The Gospel of Mary by Hugi Guðmundsson

Permiere at Reykjavik Arts Festival 2022

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White Monday 6. June at 8:00 pm

Location: Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik

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Premiere of the oratorio The Gospel of Mary by Hugi Guðmundsson in collaboration with The Reykjavík Friends of the Arts Society and Reykjavik Arts Festival.

 
The oratorio’s libretto is based on gospel texts that were discovered as late as 1896 and appear in the book, The Gospel of Mary of Magdala. Jesus and the First Woman Apostle by Karen L. King, professor of church history at Harvard University. The academic analysis of the texts indicates that in the first centuries AD, there were christian congregations that held women and equality in far higher regard than what we see in later church history. The legacy of this variation of early christianity was quickly repressed and lay forgotten for centuries. Hugi Guðmundson’s new oratorio brings this legacy to life in this brandnew musical setting and thereby gives its message new relevance for the modern audience. The work can be seen as a counterbalance to the many oratorios previously written in honour of the male apostles throughout music history.

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The Gospel of Mary was co-commissioned by the Reykjavik Friends of the Arts Society and the International Church Music Festival in Oslo. The work is written especially for Schola cantorum and for the voice of the Norwegian soprano Berit Nordbakken who sings the role of Mary Magdalene.

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Performers:

Berit Nordbakken, soprano
Schola Cantorum
Oslo Sinfonietta
Kåre Nordstoga, organist

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Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson

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Admission: 5.900 ISK

Get your ticket at Tix.is