This event has bee postponed. A new date will be announced soon.
Performers:
Bjarni Thor Kristinsson, bass
Eva Þyri Hilmarsdóttir, piano
Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir, mezzo-soprano
Helen Whitaker, flute
Margrét Hannesdóttir, soprano
Þorsteinn Freyr Sigurðsson, tenor
Program:
Clara Schumann: Drei Romanzen, Op. 22
Lili Boulanger: Nocturne
Robert Schumann: Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74
Clara Schumann dedicated Drei Romanzen Op.
22 to the virtuoso violinist Joseph
Joachim in 1853. Him and Robert Schumann performed it regularly. Clara explores
the genre through these three lively and sweet movements in what would be one
of the final works she composed. Although originally written for violin, the
transcription for flute works beautifully, allowing the lyrical lines to shine
through. Lili Boulanger, another pioneering female composer, wrote Nocturne for violin and piano in 1911.
Although famed for being the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, Boulanger’s
work is still relatively unknown. Raised in an equally musical household to
Clara Schumann, Boulanger wrote the Nocturne aged 18. It is inspired by the
magic of the night, where the sparkling piano accompaniment can be heard under
a melody that hovers over like a string of lights. It ends with the two
instruments intertwining whereupon the music goes silent and disappears into
the night. Robert Schumann composed Spanisches
Liederspiel Op. 74 in 1849. The lyrics are Spanish poems from a collection
by Emanuel Geibel. The cycle consists of ten songs for four singers, solos,
duets or quartets accompanied by a piano. The Liederspiel starts with a girl
and a boy spotting each other amongst the roses. The cycle then demonstrates a
dramatic dialogue between them, while bringing out beautiful Spanish rhythms
such as the bolero. The last song in the cycle, Der Kontrabandiste, is a bass
solo and is not really connected to the story. The lyrics are about a smuggler
and his life. This finale brings a vivid and beautiful end to the cycle, and
the music festival Seigla as well.
Bjarni Thor Kristinsson is one of
the best known Icelandic opera singers. His repertoire ranges from Mozart to
Wagner and he has sung in many of the most important opera houses and concert
halls of the world. Born and raised in a small village in Iceland, Garður, he
played the flute and sang in a children's choir and also participated in
amateur theatre in his hometown. At the age of 18, he started playing the
guitar and took his first singing lessons. Bjarni studied with mezzo-soprano
Ragnheiður Guðmundsdóttir. In the 1992 Icelandic Art Festival he sang parts of
Handel's Messiah and later that year he joined the chorus of the Icelandic
Opera in Reykjavík. In 1994, Bjarni graduated from the Reykjavik Singing
School, having studied with the Icelandic tenor Garðar Cortes senior. In 1994
Bjarni moved to Vienna and continued his studies at the opera department of the
Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende
Kunst under the guidance of Helene Carusso and Curt Malm. In 1997 he signed
a three year contract as first bass at the Volksoper in Vienna. Two of Bjarni´s
most important roles are Osmin in Mozart's Abduction from the Serail and Baron
Ochs in Strauss's Rosenkavalier. Bjarni has sung over 80 performances of Ochs
in Wiesbaden, Dortmund, Berlin, Dresden, Köln, Barcelona and Tokio. Bjarni
received the Icelandic music prize Gríman as Singer of the year 2007.
Eva Þyri Hilmarsdóttir graduated
from Reykjavík College of Music, and then furthered her studies in Denmark at
the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, receiving an Advanced Soloist Diploma,
and in The Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with a
Distinction and was awarded a DipRAM and the Christian Carpenter Piano Prize
for an outstanding final recital. Her teachers were Thorsteinn Gauti
Sigurdsson, Halldor Haraldsson, Prof. John Damgaard and Michael Dussek. Aside
from giving solo recitals, Eva Thyri takes an avid interest in chamber music
and lieder. She has given numerous inaugural performances of Icelandic and
foreign compositions, appearing in festivals such as Dark Music Days in
Reykjavik, Ung Nordisk Musik, Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, Young
Composers Symposium, London and Opera Days in Reykjavik. She also participated
in over one hundred recitals dedicated to Icelandic music in the series Pearls
of Icelandic song in Harpa concert house. In 2017 Eva Þyri participated in The
Icelandic Opera’s production of La Voix Humaine by Poulenc, and in December
2018 she and Erla Dóra Vogler, mezzo-soprano, released a cd with works for solo
voice and piano by Jórunn Viðar, in celebration of her 100th birthday. The CD
was nominated as Album of the Year for the Icelandic Music Awards. Eva Þyri
teaches at Iceland University of the Arts alongside performing.
Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir is one of
Iceland’s leading singers and has had a successful career in operatic and
concert scenes around the world. The number of roles she has sung is now about
60. Hanna Dóra has performed recitals and concerts with the Iceland Symphony
Orchestra and others. She has sung various roles at the Icelandic Opera. These
include the title role in Carmen, Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, Donna Elvira
in Don Giovanni, Brothers by Daniel
Bjarnason and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. In 2014, Hanna Dóra received
the Icelandic Music Award and was named "Singer of the Year" for her
interpretation of Princess Eboli. Hanna Dóra places special emphasis on
contemporary music and has worked closely with the composer Snorri Sigfús
Birgisson in recent years. She attracted deserved attention for her performance
of the opera KOK and was nominated for Gríman as Singer of the Year in 2021.
Hanna Dóra is an adjunct and director of singing at the music department of the
Iceland Academy of the Arts.
Helen Whitaker is a critically
acclaimed flautist who enjoys an exciting and varied freelance career. Having
won many prizes and scholarships while studying for a Master’s degree at
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, Helen now divides her
time as a performer and recording artist between the UK and Iceland. She is on
the extras list for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Nord, and her
recent work in Iceland includes performing in the Classical Sundays series at
Harpa, for the University of Iceland concert series, and playing with leading
contemporary music ensemble Caput. She is a featured flautist on many albums,
and has given live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, 4, 6 and FIP Paris among others.
Recent work includes performing contemporary classical repertoire with
ensembles such as the Colin Currie Group, The New Music Players, the Orchestra
of Sound and Light, as well as collaborations with artists such as The Leisure
Society, Ray Davies, Laura Marling, José González and 5 Billion in Diamonds.
Helen co-directs and is principal flautist with ALDAorchestra, which she
founded with composer/conductor Helgi R. Ingvarsson in 2016. Upcoming
highlights include the world premieres of works by Helgi R. Ingvarsson and Jessie
Marino with Helen’s experimental performance group Personal Clutter as well as
a tour across Europe, Japan and the U.S.A with the Colin Currie Group, giving
the world premiere of a new work by Steve Reich.
Margrét Hannesdóttir is a spirited
and dulcet light coloratura soprano. She graduated from Westminster Choir
College (WCC) in May 2013 with an MM in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. Margrét
began her studies in 2006 with Ms. Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir at The Reykjavik
Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts, and then with Ms. Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir at
the Sigurður Demetz Academy of Singing. When studying in WCC Margrét took on
two roles with the Westminster Opera Theatre; the 1st Spirit in the Magic Flute
by Mozart and Oberto in Alcina by Handel. Right after her studies, Margrét had
a short layover back home in Iceland, where she sang solo in Mozart’s Requiem
with the Icelandic Youth Symphony Orchestra. After her studies, Margrét mostly
resided in Germany and Italy, singing at various concerts and taking private lessons
with Joseph Protschka, Margherita Guglielmi, Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni, Dorothea
Schwarz and Stefano Conticelli, to name a few. A year after her graduation,
Margrét sang the role of Norina in Don Pasquale with the opera company L’Opera
Piccola in Germany, where she was described as a charming Norina in the
Wiesbadener Zeitung. Margrét is an ambitious and apt artist, with a keen ear
and mind, who loves to challenge herself. Yet she will light up the room with
her humility and charisma, as a natural performer and skilled singer, making it
all seem effortless.
Þorsteinn Freyr Sigurðsson began his
singing studies in 2005 with Elísabet Erlingsdóttir at Reykjavík Music College.
From 2007 to 2010 he continued his studies at Iceland University of the Arts
with the same teacher. Þorsteinn finished his master’s degree in 2013 at Hanns
Eisler in Berlin, studying with Prof. Scot Weir. After graduation, he furthered
his studies with Prof. Janet Williams, Jón Þorsteinsson and Hlín Pétursdóttir
Behrens. In 2014-2017, Þorsteinn worked at Theater Ulm in South Germany where
he sang many leads. To name a few, Ferrando in Cosi van Tutti, Don Ottavio in
Don Giovanni, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti and Camille de
Rossillon in Die lustige Witwe by Lehár. Þorsteinn is an experienced song
recitalist and has performed widely in Germany and Iceland. Since moving back
to Iceland early 2017, he has participated in an arrange of projects including
Spoletta with the Iceland Opera, multiple song recitals in Harpa and Salurinn,
and is an active member of groups such as Schola Cantorum, Voces Mascolorum and
Rekkvartettinn to name a few.
Seigla festival is made by the Icelandic Schumann Society and is sponsored by Ýlir tónlistarsjóður, Styrktarsjóður SUT og Ruthar Hermanns, Tónlistarsjóður Rannís, Barnamenningarsjóður and Menningarsjóður FÍH.
Students, seniors and members of the Icelandic Schumann Society can get a discounted price at 3000 kr in Harpa's Box Office.
Further information www.seiglafestival.com