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
Similar artists
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A Night At The Symphony (Live at The Symphony)
Laufey, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Laufey on 2 mrt. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
ARCHORA / AIŌN
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Eva Ollikainen
Klassiek - Released by Sono Luminus on 26 mei 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Prayer To The Dynamo / Suites from Sicario & The Theory of Everything
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason
Klassiek - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 15 sep. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
ATMOSPHERIQUES Vol. I
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason
Klassiek - Released by Sono Luminus on 28 apr. 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Icelandic Works for the Stage
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 17 mrt. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
d'Indy: Jour d'été à la montagne, La Forêt enchantée & Souvenirs
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 2008
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
d'Indy: Poème des Rivages & Symphony No. 1
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 mrt. 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Concurrence
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Víkingur Ólafsson, Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, Daníel Bjarnason
Klassiek - Released by Sono Luminus on 15 nov. 2019
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
d'Indy: Symphonie sur un Chant Montagnard Français, Saugefleurie, Médée & Prelude to Fervaal
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Louis Lortie
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Recurrence
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason
Klassiek - Released by Sono Luminus on 7 apr. 2017
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wirén: Symphony No. 3, Serenade for Strings, Sinfonetta & Divertimento
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 feb. 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 3)
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Sigurdur Flosason
Symfonische muziek - Released by Chandos on 1 mrt. 2010
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Occurrence: ISO Project, Vol. 3
Pekka Kuusisto, Mario Caroli, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Daníel Bjarnason, Thurídur Jónsdóttir
Klassiek - Released by Sono Luminus on 22 jan. 2021
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7 / 'The Tempest', Suite No. 2
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 2 okt. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 5)
Louis Lortie, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba
Concertmuziek - Released by Chandos on 1 apr. 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jón Nordal: Choralis
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Johannes Gustavsson
Klassiek - Released by Ondine on 12 aug. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tapiola / En Saga / Oceanides / Pohjola s Daughter
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Petri Sakari
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 2 dec. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klami: Karelian Rhapsody, Kalevala Suite, Sea Pictures
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 mrt. 1994
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Madetoja: Complete Symphonies, Huvinaytelmaalkusoitto, Okkon Fuoko Suite & The Ostrobothnians
Petri Sakari, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 18 aug. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Williamson: Santiago de Espada, Our Man in Havana Suite, Concerto Grosso & Sinfonietta
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 feb. 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Williamson: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2
Rumon Gamba, Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Symfonieën - Released by Chandos on 1 feb. 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo