Fyrstu tónleikarnir í nýja tónlistarhúsinu verða annað kvöld, þegar Sinfóníuhljómsveitin leikur verk eftir Þorkel Sigurbjörnsson, Grieg og Beethoven undir stjórn Vladimirs Ashkenazys. Einleikarinn er Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson. Menn bíða í ofvæni eftir því að heyra hvernig hljómburðurinn er í húsinu.
Ég skrifaði grein um Hörpuna í mánaðarritið Grapevine sem kemur út á ensku í Reykjavík. Þar segir meðal annars um Ashkenazy. Blaðið er væntanlegt á næstu dögum:
„It is no coincidence that Vladimir Ashkenazy will conduct the first concert in the Harp. Ashkenaszy was a piano prodigy in the Soviet Union in the time of Stalin and Khruschev. He met and married Icelander Þórunn Jóhannsdóttir who herself was a piano prodigy since early age, giving concerts when she was a child with ribbons in her hair and lace dresses. She gave up her musical career for his and eventually he emigrated from the Soviet Union, becoming an Icelandic citizen. Ashkenazy started his conducting career with the ISO – since it has taken him to concert halls all over the world.
The Reykjavík Art´s Festival is a special chapter in this story, inextricably linked to Ashkenazy. It was founded in 1970 and was a remarkable event from the start. Ashkenasy got his musical friends to come to Reykjavík and give concerts, some came more than once. Now this reads as a roster of late 20th century greats: André Prévin, Jacqueline de Pré, Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich were among those featured – and Led Zeppelin also played in the first festival!“
