BBC Total Immersion: Icelandic Chill Review – A Mixed Bag of Ambience and Innovation
The Barbican in London recently hosted the BBC Symphony Orchestra's Total Immersion: Icelandic Chill, a celebration of Iceland's outsized musical talents. Despite Iceland's modest population of around 400,000, comparable to Bristol, the country consistently punches above its weight artistically, with figures like Víkingur Ólafsson, Björk, and composers from the so-called First Icelandic School gaining global acclaim. However, the event raised questions about whether a distinct Icelandic sound truly exists.
Afternoon Chamber and Choral Programme: A Broad Spectrum
An afternoon session featuring chamber and choral music suggested no unified style, drawing widely from 20th-century European traditions. Hafliði Hallgrímsson's Seven Epigrams for violin and cello, performed by Phoebe Rousochatzaki and Kosta Popovic, echoed Schnittke's style, including a jittery homage to Shostakovich. The BBC Singers delivered choral works with an Icelandic Lutheran plainspokenness, with Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Hear Us in Heaven standing out and Hjálmar H Ragnarsson's Ave Maria recalling Poulenc. More experimental pieces, like Thorvaldsdottir's Sequences for bass flute and other low instruments, intrigued but lacked the concrete impact of her orchestral scores.
Evening Concert: Premieres and Repurposed Works
The evening concert, conducted by Christian Karlsen, missed Thorvaldsdottir's presence but featured varied compositions. Ólafur Arnalds' world premiere, Another Kind of Peace, a collaboration with Viktor Orri Árnason, struggled to transcend its ambient origins, feeling like a series of unresolved introductions with overly similar orchestrations. Valgeir Sigurðsson's Dreamland Suite, adapted from a 2008 documentary score, was sporadically portentous but failed to fully capture the visceral energy promised by titles like Helter Smelter.
Standout Performances: Gísladóttir and Bjarnason Shine
The most distinctive voice emerged with Bára Gísladóttir's UK premiere of her double bass concerto, Hringla. Over a high drone, real-time sampling pitted her edgy lines against an orchestra using extended techniques, creating a restless, haunting, and strangely beautiful experience. Daníel Bjarnason's I Want to Be Alive, a 40-minute triptych on AI dangers through mythical lenses, featured an abrupt opening, reflective central sections, and a vivid finale with flowerpots and percussion. Though it could benefit from trimming, it showcased a remarkable sonic imagination.
All evening works were recorded for future broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 3 Unwind, ensuring wider audience reach.
