Sep 29
2009

Tetzlaff/Tetzlaff/Andsnes

Wigmore Hall, London

Although in Britain we generally hear him in solo recitals and playing concertos, the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is an accomplished chamber musician, too, who has forged partnerships with a number of leading instrumentalists, and performs with them at the festival he runs at Risør, in his native Norway. Two of those regular colleagues are the violinist Christian Tetzlaff and his cellist sister Tanja, and as their recital at the Wigmore Hall showed, they have become a well-honed ensemble.

This was real chamber playing, with no sense of soloists coming together on an ad hoc basis and fuelling their performances on a mixture of adrenalin and competition. Their programme focused on Schumann – his first two piano trios framing Mozart’s E major trio K542 – and though those works offer plenty of opportunities for pianists in particular to showcase their talents, Andsnes did not hog the spotlight. With its crisp articulation and bright, forward tone, his playing was nicely contrasted with Christian’s slightly husky, yet suave violin playing and Tanja’s more reticent cello.

The Mozart was a model of good musical manners, but it was the two Schumann works that showed the group at their best. His second trio in F, which they played first, is a sunnier, less momentous work than the first, in D minor, which occupied the second half, and the three musicians were correspondingly less inclined to go deep beneath its surfaces for darker, expressive currents. In the D minor work, their control of its architecture, especially in the surging, rangy first movement, was immaculate, but it was the touch of pathos that Christian brought to the slow movement’s opening theme, and Andsnes’s sparkling fingerwork in the finale, that really set the performance off.

Original article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/24/tetzlaff-tetzlaff-andsnes-review

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Trackback  •  Posted in Music  


Sep 24
2009

“The Risør Chamber Music Festival is non-profit foundation, the purpose of which is to arrange an annual chamber music festival at which both important classical music and more contemporary repertoires will be presented. Efforts will be made to find musicians – both Norwegian and foreign – of recognised high artistic standard or with proven, indisputable talent. The Chamber Music Festival will be a national and international forum for chamber music and will also stimulate musical and cultural life in Risør and the region.”

Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Anders Tomter are the Artistic Directors of the festival. They are widely recognised in Norway and abroad for the quality and variety of their programmes. Thanks to their networks and international careers, they have brought top international artists to Risør throughout the history of the festival. The repertoires cover a broad range of music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Artistic Directors also focus on presenting Norwegian and contemporary music. They always play a leading musical role in the festival.

The musicians stay in Risør throughout the festival week. This creates a special atmosphere, not only among the musicians but also between the musicians and their audiences. It also enables works for different types of ensembles to be heard at the same concert.

The Risør Festival Strings, which is the festival’s own orchestra, has existed for as long as the festival itself. The highly talented young people who initially formed the orchestra have developed into a group of musicians who hold many high-profile positions in Norwegian orchestras and ensembles. Nevertheless, the Risør Chamber Music Festival still aims to recruit new, young, talented musicians to the orchestra.

http://www.kammermusikkfest.no/?gruppe=2108&set_language=eng

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Sep 21
2009

Canadian minerals explorer Gold Canyon Resources Inc (GCU.V) said it plans to evaluate rare earth prospects in Finland and Norway, jointly with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC), sending its shares soaring 50 percent to a 16-month high.

The evaluation would be conducted under Gold Canyon’s joint exploration agreement with Japan’s state-affiliated JOGMEC signed earlier this year.

“The Scandinavian Peninsula hosts numerous iron oxide copper gold deposits and is, in fact, the location where a number of the rare earth elements and their natural minerals were first identified or discovered,” Gold Canyon said in a statement.

