Event info

Thursday, 22 June
20.00 Norðurljós Hall, Harpa
Mozart, Pärt, Stravinsky

Arvo Pärt: Fratres W.A.
Mozart: Rondo in D major
Pärt: Spiegel im Spiegel
Mozart: Larghetto and Allegro
Pärt: Mozart-Adagio
Mozart: Piano Quartet No 1
Pärt: Summa Stravinsky: Elegy
Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten
Stravinsky: Concerto for Two Pianos

Víkingur Ólafsson (piano), Julien Quentin (piano) Lars Anders Tomter (viola), István Várdai (cello), Sayaka Shoji (violin), Rosanne Philippens (violin).

Tradition is not necessarily the opposite of freedom. This fact is illustrated by the original and colourful selection of chamber works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Igor Stravinsky and Arvo Pärt that come together in the opening concert of Reykjavík Midsummer Music 2017. While the works of Mozart heard in this concert bear strong witness to the classical style in all its refined glory, they are also represent the freedom of imagination and creative joy that characterised Mozart's musical approach. The same can be said for the music of Igor Stravinsky, whose revolutionary compositions were rooted in a deep understanding of the Western tradition – as can clearly be heard in his fresh and vibrant neoclassical concerto for two pianos, as well as his elegy for solo viola. We also hear some of the first works Arvo Pärt wrote in his new and transcendentally simple tintinnabuli-style. Additionally, we here some of the works in which he plays with the past: his baroque-infused Summa and the enchantingly beautiful Mozart-Adagio.