Viennese favourites

For years, the Iceland Symphony's Viennese concerts have been among its most popular and best-attended. This first concert of the new calendar year features a stunning array of Johann Strauss' most appealing works, beginning with the overture to Die Fledermaus and ending with The Blue Danube. The pieces played in between range from waltzes and polkas to operatic arias and duets – an unforgettable line-up of long-time favourites. Also on the programme is Kálman's aria Heut' nacht hab' ich geträumt von dir, which has become an unexpected favourite in Iceland in recent years, to an Icelandic text. 

Austrian conductor David Danzmayr conducted the ISO's Vienna Favourites concert two years ago and was so enthusiastically received that he was immediately invited to return. He received his baptism of fire as assistant to Pierre Boulez and was a medallist in two of the world's biggest conducting competitions: the Malko and the Mahler. Þóra Einarsdóttir has long since won the hearts of Icelandic concertgoers. Among the almost innumerable prizes and accolades she has won is the 2015 Icelandic Music Award, where she was named Female Singer of the Year for two concerts she gave with the ISO, featuring works by Jean Sibelius. Norwegian tenor Bror Magnus Tødenes has drawn well-deserved attention for his melodious voice, and his first CD, with arias made popular by Jussi Björling, was a best-seller. He won first prize in the Tebaldi International Voice Competition in 2015 and has sung at the Salzburg Festival and the Nobel Prize awards ceremony.