Iceland Symphony demonstrates its mettle in UK debut tour

By Mark Pullinger, 11 February 2020

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Reviewed at Cadogan Hall, London on 10 February 2020

Bizet, L'Arlésienne, Suite no. 2: Pastorale

Bizet, L'Arlésienne, Suite no. 1: Carillon

Bizet, L'Arlésienne, Suite no. 1: Minuet

Bizet, L'Arlésienne, Suite no. 1: Adagietto

Bizet, L'Arlésienne, Suite no. 2: Farandole

Ravel, Piano Concerto in D major for the left hand

Scriabin, Nocturne in D flat major for piano left hand, Op.9 no.2

Thorvaldsdottir, Aeriality

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Montagues and Capulets

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Young Juliet

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Masks

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: The Street Awakens

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Five Couples

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Dance with Mandolins

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: The Death of Tybalt

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Romeo at Juliet's Tomb

Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet: Juliet's death

Walton, Henry V: Touch her soft lips and part

Elgar, The Wand of Youth Suite No. 2 for orchestra, Op.1b: Wild Bears

Yeol Eum Son, Piano

Iceland Symphony Orchestra

Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor

Deep space to Romantic sweep: Hough and the Iceland Symphony

David Karlin, 20th April

Sir Stephen Hough produces a memorable piece of pianism in Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Metacosmos will have converted some contemporary music sceptics.

****1

Ólafsson, Adès and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra kickstart the planet

Stephen Pritchard, 18th November

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra opens its season with a dazzling showpiece by Thomas Adès.

****1

Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Gothenburg

Dominic Lowe, 19th April

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra's tour to the acoustically excellent Göteborgs konserthus in Sweden for a concert of Sibelius, Strauss and Thorvaldsdóttir was an obvious success, demonstrating an orchestral sound that deserves to be heard abroad more often.

****1

Iceland Symphony's Scenic Debut

Paul Kilbey, 22nd August

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra give an assured performance in their debut concert at the Proms, most successfully in the new compositions of their compatriots.

***11

Dark Music Days in Reykjavik

Sofia Nyblom, 30th January

For 24 years, the festival of Dark Music Days has fuelled imagination with contemporary music, thanks to the initiative of the Icelandic Composer’s Union. And with the advent of a glamorous concert hall in the midst of crisis and bankruptcy, the glittering Harpa, the crowds have grown in numbers every year.

Musik wie Feuer und Eis: das Iceland Symphony Orchestra in München

David Renke, 12th November

Das Programm kombinierte eisige Musik aus dem Norden und russisches Feuer mit Werken von Grieg, Bjarnason und Tschaikowsky, mit Vikingur Ólafsson als Solist.

****1

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.