After a one and a half hour journey from Bergen airport the “Hardangerfjord Express Boat” sails into harbour – a small village set in a green valley below the dramatic mountains that rise steeply behind it.

Here in 1661 Ludwig Rosenkrantz and his young wife Karen began to create a lavish manor house and garden which they called Rosendal and, in 1678, their estate was to be given the unique status of the only Barony in Norway by King Christian V of Denmark and Norway. Today the house and its beautifully kept gardens offer visitors a glimpse of Norwegian history in one of the country’s most spectacular natural settings.

For pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, this is the perfect location for a new chamber music festival, which he launched in August 2016 together with the inauguration of a new concert hall at Baroniet Rosendal Manor House and Gardens. Alongside performances in the manor house itself, the four day festival features concerts on the new stage – a concert hall with 400 seats, converted from an original barn on the estate. Additional evening concerts take place in the white-washed 13th century Kvinnherad church whilst lectures and open discussions are offered during the day.

“One of the joys of creating a festival programme is that it allows you to focus in depth on a particular aspect of a composer’s life and music” commented Leif Ove Andsnes. “In 2016, for the first Rosendal Chamber Music Festival we focused on 1828 – the year of Franz Schubert’s death which was also a year in which the composer wrote some of his most poignantly beautiful music.”

In the years to follow composer focuses have ranged from Mozart (2017) to Shostakovich (2019), Dvořák (2021), Beethoven (2022) and Brahms, whilst the 2018 festival was dedicated to music written “In the Shadow of War, 1914 – 1918.”

The 2024 festival is Leif Ove Andsnes’s most ambitious programme to date, involving more than 60 guest artists. The scene and title is set by Bela Bartók’s Contrasts, which launches a five day exploration into the world of Hungarian music, including works by Liszt, Kodaly and Kúrtag. In direct contrast, and also central to the festival, is the music of J.S. Bach with two performances of the St John Passion featuring the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and an orchestra of internationally renowned baroque players led by Grete Pedersen, as well as further programmes exploring Bach’s secular and chamber music works.

Additional guest artists this summer include Zlata Chochieva and Nikita Khnykin (piano), Masato Suzuki (harpsichord), Vilde Frang and Florian Donderer (violin), Antoine Tamestit (viola), Tanja Teztlaff (cello), Christian Henriksen (doublebass), Quatour Agate, Aleksander Aga Røynstrand (hardanger fiddle), Wenzel Fuchs (clarinet), Ragnhild Lothe (horn), Benedikt Kristjánsson (tenor), Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer (vocal artist and composer) and Ragnhild Gudbrandsen (actress).