The Icelandic Opera
| Company type | Opera company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Performing arts |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Garðar Cortes |
| Defunct | 2024 |
| Fate | Funding terminated; succeeded by Icelandic National Opera |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík , Iceland |
Area served | Iceland |
Key people | Garðar Cortes (founder, artistic director until 1992), Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir (artistic director from 1992), Steinunn Birna Ragnarsdóttir (director from 2015) |
| Products | Operatic performances and concerts |
The Icelandic Opera (Íslenska óperan) was a Reykjavík-based opera company that specialized in producing operatic performances and concerts.[1][2] Its productions prominently featured Icelandic performers while also frequently collaborating with international artists. The organization presented its annual season from October through May at the Harpa concert hall, which served as its primary venue from 2011 until 2024.[3][4]
By October 2017, the company had mounted a total of 85 different operas.[5]
Establishment and development (1979–2023)
The company was established in the late 1970s by the opera tenor Garðar Cortes,[6][7] who is also the father of tenor Garðar Thór Cortes. Cortes held the position of artistic director until 1992, when opera singer Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir succeeded him.[8][9] In April 2015, Steinunn Birna Ragnarsdóttir was named director.[10][11]
The company's debut production was Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, performed in March 1979.[12] Since then, it has presented well-known works by composers such as Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, Verdi, Puccini, among others. For its initial three decades, the company staged performances at a cinema located on Ingólfsstræti in central Reykjavík.[7]
Funding termination and shutdown (2023–2024)
In 2023, the government of Iceland declared its decision to discontinue financial support for the Icelandic Opera following 2024, with the intention of creating a new national opera organization set to commence activities in 2025. This upcoming institution, named the Icelandic National Opera, is planned to be inaugurated at the Harpa concert venue in 2026, integrated within the framework of the National Theatre of Iceland.
- ↑ "The Icelandic Opera's Website".
- ↑ "Members – Opera-Europa". www.opera-europa.org. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ "About The Icelandic Opera".
- ↑ "Islenska Operan". operabase.com. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ Ćirić, Jelena (2017-10-26). "An Ambitious and Relevant Tosca". Iceland Review. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
- ↑ "Gardar Cortes – the Godfather of Icelandic Opera". Reykjavik.com. 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Historical Sketch".
- ↑ Nagy, Peter; Rouyer, Phillippe; Rubin, Don (2013). World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Volume 1: Europe. Routledge. p. 461. ISBN 9781136402968.
- ↑ "Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir". Ísmús (in íslenska). Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ "New director for the Icelandic Opera". Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ "Steinunn Birna Ragnarsdóttir". The Icelandic Opera. Retrieved 2018-07-30.
- ↑ Atladóttir, E. "Íslenska óperan: aurar og eldsálir" (Master's thesis), Spring 2015, Bifröst University.