Iceland Symphony Orchestra
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra has more than doubled from an original 40 players at its founding in 1950 to become a world-class ensemble. It has not only toured throughout Scandinavia but also appeared at the BBC Proms, and in Croatia, Austria, and the United States, among other countries. It has also collaborated with pop bands and in 2012, launched Ilan Volkov's first Tectonics Festival of new and experimental music.
The Iceland Symphony began as a joint project of state and municipal governments and the Icelandic broadcasting company. It had only one regular chief conductor, Olav Kielland (1952-1955), between its founding and the 1970s. Vladimir Ashkenazy, a naturalized Icelandic citizen, began guest conducting with the ISO in 1972, and the following year, it chose Karsten Andersen as its first chief conductor since those early years. Conductors since then have included Petri Sakari (1988-1993 and 1996-1998), Osmo Vänskä (1993-1996), Rumon Gamba (2002-2010), and Volkov (2011-2014). Ashkenazy was named conductor laureate in 2002, and Vänskä was named chief guest conductor in 2014 and then honorary conductor in 2017. Yan Pascal Tortelier succeeded Volkov in 2015. In 2019, Eva Ollikainen was named the ISO's first female chief conductor, beginning with the 2020-2021 season. The ISO gives most of its performances -- which are also broadcast -- in Reykjavík's Harpa Concert Hall, opened in 2011, but it also takes its music to schools and to other communities, as well as its international appearances.
The ISO has made three notable recording series: a cycle of Sibelius symphonies with Sakari on Naxos, a cycle of Jón Leifs' works with orchestra on BIS, and a cycle of d'Indy's orchestral music on Chandos with Gamba. It was the first volume of this last series that earned the ISO a Grammy nomination in 2009 and proved its status as a top Nordic orchestra. The ISO released several albums in 2019: Gounod's symphonies, under Tortelier, on Chandos; Leifs' Edda II: The Lives of the Gods on BIS; and Concurrence, under principal guest conductor Daníel Bjarnason, on Sono Luminus.
© Patsy Morita /TiVo
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Danses & Mélodies
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Ward
Classical - Released by Albany Records on 1 Jun 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: King Christian II, Pelleas et Melisande & Swanwhite
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Theatre Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Jul 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Skalkottas: Sea (The) / 4 Images / Cretan Feast
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Byron Fidetzis
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BLOW BRIGHT (Re-Master)
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason
Classical - Released by Sono Luminus on 28 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maxímús Músíkús kætist í kór
Classical - Released by Iceland Symphony Orchesta on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Edda, Pt. 2, Op. 42 "The Lives of the Gods"
Schola Cantorum Reykjavik, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Hermann Baumer
Classical - Released by BIS on 7 Jun 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Geysir and Other Orchestral Works
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christian Lindberg Conducts Jan Sandstrom
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg
Classical - Released by BIS on 21 Apr 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Baldr, Op. 34
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Kari Kropsu
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 May 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Madetoja: Symphony No. 3 and other Orchestral Works
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Madetoja: Symphony No. 1 & Symphony No. 2
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ísólfsson: Festival March, Festival Overture - Björnsson: Romances - Leifs: Galdra-Loftr - Runólfsson: A krossgotum
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Sigrun Edvaldsdottir
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Jun 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cinema Classics 2007
Classical - Released by Naxos on 11 Nov 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Hafis / Nott / Gudrunmarkvida
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Anne Manson
Classical - Released by BIS on 31 Aug 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Symphony No. 1
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Classical - Released by BIS on 30 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Organ Concerto / Dettifoss / Variazioni Pastorale / Fine Ii
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, En Shao
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Apr 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Lay of Helgi the Hunding-Slayer (The) / Groa's Spell / Landfall / Iceland Cantata
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Hermann Baumer
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by BIS on 31 Mar 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maxímús Músíkús bjargar ballettinum
Classical - Released by Iceland Symphony Orchesta on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bára Gísladóttir: Orchestral Works
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Eva Ollikainen
Classical - To be released on 17 May 2024 by Dacapo
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Broughton, B.: Tuba Concerto / Grant, J.: 3 Furies / Winteregg, S.: Tuba Concerto / York, B.: Tuba Concerto
Timothy Buzbee, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Jacomo Rafael Barios
Classical - Released by Albany on 1 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo