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The Arts Intel Report

Journey Without Destination: The Iceland Symphony at the Dark Music Days Festival

January 27, 2022
Austurbakki 2, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland

The glaciers may be vanishing before our eyes, but Harpa, Reykjavík’s 10-year-old concert hall, commands the waterfront like a freshly calved iceberg that won’t melt in our lifetime. The auditorium housed in this stunning, calmly irregular glass box boasts superlative acoustics. The institutional philosophy is cosmopolitan (and the programming leaves ample space for local voices). This evening’s “Journey Without Destination” introduces new orchestral scores by the composers Áskell Másson, Haukur Tómasson, Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir, Sveinn Lúðvík Björnsson, and Kjartan Ólafsson—quite a haul. Ólafsson’s piece is dedicated to the memory of Finland’s Einojuhani Rautavaara, a spiritual grandfather to no end of this generation’s Nordic composers. Ville Matvejeff conducts. —M.G.

Iceland Symphony Orchestra at Harpa. Photo: Ari Magg.