Art lives on in Hafnarborg this summer – Free concerts today

Hafnarborg is open in the summer. 

Summer is the time at Hafnarborg – or especially this lovely summer. The Song Festival is currently underway, held for the tenth time this summer. Family concerts, with free entry, will take place today at 5 pm! Come and join in.

The festival's opening concert received top marks from the critic of Morgunblaðið, five stars. There are also two exhibitions currently on show at Hafnarborg, and Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson's exhibition Big world ****1/2 star in Morgunblaðið the other day.

„Yes, the summers are just as big in Hafnarborg as the winters. There is a very full programme and Helgi's exhibition encompasses the song festival,“ says Aldís Arnardóttir, director of Hafnarborg and curator.

„It's unique to be at a concert but at the same time in the middle of a show. It gives a different feel and a different effect,“ she says. „So the review before the opening concert was so glowing and it set the tone for the programme ahead. It finishes with a bang this weekend with an opera gala, our finest people, on Sunday,“ she says. „The weekend is looking good.“

Aldís says the exhibitions are open as usual, and the museum is open from 12-17 every day except Tuesdays. A review in Morgunblaðið states that Helgi's methods in his painting are thought-provoking and that he has, in fact, maintained the same techniques for a long time. „Although some of the pictures appear to be carefully crafted and polished in their finish, on closer inspection one can see the heavy work of thick brushstrokes that seem to push the paint across the canvas; here the painter is in a physical and even agonising relationship with the medium.“ This description is interesting. Isn't it worth coming and seeing if you can see it too!

The judgment states as follows:„Big world is a strong exhibition that confirms Helgi Þorgils Friðjónsson's status as one of the country's most prominent painters.“

And back to the singing festival at Hafnarborg. As Morgunblaðið has reported, the initiative has not only brought together different artistic disciplines but has also offered a masterclass for young singers and singing students, and a singing workshop for children, to name but a few. Critic Magnús Lyngdal Magnússon points out that the festival won the Icelandic Music Awards for Music Festival of the Year 2020. And we can safely say that the festival is not slowing down.

Magnús describes the debut concert of the pianist Simon Lepper and the soprano Sally Matthews as an experience. „Such a gift is not given to all artists.“

The singing festival runs until 28th June, so it's the weekend to aim for. For those of you who enjoy music, you can catch these concerts:

• Friday, 26th June at 5 p.m.
  

  Family concert (free admission)

  Solveig Óskarsdóttir, singer
  Sævar Helgi Jóhannsson, pianist

• Saturday, 27th June at 5 p.m.
  

  The Eternal Song

  Guðrún Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir, mezzo-soprano
  Halldóra Ósk Helgadóttir, soprano
  Thóra Kristín Gunnarsdóttir, pianist
  Bjargey Birgisdóttir, violinist
  Sólveig Steinþórsdóttir, violinist
  Fidel Atli Quintero Gasparsson, violist
  Júlía Mogensen, cellist
  Francisco Javier Jáuregui, guitarist

• Sunday, 28th June at 5 p.m.
  

  Opera gala

  Harpa Ósk Björnsdóttir, soprano
  Sigríður Ósk Kristjánsdóttir, mezzo-soprano
  Elmar Gilbertsson, tenor
  Andri Björn Róbertsson, bass-baritone
  Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir, pianist

Yes, some are free, but tickets for the others can be found. Tickets.is.

Art belongs in Hafnarfjörður.