Deposits which will be evaluated include the Koldal mine, Tellenes mine, and Bidjovagge mine in Norway, and the Raajarvi mine in Finland, the company said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSBNG47404520090915

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Sep 20
2009

From the harbour of the capital of Norway, The Oslo Fjord, you find the most popular recreation area. The fjord is a long gem, 100 km between Færder lighthouse to Oslo, and it is encircled by the country’s most densely populated area. In the summer the fjord comes to life and my wife DianeCA and I often go to our favourite little island for a swim, some tanning and sometimes a little picnic. With my Nokia N82 at hand, I captured one of this quality times with my wife this summer and you’re welcome to join our BBQ feast:

Outdoor recreation on Oslo Fjords islands #1
Grilled chicken with salad and dressing.

This island, Kalvøya (Calf Island) is just 20 minutes from Oslo center by public transportation. Even in this densely populated area in Norway (Oslo: 0.5 mil.), you can find your own, quiet little spot along the fjord to enjoy the tranquillity and fresh air. You’ll also find beaches – sometimes a bit overcrowded to my taste – or less crowded like the nude beach ;-) . Her we found our own little bathing spot and after a relaxing swim, my wife packed out the food for a BBQ and I was the chef:

Outdoor recreation on Oslo Fjords islands #2

Norwegians have a close relationship with boating, and this is evident in the Oslo fjord. In the summer there are boats of all sizes on the fjord, and it is possible to go kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and sailing if you wish to enjoy the outdoors! This is the view from our cook out that day – to me this is by all means; recreational:

Outdoor recreation on Oslo Fjords islands #3

There is a flourishing animal life on this island with a lot of birds, some more intrusive than others. Here are some seagulls enjoying some of our leftovers:

Outdoor recreation on Oslo Fjords islands #4

I just love to be out in the nature, not only in the summer time, but in all four seasons. It’s a way to charge your batteries, to find inspiration and get away from the stressful, urban life. In Oslo, it’s just outside your doorstep you know. As I’ve reported before, this island is recreational in all seasons – have a look:

http://www.terella.no/2009/09/19/outdoor-recreation-on-oslo-fjord-islands/

-> From frozen Paradise to hot summer beaches in Oslo Norway
-> Frozen Paradise

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Trackback  •  Posted in Travel and leisure  


Sep 19
2009

When it comes to design, Norway has always been overshadowed by its Scandinavian neighbours. London Design Festival is its chance to shine.

London Design Festival: One of the new Norwegian icons is the award-winning Oslo Opera House, which will be the centrepoint of an expansive urban development plan in the city?s waterfront Bjørvika area

One of the new Norwegian icons is the award-winning Oslo Opera House, which will be the centrepoint of an expansive urban development plan in the city?s waterfront Bjørvika area Photo: PHILIP SINDEN

We’re having a Norwegian moment. The past 15 years have seen the country transform itself from the poor relation of the Nordic family of nations to one of the richest countries in the world. Thanks in no small part to its abundance of North Sea gas and oil supplies, its economy remains strong in the face of the recession. With the support of a forward-thinking government, its design and architectural industries are thriving domestically and abroad; while in fashion, the Norwegian Peter Dundas is now the creative director of Pucci, and his compatriot Siv Støldal is one of the most highly regarded menswear designers working in London.

For some, the icing on the cake came earlier this year when Norway’s elfin songwriter Alex­ander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest. He even managed a British top-10 hit with his fiddle-riddled Fairytale. Slowly, the clichés of Norwegian imagery and identity – the fjord and the fisherman – are being replaced by architectural marvels and pop stars.

During the London Design Festival, the city will host three shows dedicated to Norwegian design. The largest, 100% Norway, is in its sixth year. With the support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Nor­wegian Design Council, it brings together more than 20 designers and manufacturers. One of its curators is Wallpaper* magazine’s senior editor, Henrietta Thompson, who explains why there is a new focus on Norwegian design and why it has taken so long to happen. ‘Norway doesn’t have the history of producing Aaltos and Jacobsens that Finland and Denmark have,’ she says.

‘These countries took pride in this heritage and invested in design, and the result was a younger generation that was inspired.’ As the world took notice, a universal definition of Scan­dinavian design was created, of which Nor­way became a mere footnote.

