Tromsø Concert at Arctic Cathedral

Our second excursion on Tuesday (after recuperating from the North Cape early rise) was to a midnight concert at Tromsø's Arctic Cathedral.

Six buses whisked us through the center of Tromsø across the bridge to the cathedral's site on a rise overlooking the port and into the midnight sun. A magnificent presence!

The 45-minute concert ranged from Bach to traditional Norwegian music (particularly Hardanger fiddle), a bit of Bach -- and of course Edvar Grieg -- and some church music. One setting in particular, the Te Deum (Laudamus te) by contemporary Norwegian composer Henning Sommerro was deeply moving as sung by the soprano, Bodil Onsøien, with a rich, dramatic delivery in which even her whisper carried through the cathedral's interior.

Alas, a couple of the other musicians weren't up to her standards, the trumpeter in particular, who couldn't carry out an entry attack to save his life. That took nothing away from my enjoyment of the entire program, however, and I reflected over the music, and a busy, enjoyable day, over an aquavit upon retun to the Trollfjord.