Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland; May 21, 2023—The Reykjavik church known as Hallgrímskirkja, like most of Iceland unlike anything you’ve seen before, itself prepares you for experiencing something special, something grand, and on this particular Sunday in May, the occasion was an all-Mozart program, featuring the Coronation Mass K. 317. Filling out the concert were three shorter vocal/choral works plus the instrumental Church Sonata K. 329/317a, which nicely served as the opener rather than appearing within the Mass itself as it likely was originally intended by the composer.
The performances were grand indeed, made so by the excellent 40-plus voices of the Choir of Hallgrímskirkja and its equally impressive Brák Baroque Ensemble instrumental partners. All was enhanced by the exceptional acoustics—live, vibrant, and allowing the combined sound of choir and orchestra to literally surround the audience. Before the “big” work, and following the Sonata, we were treated to the assured audience-pleasing Ave verum corpus K. 618, the Laudate Dominum from the Vesperae solennes de confessore K. 339, and Regina coeli K. 276.
While the choir and orchestra presented these works with all the style, ensemble technique, and technical and interpretive mastery we could hope for–led under the assured and well-controlled hands of conductor Steinar Logi Helgason–ultimately this concert was memorably a showpiece for the soprano soloist, Eyrún Unnarsdóttir, who, even in the pieces that included other soloists, had the most to do. And in all those stretches of Mozart’s beautiful lines, she shone very brightly–sensitively shaping, caressing, powerfully projecting, and sustaining phrases with pure, even tone and extraordinary breath control that seemed altogether natural and effortless. She sensed the dynamics of the space and clearly used its ambient possibilities to allow her richly colored voice to fully bloom, to fill the vast dimensions of the church without overplaying or upsetting the balance with choir and/or orchestra. It was nothing less than a pleasure to hear her every note. I look forward to hearing more–hopefully much more–from this outstanding singer.
This is not to discount the very fine contributions of the other three vocal soloists; however as mentioned, their roles were much smaller and less prominent, sometimes, as with the bass in the Mass, being a bit lost in the orchestral sound (due to acoustics and perhaps physical placement relative to the instruments). Finally, it must be noted that, whether in recognition of the excellent choir and orchestra, or simply interest in the program, or both, the huge sanctuary space was virtually filled–a full house for one lovely, very satisfying, memorable hour of Mozart on a May afternoon.
