Eivind Aadland

Biographie

The first two discs in this ‘Complete [Grieg] Symphonic Works’ series were outstanding. This third is wholly exceptional.
Gramophone


Eivind Aadland is one of Norway’s most respected conductors. He was Chief Conductor and Artistic Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons from 2004, during which time he conducted the complete Beethoven and Mahler symphony cycles. His extensive work with Scandinavian orchestras includes regular guest engagements with the Oslo and Bergen Philharmonics, the Stavanger Symphony, the Gothenburg Symphony and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In addition Aadland has conducted critically acclaimed productions of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Die Fledermaus for Den Norske Opera, Oslo.


Aadland has also worked extensively in the Far East and Australia. In 2010 he led the Trondheim Symphony on a seven-concert tour to China and made his debut with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul. In 2011 he launched his tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Brisbane.


His strong rapport with orchestral musicians flows from his experience as concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (1981-89) and subsequent work as Music Director of the European Union Chamber Orchestra (1987-97). Aadland studied violin with Yehudi Menuhin and took part in chamber music performances with his teacher in London, Paris and Switzerland; he also received conducting lessons from Jorma Panula and was encouraged to pursue a career as a conductor by Mariss Jansons.


Eivind Aadland is a frequent visitor to the Oslo Philharmonic and WDR Symphony Orchestra Köln. He has also worked with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the Gürzenich Orchester Köln, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Lausanne and Scottish Chamber Orchestras and the symphony orchestras of Melbourne, Tasmania, Iceland, Finnish Radio, Bamberg and SWR Stuttgart. His recent engagements have included debut performances with the Rotterdam and Seoul Philharmonics and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He crowned his Trondheim Symphony Orchestra Mahler cycle in March 2011 with the composer’s Eighth Symphony, the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’. Engagements during the 2014/15 season include the Trondheim and Iceland Symphony Orchestras, a return to the Bergen Philharmonic to conduct a new visualisation by German artist Alexander Polzin of Grieg’s Peer Gynt with further performances by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. Aadland will also return to the Oslo Philharmonic and WDR Köln for performances and recording. Further engagements include the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.


Eivind Aadland’s prolific discography spans a broad repertoire range and underlines his status as a tireless champion of Norwegian music. In August 2013 the Audite label issued the third instalment of a five-volume set of Grieg’s complete symphonic works, recorded with the WDR Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded the symphonic works of Eivind Groven; an album of Norwegian orchestral favourites, and the complete music for violin and orchestra of Arne Nordheim with the Stavanger Symphony for BIS Records. The conductor’s catalogue also includes a recording with the Bergen Philharmonic of Ludwig Irgens-Jensen's works and the music of Ole Bull with the Trondheim Symphony on the Simax label, as well as two CDs devoted to the orchestral music of Irgens-Jensen and Gerhard Schjelderup for CPO Records. He has also recorded for Hyperion, ASV, IMP Classics and Koch. Aadland recently recorded an album for EMI Classics with the Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, complete with transcriptions and arrangements of songs by, among others, Grieg, Strauss, Dvořák, Sibelius, Korngold, Mahler and Weill.


In addition to his career as a conductor, Eivind Aadland is a devoted collector of, and authority on, contemporary art. His private collection encompasses works in the diverse media of painting, photography, video and installation and is widely considered to be among the most important of its kind in Scandinavia.