Three voices intertwine in Seigla’s opening recital to explore myths of the natural world. Harpa Ósk Björnsdóttir, Kristín Einarsdóttir Mäntylä and Sophie Kidwell, accompanied by Elísabet Waage, harpist, and Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir, pianist, bring together opera, art song, and folk traditions from across Europe. Moving between rivers, forests, and the supernatural beings said to inhabit them, the music traces stories that have flowed through European culture for centuries.
The programme opens in the realm of water, where myth and nature meet. The Rhine Maidens of Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold guard their radiant treasure beneath the river’s surface. In Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka, the water nymphs call from the depths, while the famous Song to the Moon expresses longing and wonder beneath the night sky.
Clara Schumann’s Lorelei, inspired by the legendary siren of the Rhine, and Rebecca Clarke’s haunting Seal Man, drawn from Celtic selkie folklore, continue this exploration of mystical water worlds.
From water, the journey leads into the forest, a place of transformation and hidden life. In Hänsel und Gretel, the children wander into the woods encountering the Witch. Leoš Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen features a playful duet of foxes, capturing the vitality and freedom of woodland creatures. Richard Strauss’s Waldseligkeit (Forest Bliss) offers a lyrical vision of the quiet enchantment of nature.
Mystical Creatures - Seigla
Harpa tónlistar- og ráðstefnuhús, Austurbakki 2, 101 Reykjavík Directions
Fri 07.08.2026 18:00
ISK 4500.00
Tickets / Registration
ISK 4500.00
Tickets / Registration
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
The musical paths of sopranos Kristín and Harpa, and mezzo-soprano Sophie, have crossed many times over the years. Harpa and Kristín grew up singing together in the choirs of Langholtskirkja in Reykjavík and later continued their studies at the Reykjavík Singing School and at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. Kristín and Sophie first shared the stage at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen in a production of Carmen, where Sophie sang the title role and Kristín appeared as Mercédès.
Harpa and Sophie later spent two seasons together at Theater Basel as members of OperAvenir, the theatre’s opera studio. There they performed in a wide range of productions, including Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung, The Cunning Little Vixen, Into the Woods, and Carmen. During the same period, Kristín was a frequent visitor to the Basel region, performing in productions of Parsifal nearby.
This concert marks the first time they appear together on stage as a trio. Joining them are pianist Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir and harpist Elísabet Waage, who together help bring to life the concert’s world of water, forests, and mystical creatures.
The musical paths of sopranos Kristín and Harpa, and mezzo-soprano Sophie, have crossed many times over the years. Harpa and Kristín grew up singing together in the choirs of Langholtskirkja in Reykjavík and later continued their studies at the Reykjavík Singing School and at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig. Kristín and Sophie first shared the stage at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen in a production of Carmen, where Sophie sang the title role and Kristín appeared as Mercédès.
Harpa and Sophie later spent two seasons together at Theater Basel as members of OperAvenir, the theatre’s opera studio. There they performed in a wide range of productions, including Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung, The Cunning Little Vixen, Into the Woods, and Carmen. During the same period, Kristín was a frequent visitor to the Basel region, performing in productions of Parsifal nearby.
This concert marks the first time they appear together on stage as a trio. Joining them are pianist Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir and harpist Elísabet Waage, who together help bring to life the concert’s world of water, forests, and mystical creatures.
Performers
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Kristín Einarsdóttir Mäntylä
Soprano performing the role of Marcellina.
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Elísabet Waage
Harpist performing Nocturne by Jón Nordal.
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Seigla Festival's Final RecitalSeigla Festival is a classical music festival held in Harpa on the 5th-7th of August. Browse the festival programme on our website at: seiglafestival.com Seigla Festival’s final recital features music by American and Nordic composers, starting with Hallelujah Junction, a two piano piece by John Adams. The main characteristics are short rhythmic patterns that echo between the two instruments, and serve as an analogy for how traffic at a junction moves. The rhythmic patterns of the opening derive from the word „Hallelujah“, where the accent lands on the third syllable, through which one might hear the rhythm of the pianos say “llelujah, llelujah, llelujah…”. The two instrumentalists play the rhythms at a slight delay, creating a sense of planned resonance or echo. Hallelujah Junction is loosely structured into three contrasting movements whereas the music flows in gradual changes towards the final moments: a true onomatopoeic feast. Here, we get to hear the rhythmic pattern of the full four syllables in the word „Hallelujah“ as well as the „Junction“ being thrown rapturously between the two instruments. Despite the fact that the Nordic composers and contemporaries Edvard Grieg and Jean Sibelius never managed to actually meet in person, they respected one another’s music and even wrote letters stating their mutual admiration. Both were big admirers of the German Lied and wrote significant collections in the style. Six Songs, Op. 48, by Edvard Grieg are among his best known and beloved. After the intermission we will hear three short and romantic solo pieces by Jean Sibelius from his Ten Pieces for Piano, Op. 24. Sibelius’ larger-scale pieces are by far his best known, his symphonies and violin concerto, but he also wrote a considerable amount of incredibly beautiful lieder, chamber pieces and piano pieces which are seldom performed. Seigla Festival’s Final Recital concludes with Amy Beach’s songs for voice, violin, cello and piano. Beach was the first American woman to achieve widespread recognition as a composer. An incredible artist and pioneer, she wrote over 150 songs to poems both by herself and others, and often influenced by folk music. Performers: Hlín Pétursdóttir Behrens, soprano Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir, soprano Ólafur Freyr Birkisson, bass baritone Gunnhildur Daðadóttir, violinist Guðný Jónasdóttir, cellist Elisabeth Streichert, pianist Erna Vala Arnardóttir, pianist Pétur Ernir Svavarsson, pianist
