This Friday Series
concert with the ISO is entirely devoted to the works of Anna Þorvaldsdóttir.
The concert is held in collaboration with Hallgrímskirkja. The performance starts with the orchestral piece METACOSMOS, in
which beauty and chaos clash. Next is Anna's intimate choral psalm, Heyr þú
oss á himnum á (Hear us in Heaven). Written in 2005, it is a setting of a
psalm by Ólafur of Sandar, a 17th-century priest. Another bewitching poem
setting follows: Ad Genua for soprano, choir, and string orchestra,
based on a text by Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir. Finally, Eva Ollikainen leads the
orchestra in an interpretation Anna's work ARCHORA. Eva also conducted
the world premiere of this piece, at the BBC PROMS in the Royal Albert Hall in
summer 2022. It was performed without organ at a concert in Eldborg the
following autumn, but this time it will sound with the glorious Klais-organ of
Hallgrímskirkja.
Anna
Þorvaldsdóttir
METACOSMOS
Anna
Þorvaldsdóttir
Heyr þú oss á himnum á
(Hear us in Heaven)
Anna
Þorvaldsdóttir
Ad Genua
Anna
Þorvaldsdóttir
ARCHORA
Eva Ollikainen
conductor
Bryndís
Guðjónsdóttir
soloist
Choir of Hallgrímskirkja
Steinar Logi
Helgason
choir director