Program descriptions concerts 2026

Opening Concert – In the Beginning Was … PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD Stories about the creation of the world often begin in darkness, in a void. From there, earth is separated from water – a force, a being, breathes life into creation. The three world religions around which the festival revolves are gathered in the story of the beginning …

The Patriarchs of Music: Father Bach and Papa Haydn PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD «A dark, resounding name», writes the artistic director about the name Abraham. Whether he actually lived, we do not know. Scholars of our time see him just as much as a literary figure, the first …

More Catholic Than the Pope? PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD In the Catholic tradition, faith often takes shape through ritual. In human actions, the abstract becomes more concrete. And in the line from Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice and to God’s sacrificial lamb lies an imperative for human beings to …

Dervish PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD For the love of this person there is no description other than to say the same thing, that it comes. (…) I dance, for from his difficult words a hundred meanings come to each person. Jalal al-Din Rumi’s verses from …

Conversion PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD In Wergeland’s collection «The Jew» (1842), a mullah, a rabbi, and a Christian priest meet. They seek shelter by the same oasis, converse through the night, and at sunrise they praise their respective Gods, all on an equal footing. In this way …

A la Turca PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD Far in the southeast of Turkey lies the city of Urfa (now Şanlıurfa), where it is believed that Abraham was born. He spent much of his life on the move, as a nomad or pilgrim, travelling from Ur in Mesopotamia to Egypt and to Canaan. With the Egyptian …

A Thousand and One Nights PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD It begins with the voice. In the dark, where death awaits at daybreak, Schéhérazade survives through creativity and words. For a thousand nights she whispers resistance to the violence of the patriarchy. With quiet perseverance she builds faith that …

Ashkenaz and Kabbalah PROGRAM DESCRIPTION BY IDA HABBESTAD There is a gravity in Jewish mysticism, shaped by the journey from Palestine to the Rhine Valley and Provence. In the 12th century, the world seemed more open. Jewish mystics borrowed from Sufi practices. With the Almohad Caliphate’s invasion in …

Finale – Das Judenthum in der Musik PROGRAM NOTE BY IDA HABBESTAD Wagner’s description of the Jew is painful to approach. «Das Judentum in der Musik» describes an «instinctive aversion» to the Jewish personality; an art that is skilful but soulless. Karl Blessinger’s later,...