Composers / Arne Nordheim / Places catalog

Concertgebouw

The philharmonic hall in Amsterdam is regarded as the finest concert hall in the world. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest) is linked to Norway through the figure of Edvard Grieg, who conducted it many times and in 1899 invited the orchestra to take part in the first World of Music in Bergen.

One of Arne Nordheim’s childhood friends related that in 1952 they sailed together from Larvik to Fredrikshavn and hitchhiked from there to Amsterdam, where they were taken in by acquaintances of their parents. Nordheim was dying to see the Concertgebouw orchestra in rehearsal. At first, he was refused admission, but he refused to give up and slipped inside. After waiting impatiently by the artists’ entrance for several hours, the friend spotted Arne coming out arm in arm with the legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski! The autograph of another great conductor, Bruno Walter, on a concert programme shows that Nordheim was at one of his concerts, too.

In the summer of 1953, Nordheim travelled to Amsterdam for the Concertgebouw Music Festival. He stayed there with the artists Johan and Riete Sterenberg. There he met the conductor Rafael Kubelik. The conversation turned to the symphonies of Mahler, and it ended with Nordheim being invited to Germany, where Kubelik was about to conduct one of them. He promised that the following year, when he returned to the Netherlands, he would give Nordheim free conducting lessons.

In the summer of 1954, Nordheim returned to Amsterdam for concerts given by the Concertgebouw Orchestra with Kubelik as guest conductor, and he took a few lessons in conducting.

The Concertgebouw Orchestra performed Nordheim’s Canzona at the ISCM festival in Amsterdam in 1963, then again a few years later.

For its centenary celebrations in 1988, the orchestra commissioned a work from Arne Nordheim. Thus arose Magma, first performed on 8 December 1988 under the baton ofNeeme Järvi. (jc)

www.concertgebouw.nl

Place Category
13 Øvre Jegerborggate, Larvik Other
3 Olavsgate, Larvik Other
Artists' House Other
Arts Council Norway Other
Bayreuth Appearances
Bekkelaget Sewage Treatment Plant Other
Bergen Festival Appearances
Brekstad in Ørland commune Other
British Broadcasting Corporation Radio / TV
Calmeyergaten Mission House Appearances
City Hall Other
Concertgebouw Appearances
Concert Palace Appearances
Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Den Nationale Scene Appearances
Edition Wilhelm Hansen
Publishers / Bookshops
Feliks Nowowiejski Warmia and Masuria Philharmonic Appearances
Festiviteten Other
Grieghallen Appearances
“Grotto” Flats
Håkonshallen Appearances
Henie-Onstad Art Centre in Baerum Education
Hergisheim Flats
International Bach Academy Appearances
Israeli Radio Radio / TV
Israel Music Institute Other
Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance Other
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra Appearances
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Appearances
Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music Education
Larvik church Churches / Places of worship
Lillehammer – Winter Olympic Games Other
Lodge Theatre Performance spaces
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Appearances
National Library Education
National Theatre Performance spaces
Netherlands Dance Theatre
New Music Association
Nidaros Cathedral Churches / Places of worship
Norwegian Academy of Music Education
Norwegian Opera Other
Norwegian Opera at the Folk Theatre Appearances
Norwegian Society of Composers Other
Norwegian Theatre I Other
Norwegian Theatre II Other
Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU Education
NOTAM Education
NRK radio and television Radio / TV
Observatory Other
Old Lodge (Gamle Logen) Appearances
Orchester der Württembergischen Staatsoper Appearances
Osaka Congress Hall (EXPO 70)
Oslo Cathedral Churches / Places of worship
Oslo Conservatory of Music Education
Oslo Philharmonic Appearances
Polish Radio Experimental Studio Radio / TV
Quality Hotel Grand Farris Hotels / Inns
“Rendezvous” for strings Appearances
Rombergata School Education, Other
Royal Norwegian Consulate General, New York Other
Royal Swedish Academy of Music Education
Santori Horu (Suntory Hall) Appearances
Storedal Cultural Centre Other
Swedish Radio Radio / TV
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg Appearances
Teatro La Fenice Performance spaces
Theatre Café Coffeehouses
Town Hall in Gdańsk Other
Trento Other
University Aula Other
Wailing Wall Churches / Places of worship
Warsaw Autumn Performance spaces
Witold Lutosławski Society Other