Icelandic Symphony Orchestra

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra (Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands; ISO) is a symphony orchestra based in the Icelandic capital Reykjavík . The orchestra is based in the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík. It consists of around 90 full-time musicians. From 2016 to 2019, Yan Pascal Tortelier was chief conductor. From 2020, his successor will be the Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen .

The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra goes back to the Ensemble Reykjavík Orchestra (Hljómsveit Reykjavíkur), which originally performed in Reykjavík in the 1920s. In the period before that, there was no classical music culture in Iceland that could be found in a comparative way in continental Europe. The first appearance of a classical symphony orchestra in Iceland was that of the Hamburg Philharmonic in 1926 in Reykjavík. In 1950, financially supported by the Icelandic state, the city of Reykjavík and the Icelandic Radio, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra was founded.

musical direction

The previous chief conductors have been: Olav Kielland (Norway), Bohdan Wodiczko (Poland), Karsten Andersen (Norway), Jean-Pierre Jacquillat (France), Petri Sakari (Finland), Osmo Vänskä (Finland), Rico Saccani (United States of America) ), Rumon Gamba (Great Britain), Ilan Volkov (Israel) and Yan Pascal Tortelier (France). Honorary conductors are Vladimir Ashkenazy and Osmo Vänskä. From 2020 Eva Ollikainen (Finland) will be the chief conductor .

Concert and recording activities

In addition to around 60 concerts a year, including regular school and family concerts, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra organizes the Tectonics Festival, among other things. Under the leadership of Ilan Volkov , this project was organized for the first time in Reykjavík in March 2012 and now has branches in Australia, Israel and Scotland. The festival is dedicated to contemporary music of various styles. At the Tectonic-Reykjavík Festival 2014, the focus is on the American composer Alvin Lucier . The concerts taking place in the Harpa Concert Hall will be broadcast live on Icelandic Radio. The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra regularly records works or collections of works under the BIS Records, Chandos Records and Naxos Records labels.

For the 2008 recording of part of Vincent d'Indy's orchestral works, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and its then conductor Rumon Gamba were nominated for the Grammy Award 2009 in the category "Best Orchestral Performance".

Discography (selection)

  • Skálmöld and Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands 2013
  • Vincent d'Indy: Orchestral Works 1 (Jour d'été à la montagne, Op. 61; La Forêt enchantée, Op. 8; Souvenirs, Op. 62). Conductor: Rumon Gamba. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10464) 2008
  • Vincent d'Indy: Orchestral Works 2 (Symphony No. 2, Op. 57; Tableaux de voyage, Op. 36; Karadec, Op. 34). Conductor: Rumon Gamba. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10514) 2009
  • Vincent d'Indy: Orchestral Works 3 (Istar, Op. 42; Choral varie, Op. 55; Symphony No. 3, Op. 70; Sinfonia brevis de Bello Gallico; Au Commandant E. de Pampelonne; Diptyque mediterraneen, Op. 87 ). Soloist: Sigurður Flosason. Conductor: Rumon Gamba. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10585) 2010
  • Vincent d'Indy: Orchestral Works 4 (Poeme des rivages, Op. 77; Italian Symphony). Conductor: Rumon Gamba. Concertmaster: Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10660) 2011
  • Malcolm Williamsson: volume 1 (Santiago de Espada (1956); Suite from 'Our man in Havana' (1963/1966); Concerto Grosso; Sinfonietta). Conductor: Rumon Gamba. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10359) 2006
  • Malcolm Williamson: volume 2 (Elevamini (A Symphony [No.1]); Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell; Symphony No. 5 "Aquerò"; Lento for Strings). Conductor: Rumon Gamba. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 10406) 2007
  • Jón Leifs: Viking's Answer (Víkingasvar), Op. 54; The Lay of Helgi the Hunding-slayer (Helga kviða Hundingsbana), Op. 61; Gróa's Spell (Grógaldr), Op. 62; Jónas Hallgrímsson in memoriam (Jónasar minni Hallgrímssonar), Op. 48; Spring Song (Vorvísa), Op. 46; Landfall - Overture (Landsýn - forleikur), Op. 41; Iceland Cantata (Þjóðhvöt - Íslandskantata), Op. 13. Conductor: Hermann Bäumer. BIS - CD-1080 DIGITAL 2004
  • Kalinnikov: Sinfóníur no. 1 and 2 (Sinfónía nr. 1 í G minor; Sinfónía nr. 2 í A dúr). Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy. EXTON OVCL-00129 2003
  • Leifur Þórarinsson: Portrait. Conductor: Petri Sakari. Íslensk tónverkamiðstöð 1992 ITM 7-05
  • Leevi Madetoja: Sinfónía no.1 op.29 (Leevi Madetoja: Sinfónía no.1 op.29; Sinfónía no.2 op.35). Conductor: Petri Sakari. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 9115) 1992
  • Jean Sibelius: Pelléas et Melisande, svíta op. 46 (from it by Swanwhite svítu op. 54; from it by King Christian II, op. 27). Conductor: Petri Sakari. CHANDOS RECORDS (CHAN 9158) 1993

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Orchestra. Iceland Symphony Orchestra, accessed February 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b The History of ISO. Iceland Symphony Orchestra, archived from the original on March 18, 2014 ; accessed on June 4, 2014 .
  3. ^ Tectonics festival. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014 ; Retrieved June 4, 2014 .
  4. ^ Aaron Green: 2009 Grammy Nominations for Classical Music. About.com Classical Music, archived from the original on July 11, 2014 ; accessed on June 4, 2014 .