Going For Baroque*: Live Music Review Of The Early Music Festival At Harpa In Reykjavík

Early music in Iceland is new: this week was only the third edition ever of the annual Early Music Festival in Reykjavik. From 31 March to 2 April, just before the Easter weekend, Baroque ensembles, lutenists and surprisingly even a cornettist-turned-rapper took the stage at Norðurljós in Harpa to celebrate early music.

Looking through the festival schedule, I wonder, what really is ‘’early music’’? There is a wide range of music programmed for the week, from early Renaissance and Baroque music, to 19th century Romantic, to Icelandic hymns and folk songs. According to Baroque violinist and artistic director Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, with whom I spoke before the festival, ‘’Early music is just old music,’’ and with that she likes to keep the curation of the festival rather open. ‘’It is mainly about period instruments (..) I guess the main focus is Baroque and then I basically choose artists and see what they want to do.’’

Indeed, the festival is like a parade for old instruments: the theorbe, lute, historical flute and cello played on gutstrings all make an appearance. The freedom given to the musicians to play whatever they want makes for a very passion-driven program. At the opening concert, Brák and Cantoque ensemble quite literally beam with joy, making 17th and 18th century music almost sound like a festive jam session between friends and musicians. Similarly, the next day at Low Key Ensemble, lutist Dohyo Sol emphasises that ‘’music making and listening is maybe mostly about friendship,’’ as the ensemble plays a new composition for old instruments by friend and composer Mia Marine.

Still, the lack of clear curatorial direction does not always serve the music well. During the opening concert, Icelandic hymns are performed in between the complex polyphonic Baroque music. The choice feels trivial and does not do justice to the style of Icelandic early music. Vocal ensemble Kyrja does this better in the concert the next day. Through choreographed movement, the ensemble emphasises the different time and context in which the Icelandic and continental music were composed. The same day there is a concert by flautist Darina Ablogina, guitarist Peter Croton and soprano Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir specifically highlighting women composers in the early Romantic period. However, the trio closes with Schubert, which suddenly feels very classical in style. Not to mention that this decision makes this segment on women composers still consist predominantly of men (three women composers versus five men composers). With more attention to curation, this could have been avoided.

A highlight, however, is the concert of early music world star Christina Pluhar, performing together with her ensemble L’Arpeggiata. Like the queen of early music that she is, Pluhar comes on stage with confidence and open arms. This is exactly how the concert feels, a warm embrace full of energy, emotion and professionalism. Kristinsdóttir calls it the ‘’party band’’ of the festival, and it truly is. People in the audience are bopping their heads along and suddenly even a dancer joins the stage.

The ensemble mainly plays Italian Tarantella music to which historically women would dance themselves into total trance and exhaustion to supposedly heal from a mysterious spider bite. In dancing carefree between the musicians, Anna Dego channels this history as one of liberation and resistance for women to be free and explosively expressive. The musicians keep up with the impressively high energy and tempo and never miss a beat. Singer Vincenzo Capezzuto steals the show with his emotive and expressive high male voice. Like an Italian early music counterpart of Páll Óskar, Capezzuto theatrically takes the stage, articulating and embodying every word without losing genuinity.

As a final burst of craziness, the ensemble plays an encore in which suddenly the cornetto player turns around wearing cheap sunglasses and a backwards cap and starts freestyle rapping under loud cheering of the audience. This is definitely the wildest early music concert I have been to. Slightly out of character, the ensemble finishes off the encore by performing “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, which results in a heartwarming sing-a-long.

In many ways, this seems to encapsulate the festival in general. The musicians’ energy was infectious. It is obvious this is a passion-driven project and a valuable contribution to the local network of early music practitioners. Yet at times the program feels somewhat unfocused and it becomes clear that the festival is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, Early Music Festival brings joy and enthusiasm to the scene. As Kristinsdóttir puts it, ‘’Early music is always relevant, it is just music that really speaks to you. It is really direct and emotional (…) it is human.’’

*The editor wrote this dad-joke headline, and he is sorry.