Event info

Beethoven’s Fate Symphony – Iceland Symphony
1. Mar » 19:30 Eldborg | Harpa

CONDUCTOR
Eivind Aadland

SOLOIST
Baiba Skride

PROGRAM
Jónas Tómasson Sinfóníetta II
Robert Schumann Violin Concerto
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony no. 5, “Fate”

Beethoven’s “Fate” Symphony is one of the most famous musical compositions of all time. “Thus Fate knocks at the door!” Beethoven is supposed to have said about the opening gesture that is so well known to listeners today. This concert is led by Norwegian conductor Eivind Aadland, whose collaboration with the Iceland Symphony always gets marvellous results.

Latvian violin virtuoso Baiba Skride first came to Iceland in 2015, when she performed Beethoven’s Violin Concerto so masterfully that she was immediately invited back. This time she performs the seldom-heard Schumann Violin Concerto, one of the composer’s last pieces. The work waited more than 80 years for its first performance and was relatively unknown until virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin began performing it widely. This is the Icelandic premiere of Schumann’s forgotten concerto.

Jónas Tómasson is a prolific composer whose works include several sinfoniettas inspired by Iceland’s natural surroundings. This programme features the premiere of his Sinfóníetta II, which bears the subtitle “Laxárdalur – to Sigga” and is dedicated to the composer’s wife, Sigríður Ragnarsdóttir