Tuesday, 5 December at 12 We welcome you to the last lunchtime concert of the year at Hafnarborg, where the soprano singer will perform. Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, Diddú, guest Antonia Hevesi, pianist and artistic director of the concert series. They will then perform arias and songs by the composers Puccini, Verdi and Aljabiev. The title of the concert this time is „Sparrows and Songbirds“.

Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir, a soprano, began her career in popular music as a member of Spilverki þjóðanna. Diddú studied singing in Reykjavík and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She also undertook postgraduate studies in singing in Italy, and during her time as a student, she won numerous accolades and awards. Diddú has sung major roles in productions at the Icelandic Opera. These include Carmina Burana, Figaró's Wedding, Rigoletto, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, The Wayward One, The love potion and The Bat. She also took part in The Ring of the Nibelung and The Adventures of Hoffmann, which were co-productions of the Icelandic Opera and the National Theatre. In 1992, she then sang in Rigoletto at the Gothenburg Opera. Most recently, Diddú sang the role of the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute and won the Icelandic Music Awards in 2011 as Singer of the Year for her interpretation of the role.

Diddú has acted and sung in various television plays, such as Brekkukots Annals and Silver Tongue, in addition to the films The Hekla Male Choir and Cinema days. She has also recorded numerous CDs and has frequently performed as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, singing with choirs in both religious and secular works. In addition, she has worked with the Reykjavík Big Band and the renowned Russian Terem Quartet. Among the most memorable events of Diddú's career were concerts at Laugardalshöll with José Carreras in 2001, and in 2005 she had the honour of performing with Plácido Domingo at his concert in Egilshöll. Diddú has sung throughout Europe, in the Nordic countries, the United States, Japan, China and Russia. In 1995, Sigrún was made a Knight of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon and in 1997, she was awarded the Finnish Order of the Lion. She was also awarded an honorary prize by Samtóns and the Icelandic Music Awards in 2020.

Antonia Hevesi, a pianist, has been the artistic director of the lunchtime concerts at Hafnarborg since their inception, and they have been a regular feature of the museum's programme since 2003. There, Antonía has been joined by many of the country's leading singers, with the aim of the concerts being to give visitors the opportunity to enjoy live music at their leisure. The lunchtime concerts are usually held on the first Tuesday of each month during the winter season.

The concert starts at 12 noon and will last for about half an hour. The venue opens at 11:30 am and the concert is open to all, subject to capacity. Admission is free.