Tuesday, 6 December at 12 noon will the soprano singer Thóra Einarsdóttir appear at the last lunchtime concert of the year at Hafnarborg, along with Antonia Hevesi, pianist. In the run-up to Christmas, they will perform well-known and lesser-known Ave Marias by Bach, Gounod, Caccini, Lorenc, Gomez and Verdi, each of which has an interesting story.
Thóra Einarsdóttir studied at the Reykjavík College of Singing and at the Opera Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but she has also completed an MA in Art Education from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Thóra began her career after graduating with Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995. She has since worked widely, for example at the English National Opera, Opera North, Opera Factory, and the opera houses in Mannheim, Nuremberg, Darmstadt, Berlin, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Prague, Salzburg, Bologna, Malmö and Wiesbaden, where she was a permanent member of the company for eight years. She has also sung numerous roles at the Icelandic Opera, as well as roles in new operas by Harrison Birtwhistle, Simon Holt, Sunleif Rasmussen and Gregory Frid, Gunnar Þórðarson and Daníel Bjarnason.
Thóra has specialised in lute song and has taken part in the performance of numerous sacred works. She has performed at concerts around the world with renowned orchestras, including at the Barbican Hall, Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Berliner Dom, the Philharmonie am Gasteig, the Kennedy Center in Washington and the Weil Recital Hall in New York. She has also recorded numerous recordings both at home and abroad. She sang the role of Mimi in the first complete recording of Offenbach's opera Vert-Vert, released by Opera Rara in London. She has received numerous accolades and awards for her singing and has been honoured with the Icelandic Order of the Falcon and the Order of the Dannebrog. Thóra is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Music, Performing and Visual Arts at the Iceland Academy of the Arts.
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.