Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.01.1996, Blaðsíða 1

Inside this week:
Notes from our readers................
Upcoming Events.......................
Betel Home Foundation ................
Icelandic Sagas and Urban Development.
Children's Corner........ ............
Einar's Anecdotes.....................
110. Árgangur Föstudagur 26. janúar 1996
110th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 26 January 1996
lcelandic
News
Appearing at Notre
Dame Cathedrai:
❖ Kristján Jóh-
annsson, tenor,
will sing in the
Grande Messe
des Morts by
Hector Berlioz,
with the French
Radio Choir and
Orchestra at
Notre Dame
Cathedral in Paris
this month. The
event will be
taped and wi11
most likely be
part of the French
Radio's Easter Program in the spring.
This is Mr. Jóhannsson's first appear-
ance at the cathedral, but he is looking
forward to it. "It will most certainly be
an interesting happening, and after
this I will have sung both at
Hallgrímskirkja and Notre Dame, not
to mention Akureyrarkirkja." Mr.
Jóhannsson has been running a tight
schedule lately. He sang Andrea
Chénier's part in Umbertos Giordanos,
in Chicago and appeared atthe annual
concert at Avery Fischer Hall in New
York which was taped by 400 radio
and T.V. stations worldwide. Other
upcoming events this year are two
opera parts — in Hamburg, Germany,
"Samson and Dalila" by Camille Saint-
Saens and in "Pagliacci" or "The
Jester" by Ruggiero Leoncavallo; in
Zurich, Switzerland — "The Girl from
the Wild West" by Giaxomo Puccini,
and in Berlin, Germany, in a new stage
version of "II Trovatore" by Verdi.
and Seima:
❖ The lcelandic Opera held a concert
recently, featuring Sigrún Eðvaldsdót-
tir, violinist, and Selma Guðmunds-
dóttir, piano. On the program was The
Spring Sonata, by Beethoven,
Chaconne by Tommaso Vitali, Poeme
by Chausson, Danse Espangnole by
Manuel de Falla-Kreisler, as well as six
lcelandic melodies arranged by Atli
Heimir Sveinsson. The two then trav-
elled to the U.S.A. and repeated the
concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.
This year marks the tenth anniversary
of Sigrún and Selma's musical partner-
ship and their CD "Ljúflingslög" issued
in 1993, has now sold 5,000 copies
(gold). This was their first appearance
at Camegie Hall.
CUNNUR ISFBLD
J
lceland Symphony Orchestra
to perform in Orlando,
Sarasota and New York
The Iceland Symphony begins its
North American Debut Tour in
Florida in Februaiy. They wiil be
performing at the Bob Carr Performing
Arts Center in Orlando on February 21,
then at the Van Wezel in Sarasota on
Februaiy 22.
From Florida the orchestra goes to
New York where they will play at
Camegie Hall on Tuesday, February 27.
Ilana Vered will be the soloist in the
Grieg Piano Concerto. The rest of the
program includes Sibeliu’s Second
Symphony and Jon Leifs’ Icelandic
Dances. On the tour the orchestra will
also be playing the Sibelius Violin
Concerto, Carl Nielsen’s Fourth
Symphony, “The Inextinguishable,”
Leifur Thórarinsson’s For, and Páll
Pálsson’s Concerto de Giubileo.
The symphony is under the direc-
tion of Osmo Vánská, who assumed
the directorship in September, 1993.
He is also Music Director of the Lahti
Symphony Orchestra in Finland. Mr.
Vánská’s career began when he won
the International Young Conductor’s
Competition in Besancon, France, in
1982. He has conducted the Helsinki
Philharmonic, the Flanders Royal
Philharmonic, the Orchestre de Paris,
the Prague Radio Symphony, and the
Netherlands Radio Orchestra, among
others. Mr. Vánská won the
“Grammophone Award” for Best
Concerto Recording in 1991. His
recording of the Sibelius “Tempest,”
the first complete recording of that
work, was awarded the Prix Academie
Charles Clos in Paris, March, 1993. Mr.
