The Grieg Society of Great Britain, which every year presents the “Grieg Record of the Year” award, has this year decided to award a unique prize to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor Ole Kristian Ruud for their recordings on BIS of the complete works for orchestra by Edvard Grieg.
In its citation, the Grieg Society of Great Britain states as follows: “In this special Grieg year, instead of its annual "Record of the Year" award, the Grieg Society of Great Britain is presenting a unique prize to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra for its outstanding series of recordings covering all of Grieg's orchestral works.”
The BFO and Ole Kristian Ruud have previously received the Grieg Prize for the same series (eight CDs) as well as the “Grieg Record of the Year” awards from the Grieg Society of Great Britain two years running. They were:
- 2004: Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak, The Mountain Thrall. Håkan Hagegård, baritone, Gørild Mauseth, narrator, Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Seim Songkor, Kor Vest, Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor. BIS-SACD-1391 'I can’t imagine finer interpretations than those offered by conductor Ole Kristian Ruud and a clearly energized Bergen Philharmonic..Stunning!', Classics Today 2004
- 2003: Norwegian Dances, Symphonic Dances, Lyric Suite. Ole Kristian Ruud, conductor. BIS-SACD-1291. 'Heaven knows that the Bergen Philharmonic and Ole Kristian Ruud know the music, and the orchestra deserves special praise for fine playing by its wind section – critical especially in the Norwegian Dances, the Lyric Suite, well, actually just about everywhere! …In short, these renditions certainly stand with the best', Classics Today 2003.
In August this year, the BFO played Grieg at the Concertgebouw, the Royal Albert Hall (Proms) and in Birmingham Symphony Hall. In November they will perform Grieg in the Carnegie Hall and at 11 further concerts in the US. On September 5 and 6, the BFO is giving a Grieg Gala in Bergen with a concert version of Peer Gynt with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist in Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor. The concerto will be recorded and published on DVD.