Red Hot Fire and Cool Blue Ice Blew Me Away in Iceland

Icelandic tenor, Benedikt Kristjansson and Norwegian pianist, Mathias Halvorsen.

Photo courtesy of Íslenska óperan (The Icelandic Opera)

Kunstpasa with Benedikt Kristjansson, tenor, and Mathias Halvorsen, piano, Harpa Centre, Reykjavik, Iceland, May 2023.

Review by Anne Cee

A few days in Iceland this week gave me the chance to drop in on an event in Iceland’s iconic concert centre, Harpa. How fortunate I was to learn that Icelandic tenor, Benedikt Kristjansson and Norwegian pianist, Mathias Halvorsen would be collaborating to perform pieces by Iceland’s Jon Leifs and Britain’s Benjamin Britten. These acclaimed twentieth century composers, conductors and pianists left a musical legacy which still captures the characters of their respective countries beautifully when performed in a stunning waterfront concert hall a century later.

The Iceland Opera company (Iskenska Operan) brought together the magical Kristjansson-Halvorsen duo for a stirring performance of two sets with different but complimentary moods, each of which was introduced by Kristjansson much to the enjoyment of the adoring and amused audience. As I don't know any Icelandic, I couldn’t follow the chat or anecdotes but the laughter from the full hall seemed warm and genuine, and filled the atmosphere with a friendly conviviality.

Benedikt Kristjansson and Mathias Halvorsen at Iceland's Harpa Centre.

Photo courtesy of Photo courtesy of Íslenska óperan (The Icelandic Opera)

Each set consisted of a number of short pieces. First the Leifs’ set took us through the emotional equivalent of a range of therapeutic hot and cold plunge pools that seemed to echo the Icelandic natural spa experience – shocking and soothing in similar measure as we transitioned from one haunting reflection on to the next experience which is perhaps kinder, softer and then dropping into the depths of a dark and haunting cave of fear and despair before emerging again into blazing sunlight and the salve of the cool blue ocean. I definitely felt I’d had the Icelandic ‘fire and ice’ experience all from the comforting womb of the black and pink concert hall.

Kristjansson and Halvorsen offered exceptional performances that moved from silken flowing golden syrup through to the terrifying freefall through space. Both offered technical perfection. In particular, Kristjansson had an ability to send his voice over the audience and absorb each person into his domain, claiming their emotions as his own, much like a lava flow might creep over a landscape and leave it richer and changed forever.

Benedikt Kristjansson and Mathias Halvorsen.

Photo courtesy of Photo courtesy of Íslenska óperan (The Icelandic Opera)

The Britten set evoked a different aesthetic – one much more familiar to me, ranging from The Minstrel Boy, to Dear Harp of my Country and finishing with the wonderful Last Rose of Summer. Perfect diction sent the songs out to tell their stories of love, loss and whimsy in the English countryside, leaving my skin tingling and my admiration maxed out.

I hope to encounter Kristjansson and Halvorsen closer to home in the future.