‘There was still a strong design movement,’ Thompson continues, ‘but Norway was busy concentrating on other things, such as small, family-run companies producing for a local market rather than for export. It’s not until recently that the Norwegians have thought, “We can do it, too.” It’s a coming of age.’

A German sociologist once referred to Norway as ‘Europe’s biggest folk museum but simultaneously a huge laboratory of the future’, and that is a useful description for much of the work being featured in Thompson’s show.

Although many of the designers take advantage of the latest innovations in materials and processes, there are consistent links to the past and references to nature.

Take the lighting designs of Cathrine Kullberg, who works with impossibly thin strips of blond birch veneer – a material more commonly used to make kits for model planes. She draws scenes of forest life on her computer and then has the images laser-cut into the wood, which is rolled into a drum-shaped shade.

The magic ingredient is the light; when the lamp is turned on, the shade glows and the singed edges of the trees and birds take on a three-dimensional effect.

Tore Brustad is a partner in the Oslo-based design consultancy Permafrost, a four-man outfit whose portfolio has included brand identities for anti-ageing systems and motorcycle companies.

It is modern, graphic and urban stuff, but what is interesting is the direction that Permafrost has taken with its own collection of products, called Stories by Permafrost. As the name suggests, they are designs with a narrative, but the scenarios portrayed are always encounters within nature. Silence is a circular white carpet with rabbit-paw prints cut into the ’snow’, John Deere is a green rug featuring the heavy tread of a tractor, and Bear Hug is made up of bear-shaped rugs that work independently or slot together.

‘Nature is unavoid­able in Norway,’ Brustad says. ‘Even if you take some skateboarding kid in Oslo who’s into graffiti, he would still love the outdoors – skiing and climbing trees. It’s what we do.’

Two further shows next week are dedicated to the country’s creativity. Made in Bergen will show­case six designers based in Nor­way’s westernmost city, and around the corner will be Norwegian Prototypes – experimental pieces by the country’s up-and-coming stars. Take a look around – there may well be a Norwegian Aalto, Panton or Jacobsen among them.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/6197619/London-Design-Festival-2009-Northern-lights.html

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Sep 19
2009

Hywind is anchored 10 kilometres off Karmoy, in south-western Norway. The Hywind pilot is to be tested over a two-year period. It combines technology from both the wind power and oil and gas sectors.

The world's first full-scale floating wind turbine is on stream

StatoilHydro inaugurates floating wind turbine

The world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine – StatoilHydro’s Hywind pilot – is being officially inaugurated in the North Sea. “Today, we’re inaugurating the pilot facility which could help floating wind turbines to make an important contribution in the longer term to meeting the world’s big demand for energy,” says Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for Technology & New Energy (TNE) in StatoilHydro.

Hywind is a good example of the way StatoilHydro’s long experience from the offshore oil and gas business can be applied to tomorrow’s market for renewable energy. The floating wind turbine has been delivered within budget and on schedule.

“We’ve drawn on experience acquired during 30 years on the Norwegian continental shelf to realise this groundbreaking project,” says Gunnar Myrebøe, executive vice president for Projects & Procurement in StatoilHydro.

“In that respect, our close collaboration with the supplies industry has played a key role in the success of the Hywind development.”

StatoilHydro is investing about NOK 340 million in the wind power project, with Enova providing NOK 59 million. The latter is a state-owned company which promotes environment-friendly changes to energy production and use in Norway.

Hywind comprises a 2.3-megawatt wind turbine installed on a traditional floater of the kind previously used for such applications as production platforms and offshore loading.

The turbine has been manufactured by the Siemens Wind Power company in Denmark, while France’s Technip built the floater and Nexans produced and laid the power cable to land.

Following assembly in the Åmøy Fjord near Stavanger, the Hywind pilot was towed in June to a location 10 kilometres south-west of Karmøy island for a two-year test period.

“Floating wind power remains an immature technology, and the road to commercialisation and full-scale construction of wind farms will be long,” says Øvrum.

