ÓPERAN HUNDRAÐ ÞÚSUND

WHAT A RIDE!

Two weeks ago a wonderful team of artists and me premiered a new Icelandic Opera, written by composer Þórunn Gréta Sigurðardóttir and poet and author Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Óperan hundrað þúsund and it’s been an amazing time. The opera is written for one soloist and three instrumentalists, so Þórunn composed the music working closely with us, the tones written straight into my throat. We’ve gotten amazing reviews and filled the house and now we’ve got two performances left. I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity, to be part of this incredible art with all the lovely other artists. Here are some pictures and links to reviews.


Some reviews:

Interview with director Salvör Gullbrá Þórarinsdóttir from Morgunblaðið

Five star review from Morgunblaðið


Icelandic Radio: „one of the best shows I’ve seen in Icelandic Theatre in a long time“.

Tímarit Máls og menningar: Óperan hundrað þúsund er frumlegt, grípandi og metnaðarfullt verk sem enginn óperuunnandi ætti að missa af.


Reykjavík Early Music Festival

A few fab musicians and me just started a new festival in Iceland. It’s an international baroque music festival, took place a few days before Easter and was a raving success!

Reykjavík Early Music Festival is the first international early music festival in Reykjavík and the inaugural edition was 26th-28th March 2024 in Harpa Concert Hall. The festival team, led by artistic director and violinist Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, created a unique platform for the collaboration of Icelandic and international music groups that specialize in historical performance practice. 

The festival offers a varied program with both up-and-coming and world-renowned musicians who performed in four evening concerts over three days. Amaconsort and Consortico presented exciting chamber music programmes, the Polish baroque orchestra Arte dei Suonatori performed with superstar violinist Rachel Podger, and Iceland’s leading early music ensemble Barokkbandið Brák was joined by the amazing soloists: French cellist Vladimir Waltham, violinist Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir and myself. Rachel Podger also gave an open masterclass organized in collaboration with MÍT music College and LHÍ, the Iceland University of the Arts, in Norðurljós, Harpa. 

The festival is definitely here to stay - see you there next year!

A review from Morgunblaðið for our opening concert - it got 6 out of 5 stars!

Cheers from Reykjavík

Hi there! I’ve been so bad at updating my website lately, I’m sorry. But I just stopped by to announce these cool news:

Nocturne for electric sounds, alto-flute and soprano voice is online!
The piece by Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson was premiered at ErkiTíð, an Icelandic computer- and electronic music festival, last November. Hjálmar composed this piece in the 70’s, made all the electric sounds on a huge computer in Utrecht (at the Institute for Sonlogy), but it was never performed - probably because technically it was very demanding! Finally, Kjartan, the artistic director of ErkiTíð, pushed Hjálmar to finish the music for his festival. So Hjálmar brought Áshildur Haraldsdóttir, flautist, and me in, and finally this amazing piece was premiered in Hafnarhús, Reykjavík Art Museum on the 27th of November.

Recently ErkiTíð won the Icelandic Music Award as Musical Event of the Year, and around that time Nocturne made it’s way to the streaming services. It’s available on Tidal, Spotify and YouTube, and probably some other places. This is the live recording from the concert. I loved performing this, there was a lot of freedom and playfulness, but I’ve since listened a few times and I really enjoy it immensely, especially played very loud in a good sound system. Enjoy!

(p.s. Fun fact: In the beginning, mixed with the electronics is a recording of my father playing the flute, recorded in 1977. See if you can recognize it in this whole soundworld!)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dear friends, I wish you all a calm and lovely holidays, and hopefully a happy christmas time, full of fresh air, meetings with friends and family, and of course music!

This morning BBC Radio 3 broadcast our November 2021 performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio on the overnight programme at 3.00am UK/Iceland time. It is now available on demand here for the next 30 days. I loved hearing my name on BBC radio I must say! Please enjoy:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248
Herdis Anna Jonasdottir (soprano), Alex Potter (counter tenor), Benjamin Glaubitz (tenor), Johann Kristinsson (bass), Motet Choir of Hallgrim's Church, Reykjavík International Baroque Orchestra, Hordur Askelsson (conductor),

Another jump-in

I’m back in Bielefeld, for one show of the wonderful Die Entführung aus dem Serail production I did here in the springtime. Can’t wait to see my wonderful colleagues again and sing some Mozart! Tomorrow I fly back to Iceland for a few days, to sing a very different kind of music at the Icelandic Electronic and Computer Festival. More info to come here soon, off to work!

Der Goldene Hahn in Coburg

Last week I got the offer to jump on a train to Coburg and sing the Queen of Schemacha in a new production by Bernhard F. Loges of The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Of course I said yes, meaning I had to learn a whole new version of the role I sang about 8 years ago in Saarbrücken, a different translation of the text. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed it very much, working with wonderful colleagues, singers and dancers.

