Event info

The Reykjavík Opera Choir together with a symphony orchestra and soloists will perform the Mozart Requiem in Harpa’s Eldborg hall on Monday, January 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Requiem in D minor, K. 626, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is one of the most influential and well-known compositions in music history. Mozart composed the piece in 1791, but was unable to finish it. In the 6th movement of the work, Lacrimosa, after starting the first eight bars, Mozart died. His friend and student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, completed the piece based on Mozart's sketches and made it the masterpiece we know today. This amazing work is reminiscent of his best stage works in terms of dramatic power, but where Mozart's operas are about the beauty and challenges of life, his Requiem is devoted to death and it´s mysteries.

The Reykjavík Opera Choir is one of the leading choirs in Iceland and has been an important part of the country's musical life for many years. The choir was founded to perform masterpieces of opera and classical music to Icelanders. He has performed at numerous musical events and performed projects in the field of opera, oratorios and other masterpieces for choir and orchestra in Iceland and abroad.

Aron Axel Cortes is the current director of the Reykjavík Opera Choir, and succeeded his father, Garðar Cortes, who had led the choir with great ambition and skill for decades. Garðar was one of the most respected opera singers and conductors in the country, and laid the foundation for the choir's ambitious activities. Aron Axel has continued this same direction and added a new vision and approach to the management of the choir, with an emphasis on diversity and excellent musical performance.

Mozart Requiem performed by the Reykjavík Opera Choir together with the Symphony Orchestra and soloists will this time be performed in Harpa's Eldborg Hall on the composer's birthday. 

The concert will be dedicated to the memory of deceased loved ones.

The concert lasts about 1 hour with no intermission.

Performers
Hanna Ágústa Olgeirsdóttir, soprano
Sigríður Ósk Kristjánsdóttir, mezzo-soprano
Kolbeinn Jón Ketilsson, tenor
Kristinn Sigmundsson, bass
Reykjavík Opera Choir
Symphony Orchestra, concertmaster: Una Sveinbjarnardóttir
Conductor: Aron Axel Cortes