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Culture Bergen is proud of its long-established cultural tradition. In addition to internationally acclaimed musicians, such as the late Edvard Grieg (composer of the Peer Gynt Suite), Harald Sæverud and their literary compatriots Henrik Ibsen and Ludvig Holberg, Bergen also provided the backdrop for the landscapes of J C Dahl. Today, Bergen has a lively cultural scene. Music and the arts are very popular and the public is well catered for with a number of venues and events. There is an active annual programme of festivals that cover classical, rock and jazz music, theatre and film. Bergen Tourist Information promotes Bergen as ‘Kulturby’ (City of Culture). Music: The Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester (Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra), which dates back to 1765, gives concerts every Thursday between September and June and occasionally on Friday and Saturday in Grieghallen (the Grieg Hall), Edvard Grieg plass 1 (tel: 5521 6170; fax: 5521 6199; e-mail: grieghallen@grieghallen.no; website: www.grieghallen.no). Edvard Grieg is the most famous composer to come out of Bergen, but another popular composer is Harald Sæverud whose piano pieces, Tunes and Dances from Siljustøl, celebrated the people, flora and fauna of the Bergen area. Concerts are performed at the Siljustøl Museum (tel: 5513 2992; website: www.bergen.by.com/museum/siljustol), former home of the composer, on Sunday afternoons in July. It is about 12km (eight miles) from Bergen on bus route 30. The colourful and eccentric virtuoso violinist, Ole Bull, also lived near Bergen, in a fantasy palace he constructed on Lysøen Island. Theatre: Den Nationale Scene (tel: 5554 9700; fax: 5554 9790; e-mail: dns@dns.no website: www.den-nationale-scene.no) has three theatres, staging Norwegian plays, musicals and light entertainment. The theatre’s history is intimately linked with that of Ibsen who was appointed resident ‘stage poet’ in 1851. The ‘Scandinavian Moliére’, Ludvig Holberg, was born in Bergen in 1684. Bergen Internasjonale Teater (BIT) stages both Norwegian and international plays and dance performances up to three times a month in Teatergarasjen, which is located at Nøstegaten 54 (tel: 5523 2235; fax: 5523 1815; e-mail: bit@bgnett.no; website: www.bit-teatergarasjen.no). Dance: Carte Blanche stages classical ballet and experimental dance at Danseteatret, Sigurdsgate 6 (tel: 5530 8680; fax: 5530 8681; e-mail: ncb@ncb.no; website: www.ncb.no). Fana Folklore (tel: 5591 5240; fax: 5591 7132) recreates a rural festival with a concert of old folk tunes in the 800-year-old Fana Church and during June, July and August provides traditional Norwegian festive food, followed by folk music, lively dancing and singing. The cost per person is NOK250, including transport from the city centre. Bergen Folklore (tel: 5558 8010; fax: 5558 8050) stages a one-hour programme of traditional Norwegian folk dances and music in Bryggens Museum every Tuesday and Thursday at 2100, from mid-June to late August (cost: NOK95, concessions available). Film: Recently, the success of films such as Nils Gaup’s Pathfinder (1987) and Berit Nesheims’s The Other Side of Sunday (1997), have led critics to talk of a new ‘Norwave’. All films in the two major cinemas are shown in their original language, with Norwegian subtitles (tel: 5556 9050; fax: 5556 9056 – reservations for both cinemas). Konsertpaleet (13 screens) is at Neumannsgate 3. Forum Kino is in Danmarksplass (e-mail: bergenkino@bergenkino.no; website: www.filmweb.no/bergenkino). Cultural events: The annual Bergen International Festival (tel: 5521 0630; fax: 5521 0640: website: www.fib.no) presents a varied programme of music, drama, ballet, folklore, arts and other entertainment over 11 days, in late May and early June – the 2002 event runs from May 22. Tickets are available from the ticket office in the Grieghallen and post offices. Literary Notes Late 19th- and early 20th-century literature – with its themes of political democratisation, social and cultural liberation and national independence – has been inextricably linked to the political and social development of Norway. The 1903 Nobel Laureate for Literature, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, wrote his modern saga drama Lama Hulda while working as a theatre stage manager in Bergen in 1857-8. The powerful novels and the life of Amalie Skram (who lived in Denmark but was born in Bergen in 1846) provided the basis for a nine-hour-long theatrical performance in the city in 1992, as well as the material for the 1984 opera Amalie. In recent years, Bergen has inspired the novels of Gunnar Stålesen (born in the city in 1947). |
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