Since 2012, the Midgard Competition has provided a platform for young classical musicians. This anniversary concert features three former prize winners who have since established themselves as classical performers: cellist Birgitta Oftestad, soprano Eirin Rognerud and pianist Nikita Knykin.
The Norwegian Navy Band presents a programme featuring works by Friedrich Gulda, Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Modest Mussorgsky. The concert is hosted by the band’s presenter, Inge Hatlelid Mortensen.
Birgitta Oftestad opens the concert with two movements from Friedrich Gulda’s Cello Concerto. Eirin Rognerud and the Norwegian Navy Band perform three songs by Edvard Grieg, followed by Nikita Knykin performing the third movement of Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
The programme also includes the Midgard Competition’s own fanfare, Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in B minor and excerpts from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
The concert is conducted by Ingar Bergby, who served as principal conductor of the Norwegian Navy Band from 2008 to 2014 and has since returned as a guest conductor on several occasions. He has also conducted a number of Norwegian and Nordic symphony orchestras.