Førdefestivalen , Førde – Norway, July 3-7, 2024
Erasmo Treglia
Published on www.blogfoolk.com in Italian. AI translation into Norwegian.
It has been more than thirty years since this small town, located between the most beautiful Norwegian fjords (the most famous, the Sognefjord, is only fifty kilometers away), has become a fantastic sounding board for music from all over the world during the first week of July. Førde , with its 12,000 inhabitants, becomes a gathering point for music lovers in Western Norway, and for a small group of music travelers who come here to follow every single concert on the program. In recent editions, the size of the ensembles visiting the festival may have been a little smaller (it is now often a trio or a quintet), but the quality of the artistic program has still been very high. In 2024, the festival has once again shown great variety with some important names from the world music scene, together with new or established projects of great value. Everything takes place in a very simple setting, in the middle of nature, with many accessible concert arenas, and of course always well organized. In short, an event in a completely different world, in every way.
Boubacar Traoré at Larris Stage, Førdefestivalen 2024. Photo: Lieve Boussauw
For example, you might be sitting in the theatre at the festival hotel and listening to the extraordinary Boubacar Traoré, a legend of Mandingo music from Mali. He sits just a few metres from the audience and strums his guitar with a gripping African blues. He has been singing about Bamako and his everyday life as a farmer and shepherd since 1960. A little later, you can experience the historic, but still impressive, Estonian duo Puuluup on the same stage. If you see them on the programme somewhere in Europe, don't miss this surreal show of "zombie folk", as they like to call it. Regardless of the words, you will be impressed by their ability to take a simple and traditional Estonian instrument as a starting point - the three-stringed jouhikko, a fairly simple lyre - and create a concert filled with pure energy, where people sing in chorus, dance and laugh from start to finish (even if you may not fully understand the Anglo-Estonian slang in their presentations).
Scottish Ímar on Celtic festival night, Førdefestivalen 2024. Photo: Knut Utler
In more classical theatres, one could experience Fado Camões by the young Portuguese Lina_, based on her powerful voice, accompanied by a talented pianist and violinist from Eastern Europe. A performance that was well suited for those who love this genre. The Scottish Ímar, with his unique energy, enchanted the audience in Førdehuset with reel and jig. The Ukrainian duo Kurbasy and the new Sahrawi sound of Aziza Brahim also impressed. There was no room to relax either, because surprises could emerge from every single stage, as when the South Korean percussion trio Groove& delivered a fantastic performance. I had already heard them at Womex, but here they once again confirmed their unique ability to combine tradition and improvisation in a very effective way. This trio broke down all prejudices against music that is often seen as difficult to listen to, but which with them became unforgettable!
Groove& - Førdefestivalen 2024. Photo: Lieve Boussauw
We hope to see them one day in Italy, in the same way that we wait to hear the incredible voice of the Turkish-Alevi musician Ali Doğan Gönültaş (his latest album is reported and recommended in issue 652 of Blogfoolk). Live, one is bewitched by his powerful voice, and one cannot resist following the rhythm with a few dance steps when the percussion or clarinet takes over, even if one later discovers that one is dancing to a text filled with great tragedy and emotion. It happened to many who enjoyed one of the most moving pieces in Ali Doğan Gönültaş' repertoire, only to learn from his own voice, after the concert, that the song was about a desperate mother who definitely did not want to dance! But the entire repertoire of Gönültaş must be listened to with an open mind and without the need for many words and explanations.
Gjermund Larsen Trio in Førde church, Førdefestivalen 2024. Photo: Lieve Boussauw.
In other urban spaces, in the park by the riverbank, in the Protestant church and in other places that adorn the map of Førde , the concerts continue, especially from the Nordic scene, and especially from Norway, with its virtuoso musicians and vocalists who always offer very engaging projects. Among these are undoubtedly the Gjermund Larsen Trio, the trio of the young Sami Lavre, Gabriel Fliflet's accordion ensemble and the voices of Synnove Brøndbo Plassen. And the list could go on, because there are many Nordic musicians who fill the festival days with their music, and there are also many opportunities for seminars, workshops, music parades and an extraordinary program of small acoustic concerts in the Jølstra Museum, in Vassenden, the small village by Jølstravatnet.
Among the many names, I would also like to mention the tireless Torill, who coordinates the entire program for the international guests, and especially Hilde, the former festival director who we now, after the change of leadership, find wearing a reflective vest, busy letting the audience in or arranging a room. If you give her a surprised look as if you want to ask how she went from director to volunteer, the answer can only be what she hums to us: "This is Norway, my dear."