Premiere was last Sunday and I get to sing the second show as well next Thursday, the 3rd of November.

Norderney - Sea Sounds Festival

The wonderful chamber orchestra Orchester im Treppenhaus hosts a festival on the german island Norderney in the North Sea every summer. The musicians spend about a month there, hosting over 50 concerts and various events, incl. concerts for schoolchildren and singalongs. They invited me to come this year and sing a concert at The Sea Sounds Festival with fabulous young pianist Alexander Vorontsov and we sang and played a very colourful program there at the end of August.

We played a few Icelandic and nordic songs, then some Debussy and Strauss and mixed in a few arias, Glitter and be gay and such fun.
If you have a chance to hear Alexander live in concert, I strongly recommend that you do, he’s a wonderful pianist. Unfortunately I don’t have any videos or recordings from this lovely evening, but here are a few pictures.

Ljúft og létt með Dísu og Bjarna

In June, July and August, Gljúfrasteinn - Laxness Museum, hosts weekly concerts, every Sunday, and today at 16h, Bjarni Frímann and I will perform a little lovely program, full of wonderful music by Barber, Bernstein, Guastavino, Strauss, Weill, Poulenc and many others.

Gljúfrasteinn was the home of writer Halldór Laxness (Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955) and his family for more than half a century. The author’s home is preserved just as it was when he lived and worked there and now hosts a museum, dedicated to Laxness’s life and work.

Ó EILÍFI FOSS SEM RAMBAR Á FOSSVEGUM GUÐS

SUNDAY the 26th of June - HAFNARBORG SONGFESTIVAL

Last Sunday of June we premiered a new work by Kolbeinn Bjarnason, written to ten poems by beloved Icelandic author Steinunn Sigurðardóttir. Written for two singers and a small ensemble, I performed this world premiere with Mezzo-soprano Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir and Ensemble Caput and Guðni Franzson.

The music is full of humour, nature and beauty, in line with Steinunn’s poetry. Here are some snapshots from the lovely concert, 📷Francisco Javier Jáuregui Narváez.

Blonde in Bielefeld

I have just arrived in Bielefeld to rehearse and sing Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the most wonderful creative team. I’m jumping in, so the production is quite far along, but it’s very interesting and exciting, so I’m happy to jump straight in. Shows are:

- Premiere - 04.06.2022 at 19:30
06.06.2022 at 19:30
09.06.2022 at 19:30
16.06.2022 at 19:30
19.06.2022 at 15:00

CONDUCTOR: Alexander Kalajdzic
DIRECTOR: Anna Bernreitner
BÜHNE UND KOSTÜME: Eva-Maria van Acker

KONSTANZE: Dimitra Kotidou
BELMONTE: Andrei Skliarenko
BLONDE: Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir
PEDRILLO: Lorin Wey
OSMIN: Yoshiaki Kimura / Moon Soo Park
BASSA SELIM: Nikolaj Alexander Brucker

MIT: Bielefelder Opernchor / Statisterie des Theaters Bielefeld / Bielefelder Philharmoniker

Busy days ahead

Next week will be very busy for me, with nothing less but 5 concerts,
but thankfully only two - FABULOUS - programs!

My dear friend and fantastic musician Bjarni Frímann and I will perform our demanding fin de siècle program, Wednesday the 23rd of February.

The concert is a part of a new concert series, called Syngjandi í Salnum - Singing in Salurinn. (Salurinn is a lovely music hall in Kópavogur’s Culture House.)

We have chosen 3 Opus numbers to focus on:

Debussy L60 - Ariettes oubliées
Richard Strauss, Opus 68 - Brentano Lieder
Rachmaninoff, Opus 38 - 6 Romances

And then The Iceland Symphony's ever-popular Viennese concerts are back on the schedule! Tenor Gissur Páll Gissurarson is well known to Icelanders for his singing and has performed with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra several times in recent years. I look forward to working with him, as well as the symphony’s conductor-in-residence, Kornilios Michailidis, these four evenings in Eldborg, Harpa.
Eva Ollikainen, the symphony’s chief conductor was supposed to boss us around, but something has just come up and Kornilios will thankfully step in.

Vienna concerts:

24 Feb 2022 » 19:30
25 Feb 2022 » 19:30
26 Feb 2022 » 16:00 and 19:30.

Holidays are coming - with Bach of course!

