Berlin Music

verschmitzt

Selma Guðmundsdóttir and Harald Björköyconcert

#berlin #nordiscembassy #music #concert #liederabend #iceland #norway

verschmitzt [fɛɐ̯ˈʃmɪʦt] is a german word which most foreigner visiting germany might not come along often. what is actually a shame because it is something germans are not known for but they definitely are. cats and children are amazing examples of being verschmitzt. if you ever see a child smiling verschmitzt on to you, you know it did something  naughty and knows it. same with a cat, just ate your birthday cake, ooops, sorry, wasn’t that mine? you got the idea.

 

so why is the headline of this post verschmitzt, the post is about a concert in the nordisc embassy, how goes that together?

simple it was not only a great musical evening, with great singing and playing, not only a lovely sign of friendship between norway and island but also the first time in my life that classical music did not come along elitist and obsessed, but passionate and humorous. what is because of the very verschmitzte tenor harald bjørkøy and pianist selma guðmundsdóttir. both are great musicians but also interesting story tellers.

the songs were from the classics like grieg and beethoven, but also by some musicians i have never heard about:

edvard grieg: våren & peer gynt serenade

catharinus elling: allnächtlich im traume

johannes haarklou: haukeligauken

hjalmar borgstrøm: lyng

ole olsen: humoreske

ludvig v. beethoven: an die ferne geliebte

jón leifs: rimnadanslög op.11

jean sibelius: säv susa, till kvällen & svarta rosor

gerhard schjelderup: mai

arne eggen: solfager

edvard gried: hjertenskjaer & en drøm

the norwegian and icelandic ambassador were ther and as all my experiences with the scandinavic countries they were extrem humorous and offered a great hospitality  …

i am very sorry, for the very bad quality of the pictures, but did not bring my camera.

Selma Guðmundsdóttir and Harald Björköyconcert

Selma Guðmundsdóttir and Harald Björköyconcert

Selma Guðmundsdóttir and Harald Björköyconcert