Ray Ward
I was present at the Proms performance of Walton's First Symphony by the LSO under Andre Previn in 1971. The intense performance by a Norwegian orchestra under Andrew Litton on Thursday of the first movement and the emotional depth of the third recalled the sense of excitement generated by that great occasion. Perhaps Walton should have been American like Previn and Litton or even Norwegian. His great music might then have received its due attention.

Ian Berresford
Have just belatedly listened to the Grieg Piano Concerto and I'm afraid I was very much underwhelmed. Boris played at breakneck speed throughout as if he was dying to get down his local before last orders! His technical virtuosity is certainly not in doubt, and the orchestra tried manfully to keep up the pace, but I felt exhausted rather than exhilarated at the end of it all. Ian Berresford (not related!!)

Orpheus
The Bergen PO may not be as well known internationally as its counterpart in Oslo but it can certainly lay claim to a closer connection with Norway's greatest composer Edvard Grieg. So it was not surprising that Andrew Litton chose to open this orchestra's Prom debut with Grieg, both familiar and unfamiliar. Halvorsen's arrangement of Grieg's Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak was dark and brooding, yet unmistakably Grieg. On the other hand, Boris Berezovsky flexed his Russian muscles in the Piano Concerto to the extent of making some passages sound almost Tchaikovskian. His was a no-holds-barred performance, powerful, unsentimental - and very fast. The finale especially found the orchestra scampering after him at top speed. He refused to linger in the slow movement, which made a refreshing change from the many other pianists who distort the rhythm in the name of 'expression' in the opening theme. Grieg was known to admire Liszt greatly (to the extent of making changes in the concerto on Liszt's advice) so he would surely have admired Berezovsky's astounding virtuosity, but one wonders what he would have thought of his work played with a Russian accent.Foreign orchestras playing British symphonies aren't the rarity they used to be, but it was still interesting to hear Walton's Symphony No.1 played by this orchestra. There was a Nordic freshness, but Litton saw to it that the jazz-inflected elements weren't underplayed either.For the encores, it was back to Grieg. Apparently Litton was told he could only conduct one encore, so he left the orchestra to let rip in 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' from Peer Gynt. One could almost see the rampaging trolls...

Tony W
How nice to hear a performance of the Grieg concerto which wasn't just a showcase for the soloist. The pianist came over as first among equals, rather than dominating the orchestra.The performance radiated musical integrity. The wit and finesse of the encore rounded off the evening perfectly. More from Bergen please!

Martin Kimber
Bit of a cheat this, cos I heard this band last night at Birmingham playing same programme except for opener - Peer Gynt. The Grieg was luscious, with sa lovely encore bonus, and the Walton was brash, a little harsh but thrilling, conducted with great enthusiasm by Litton with two tremendous encores.