★★★★☆
It’s not an altogether encouraging sign when the first UK tour of the Bergen Philharmonic with its British music director pitches up in the maestro’s backyard (OK, he is from Gloucester) but the concert is billed as “Elgar’s Cello Concerto with Bergen Philharmonic and Edward Gardner”. Gardner, no doubt, is well known to audiences in Birmingham (he spent four years as principal guest conductor with the City of Birmingham Symphony), but there was something bigger to shout about here than Elgar’s perennial; namely, the Norwegian orchestra and Gardner’s thriving partnership, set to last until at least 2021 after Gardner signed a contract extension this month.
Apart from an all too brief dollop of Grieg — the 15-minute compression of Peer Gynt, notable for