemble tours England in October, audiences who’ve begun to miss the idiosyncratic sounds of French and German orchestras may well delight to hear this feisty little ensemble playing northern European music with a recognisably strong – and quite beautiful – Norwegian accent.

[The Trondheim Soloists and trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth perform music by Elgar, Britten and Grieg at London’s Cadogan Hall on 29 October (020 7730 4500 / cadoganhall.com), Canterbury Cathedral on 30 October (01227 452 853 / canterburyfestival.co.uk) and Leeds Town Hall on 31 October (0113 224 3801 / leedsconcerseason.com).]