“Our goal with the Hywind pilot to test how wind energy and waves affect the structure, learn how the operating concept can be optimised and identify technology gaps.”

Hywind

* The tower is 65 metres high, supporting rotors 80 metres in diameter
* The floater has a draught of 100 metres, and is attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread
* Hywind is suitable for water depths of 120-700 metres
* The whole structure weighs 5,300 tonnes
* The pilot is to be tested over two years
* No serious health, safety or environmental incidents have occurred during the Hywind development

The Hywind pilot – next generation wind technology

The Hywind concept combines known technologies in a completely new setting and opens up the possibility for capturing wind energy in deep-water environments.

The floating structure consists of a steel cylinder filled with a ballast of water and rocks. It extends 100 metres beneath the sea’s surface and is attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread.

The turbine itself was manufactured by Siemens. Technip built the floater and was responsible for the installation work offshore. Nexans Norway laid the submarine power line. This comes ashore near Skudeneshavn at the southern end of Karmøy, where local grid operator Haugaland Kraft operates a receiving station.

The primary intention is not to derive revenues from the power generated by Hywind, but to test how wind and waves affect the structure. Once these answers have been obtained, StatoilHydro can work on commercialising the concept. The goal is to reduce costs so that floating wind power can compete in the energy market.

The core expertise acquired by StatoilHydro as a leading operator of offshore oil and gas fields has played a very important part in the development of the Hywind concept.

This expertise, combined with the group’s financial strength and innovative ability, puts StatoilHydro in a good position to develop this project.

About Hywind

Hywind is the world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine. StatoilHydro will test the wind turbine over a two-year period.

The project is a pilot for the Hywind concept, which has been developed by StatoilHydro.

StatoilHydro is investing around NOK 400 million in the construction and further development of the pilot, and in research and development related to the wind turbine concept. The public corporation Enova SF, whose aim is to promote the transition to environmentally friendly energy use and energy production in Norway, has granted NOK 59 million in support for the project.

The wind turbine can be placed at ocean depths of between 120 and 700 metres.

www.statoilhydro.com/en/TechnologyInnovation/NewEnergy/RenewablePowerProduction/Onshore/Pages/Karmoy.aspx

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Trackback  •  Posted in Technology  


Sep 1
2009

Time’s Justin Fox reads what he accurately calls “the amazing tale of Farouk al-Kasim” in Saturday’s Financial Times, and titles his own blog post “How socialized health care made Norway an oil power.” Kasim, an Iraqi petroleum geologist, emigrated from his native land seeking health care for his youngest child, who suffered from cerebral palsy.

But that’s just one part of Martin Sandbu’s fantastic feature. There’s also the section that has state industrial regulation working for the benefit of all.

Most of the oil found in the world is never recovered: the average extraction rate worldwide is around 25 per cent. Norway averages 45 per cent, and for that, Olsen gives al-Kasim much of the credit: he pushed the government to increase extraction rates; insisted that companies try new technologies, such as water injection in chalk reservoirs or horizontal drilling; and threatened to withdraw operating licenses from companies that balked. “It is this culture, a culture of ’squeezing the last drop out,’ which he cultivated,” says Olsen.

…[T]he culture of pursuing the “last drop” brought greater benefits than just money pouring in. It spurred the development of technological expertise that has enabled Norwegian companies to compete with the best in the world. This, then, is a striking case of strong state regulation ultimately benefiting the private sector. “Norway is the only country in the world where the state and the capitalistic entities work together as partners, and the co-operation works, really works,” says al-Kasim.

The Scandinavian welfare state is often explained away as an oddity of culturally homogeneous northern European nations. How much odder is it to learn that an Iraqi petroleum geologist played a critical role in ensuring that Norway has managed its oil resources better than any other country on the planet?

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2009/08/31/the_norwegian_iraqi/index.html

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Trackback  •  Posted in Economics