Vánská is an excellent clarinetist, who
devotes time during each season to solo
and chamber performances on the clar-
inet.
The Iceland Symphony was founded
in 1950 with 40 musicians. Today there
are 70 permanent members of the
orchestra. In 1982 Parliamentary legis-
lation assured federal support. Guest
artists have enriched the orchestra over
the years, most notably Icelandic citi-
zen Vladimir Ashkenazy, composer
Aram Khatchaturian, soprano Teresa
Berganza, as well as such conductors
as Evgeny Svetlanov, André Previn,
and Daniel Barenboim.
The orchestra records on the
Chandos label. Records in its discogra-
phy are: (1) Sibelius: Pelléas et
Mélisande Suite, Movements from
Swanwhite Suite, Incidental Music
from King Christian II; (2) Grieg:
Norwegian Dances, In Autumn
Overture, Old Norwegian Romance,
Erotik; Svendsen: Two Icelandic Melo-
dies; (3) Madetoja: Symphonies 1 & 2;
(4) Rachmaninoff: Act One of Monna
Vanna, Piano Concerto Number 4.
14th Minnesota Scholar
Selected for lceland
Bethany Wiggin is the 1996-97
scholarship recipient and will
begin studies at the University
of Iceland in the fall of 1996. She
becomes the 14th nominee in the stu-
dent exchange which began in 1983.
Bethany is a graduate student in
German at the University with a minor
in Scandinavian Studies. She is cur-
rently studying Old Norse as back-
ground for study in Iceland.
Bethany’s research has focused on
the development of nationalism in
Germany. In Iceland she hopes to con-
duct a comparative study on the devel-
opment of nationalism there. Language
formation and usage of foreign words
in modern Iceland will be a key com-
ponent of her studies. Bethany will
also continue to pursue her interest in
the medieval literature of the country.
Her husband, David Helgerson, is
stationed at the NATO base in Kefla-
vík, an assignment he requested at
Bethany’s urging. She had been hop-
ing she would be selected for this
scholarship and considers herself for-
tunate to be named the 1996 scholar.
Bethany was in Iceland last summer
and again over the Christmas holidays.
Dan Birkholz, last year’s Minnesota
exchangee to Iceland was chairman of
the committee. Others were Professor
Kaaren Grimstead, Dept. of German,
Scandinavian, and Dutch, Terry
Fingerhut, previous exchangee to
Iceland, and Árni Sigurjónsson, schol-
ar from Iceland.
Under terms of the reciprocal stu-
dent exchange, the University of
Iceland covers living expenses and
tuition for the Minnesota students.
The Minnesota-Iceland exchange pro-
gram pays living expenses for the
Icelandic student and the University of
Minnesota provides a tuition scholar-
ship. Students are responsible for their
own transportation costs.
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Númer 2
Number 2
The timing was perfect for Páll
Stefánsson, a photographer
with Iceland Review, when he
snapped this picture of a leaping
humpback while whale watching on
“Skjálfandi Gulf” in a boat from
Húsavík. The whale probably
weighs around 30 tonnes and is
about 17 meters long.
In co-operation with Hotel
Húsavík a poster has been made and
inserted with the 4th issue of
Iceland Review this year. Sub-
scribers worldwide have responded
enthusiastically and expressed their
thrill with the unique shot.
In an interview Páll Stefánsson
said: “I did not realize what hap-
pened until it was all over. The
Humpback came hurtling out of the
sea with accompanying noise and
splash, appearing to glide through
the air and then disappear into the
ocean depths. This lasted only a
moment, but I got the shot when he
was at the highest point.”
“We had been chasing him for a
while; I had already got a shot of the
back fin and the tail a few times,
while he surfaced to breathe, but we
never knew where he would surface
again, and no one expected him to
fly. This was a stroke of luck and I
hardly believed he was on the film”,
Páll added. Hotel Húsavík and
Icelandair received extra copies of
the poster which they intend to use
for Iceland promotions. GI
A Fly ing Whale