Cocooned from the Stavanger weather, seats in the stalls felt very much like sitting in a cinema at the middle of a luxury cruise ship. Each new cloth-covered Scandinavian-style chair in light-coloured wood had an individual fan underneath to cater to the spectator’s body temperature. The acoustics were top-notch; the lighting and space oozed professionalism and grandeur.

We – press, public, politicians and HRH Crown Prince Haakon – were on a voyage into the unknown. Both orchestra and audience had left the dowdy musical quayside with its old, domed, acoustic battle of an arena in a luxury vessel even Silver Sea or Seabourn Cruise companies would have been proud of. 

“It’s one of the leading concert halls in Europe; it was a privilege to be in,” conductor Steven Sloane says when The Foreigner asked him to place it in a European perspective. “I’m in awe of what has been done.”

“The aural and visual acoustics are a winning combination. As with any great masterpiece that unfolds, it defies criticism and personal taste.”

What was it like to be on stage conducting?

“I really got a strong sense of the audience. It was like a breath of fresh air for a musician.”

Stephen Sloane pre-rehearsal
Stavanger Symphony OrchestraAbout the other advantages, he declares, “the orchestra needs this hall to define itself as a collective, which was one of the difficulties with it in previous years [in the old concert hall]. It played well, but couldn’t develop.”

“We were working against the old venue, but the new hall is working with you, responding, reactive. You can play and let I happen.”

Norway’s Crown Prince also happened on Saturday. Stavanger Mayor Christine Sagen Helgø’s speech, Minister of Culture Anniken Huitfeldt’s “it’s a concert hall for all, even those who were against building it” and promise of an extra seven million kroner to SSO in next year’s budget fell silent in comparison.

With a smile, HRH moved gracefully from stage left to centre, stealing the show when asking, “did you see that, how I used the space?”

Why have you chosen not to renew your contract?

Steven Sloane replies, “The orchestra has a wonderful history, but I think there’s comes a time when a good orchestra needs new impulses. I’m very proud of the relationship with the orchestra and love it dearly, but I will be doing other things over the next years; a lot more opera, it’s one of my passions.”

Taking a final telephonic bow, he concludes, “The administration, orchestra, and everyone involved in the concert hall now have a challenge ahead of them to make this incredible infrastructure reach out and show what it has to offer people on a local and international perspective.”

---