I’m very much looking forward to singing this beautiful music with this wonderful choir, Mótettukórinn, next Sunday. Hörður Áskelsson, who founded the choir and has conducted it ever since, is and has been a leading force in the Icelandic music scene for years, especially in sacred music. With his wife Inga Rós at his side, he has built up magnificent music life, both around the unique Klais-organ in Hallgrímskirkja as well as with his two outstanding choirs. Hörður was also instigator of the founding of the Friends of the Arts Society of Hallgrímskirkja (now Reykjavík) and he established the Festival of Sacred Arts, a biannual event on the cultural scene in Iceland and the Summer the Organ concert series in Hallgrímskirkja.

I’ve been so lucky to often sing with Hörður, mostly performing old music, but also premiering Mysterium by Hafliði Hallgrímsson. But our collab started when blue-eyed me moved to Reykjavík to study (yeeeears ago), and I was a member of the Mótettukórinn. It was such an exciting and fun time and I have many amazing memories, at the top: singing the Frank Martin Mass for double Choir, all the coffee breaks and the celebrating! Looking forward to Sunday, hope to see you there!

Sunday 28th of November at 17h.

Performers:
The Motet Choir in Reykjavik
The Reykjavik International Baroque Orchestra
Concertmaster Tuomo Suni
Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir soprano
Alex Potter counter-tenor
Benjamin Glaubitz tenor
Jóhann Kristinsson bass
Hörður Áskelsson Conductor

Reykholt Festival on the radio

Last two Sundays the Icelandic Radio has been broadcasting their recordings from the wonderful Reykholt festival where I sang at all four concerts this last July. The first concert I sang a bunch of crazy arias, and the second Programm was Icelandic and Russian songs. Click here for the aria conert and here for the Lied Program. Enjoy!

Friday program:

Ambroise Thomas (1811-1896): Je suis Titania,  Philine’s aria from Mignon 

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864): Ô beau pays de la Touraine,  Marguerite’s aria from Les Huguenots 
Ombre légère qui suis mes pas, Dinorah’s aria from Le pardon de Ploërmel

 Franz Lehár (1870-1948): Ich möcht wieder einmal die Heimat seh’n, Heimatlied from Das Land des Lächelns

 Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém, from Rusalka

 Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Quando m’en vo, Musetta’s aria from La Bohème 

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848): Prendi per me sei libero,  Adina’s aria from L’elisir d’amore

 Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): Glitter and be gay, Cunegonde’s aria from Candide

Saturday program:

Þórarinn Guðmundsson (1896-1979): Kveðja (Bjarni Þorsteinsson)

 Emil Thoroddsen (1898-1944): Sáuð þið hana systur mína (Jónas Hallgrímsson)
Vöggukvæði (Jón Thoroddsen)

 Jón Þórarinsson (1917-2012): Siesta (Steinn Steinarr)

 Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson (1952): Hjá fljótinu (Hannes Pétursson)

 Páll Ísólfsson (1893-1974): Kossavísur (A.von Chamisso - ísl þýðing Jónas Hallgrímsson)

 Árni Thorsteinsson (1870-1962): Nafnið (Steingrímur Thorsteinsson) 

 Jón Nordal (1926): Hvert örstutt spor (Halldór Kiljan Laxness)

 Jórunn Viðar (1918-2017): Vorljóð á Ýli (Jakobína Sigurðardóttir)

 Þjóðvísa/Jón Þórarinsson (1917-2012): Fuglinn í fjörunni (Þjóðvísa)

 Magnús Bl. Jóhannsson (1925-2005): Krummavísur (Jón Thoroddsen) 

 Atli Heimir Sveinsson (1938-2019): Það kom söngfugl að sunnan (Þýsk þjóðvísa, ísl. þýðing Þorsteinn Gylfason)

 Halldór Smárason (1989): Húsið mitt (Sigurður Pálsson)

 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943):
V Molchan’I Nochi Tainoy (Afanasíj Afanas’évítsj Fét)
Margaritki (Ígor’ Severjanín) 
Son (Fjodor Sologúb) 
Zdes’ khorosho (Glafíra Adol’fovna Galína)

​

La traviata on tour!

Here we finally are, in Akureyri, to put up a show! We have our first rehearsal at Hof later today and I can’t wait. A few weeks ago I came here for a TV interview, I’m sorry, it’s in Icelandic, but at least the aria is in Italian ;)

New release

Recently, composer Haukur Tómasson released our recordings of his amazing piece Niður, þytur, brak, or Murmur, whiz, squeak. These are six songs he originally wrote in 2007 for me, accordion and 3 percussionists, but this version has a string quartet instead of the accordion.

Musicians: Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir, Sigurður Bjarki Gunnarsson, Hávarður Tryggvason, Steef van Oosterhout, Eggert Pálsson and Pétur Grétarsson, conducted by Guðni Franzson. Stúdíó Sýrland recorded.

The powerful poems are by Sjón, all from his book Myrkar fígúrur (obscure figures) and I find Haukur has put them into music perfectly. This is only available online, and here you can have a listen, enjoy!