Mozart and Schubert Among the Vikings

 

With British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor as a headliner, the Lofoten Chamber Music Festival in Norway sounded both appealing and exotic.  

On May 20, an unusually early heat wave stroke Provence, in the south of France, —early even by the region’s own standards.  Since then, daytime temperatures have hovered around 40 degrees C (104 F) and have never dropped below 35º C.  To escape the debilitating July heat, I signed up for the weeklong Lofoten festival.  Located above the Arctic Circle, the archipelago is known for its stunning landscapes and unpredictable weather and the concerts promised to make up for bad-humored weather.  

Europe is renowned for its large number of prestigious summer music festivals.  I have attended Bayreuth, Salzburg, Munich, Glyndebourne, Verbier, Pesaro and Aix en Provence, etc.  Over time, I realized that my ears were not refined enough to distinguish a genius performer from a merely good one.  I also found myself paying less attention to the action on the stage and more to the famous faces in the audience.   An audience which often forms its opinions only after reading the reviews and attends mainly to post on Instagram. The south of France and Provence are blessed with a large variety of great classical musica and opera festivals, among others, in the Roque-d'Antheron, Orange, Aix, salon de Provence and Montpellier (Radio France).  They attract key performers as well as young promising artists.

On the other hand, I have lots of fun at exotic and little-known classical music festivals, attended primarily by the locals and cognoscenti.  As a classical music and opera buff, the July opera festival of Savonlinna in Western Finland is unmatched!  The opera stage is set in the courtyard of the Olavinlinna medieval castle which has perfect acoustics.  As the world’s northernmost surviving stone castle, it is remarkable in itself; under the midnight sun, the castle’s reflection on Lake Saimaa makes the visit unforgettable.   Lofoten festival is not far behind. Attendance to these far-flung and often intimate festivals is organized by a French tour operator specialized in high-end, hassle-free expert-led cultural and musical trips. 

The straight-line distance from Oslo to the Lofoten is approximatively 940 kms: a two-hour flight from Oslo to Narvik/Evenes airport plus a three-hour drive to the main town of Svolvær. The archipelago comprises about 80 islands of varying sizes; its 25,000 residents live mainly on seven of them.  Svolvær (5000 inhabitants) was our gateway to explore the islands and the concerts venues.  Since the Viking Age, fish has very much driven the local economy, historically cods and stockfish and now farm salmon. Fish remains central to Lofoten’s culture and tourism.  Visitors flock to the picturesque fishing villages, with their red wooden cabins, to have a glimpse of life past while cod-drying racks are seen in the background.  Fish is always on the restaurant menu, still, I was startled by the price: a grilled salmon fillet cost half as much as my 4* hotel room!  I had forgotten that Norway is now wealthier per capita than the United States—and that Norwegians, perhaps helped by all that costly fish, live longer.

                                                             Reine Fishing village

Since 2004, the Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival is held annually in July during the midnight sun.  Almost all of the concerts take place in picturesque wooden churches.  Alas, Grosvenor was no show, an ear infection prevented him from flying, since no Viking Drakkar was available, he was replaced by a young and promising Canadian pianist.  The artists remain for the full festival, appearing several times as soloists and in ensembles. Overall, the audience is local and younger than at French classical music festivals. 

                                                            Buksnes wooden church

To raise the profile of the Lofoten festival, the organizers are increasingly promoting it outside Norway, merging Viking history, fish and classical music. This year, music lovers from Britain, Germany and France were bussed around the archipelago, an overly grey-haired and monied audience, The Lofoten festival offers fine performances in a quaint, intimate setting. I hope its organizers preserve that character as they seek a wider international audience.   

Climate change is now shaping my choice of summer musical destinations. Next year, I am planning to attend the Sibelius Festival in Lahti, in Finland