Tuesday February 3rd at 12 p.m., singer Kristján Jóhannesson will perform at the first Midday Concert of the year at Hafnarborg, as this month’s guest of Antonía Hevesi, pianist and artistic director of the concert series. The programme, bearing the title “Great Love and the Fatherland”, includes arias from operas by Mozart, Wagner, Giordano and Bizet.

Kristján Jóhannesson began his vocal training at Söngskóli Sigurðar Demetz in 2008. In 2014 he moved to Vienna to further his studies with Uta Schwabe. During his studies he took part in productions of the Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic and Neue Oper Wien, in Hof in Akureyri with the North Iceland Symphony Orchestra and with the Icelandic Opera. In 2017 Kristján commenced his career at Theater an der Wien and Kammeroper in Vienna. His productions there include Der Ring des Nibelung and Tristan und Isolde by Wagner, Salome by Strauss, Don Carlo by Verdi, Faust by Gounod and The Maid of Orleans by Tchaikovsky.

Kristján then moved to the Theatre of St. Gallen in Switzerland in 2021. His projects there include Verdi’s Requiem and Ernani, Strauss’s Elektra, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. He has also appeared at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence. He has participated in numerous masterclasses with singers such as Elly Ameling, Andreas Schmidt, Robert Holl, Thomas Hampson, Angelika Kirchschlager and Adrian Eröd, as well as with pianists Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake, Wolfram Rieger and Roger Vignoles. He is currently pursuing studies in theology at the University of Iceland.

Antonía Hevesi, pianist, has since the beginning served as the artistic director of the Midday Concert series at Hafnarborg, which has been a regular part of the museum’s programme since 2003. In this role, Antonía has collaborated with many of the country’s leading vocalists, with the aim of offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy live music performances at a relaxed pace. The Midday Concerts are generally held on the first Tuesday of each month during the winter season.

The concert starts promptly at 12 p.m., lasting for approximately half an hour. The doors open at 11:30 a.m. and the concert is open to all, as long as seating is available. Free entry.