Further Information

About the record
The recordings on these CDs provide a good overview of Elísabet's wide-ranging contribution to Icelandic music. Elísabet was working on the preparation of these CDs when she passed away in 2014. She had reviewed most of the recordings of her performances made by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service over the course of 20 years, from 1969 to 1989. She had also translated many of the Icelandic poems into both German and English. Due to the large volume of text, these translations will be available at the following webpage: www.elisabeterlings.com

The layout of the four CDs
CD1 Icelandic songs by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns, Sigfús Einarsson, Árni Thorsteinsson, Páll Ísólfsson & Þórarinn Jónsson
79’35 min

CD2 Icelandic songs by Karl Ottó Runólfsson, Eyþór Stefánsson, Markús Kristjánsson, Jón Þórarinsson, Árni Björnsson & Jórunn Viðar
73´01 min

CD3 Premiered works by Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson, Herbert H. Ágústsson,
Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Leifur Þórarinsson, Sigursveinn D. Kristinsson,
Karl Ottó Runólfsson, Þórarinn Jónsson, Fjölnir Stefánsson &
Páll Pampichler Pálsson
66’45min

CD4 Songs and songcycles by J. Brahms, F. Schubert, E. Grieg, J. Sibelius,
M. Mussorgsky, A. Berg & C. Ives.
78’12 min

About Elísabet Erlingsdóttir (29th August 1940 – 5th June 2014)
"Elísabet with the voice", as she was called, first studied singing with Sigurður Demetz in Iceland. She continued her studies at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Munich where she graduated with a degree in solo singing and a teacher's diploma in singing.

Elísabet arrived like a breath of fresh air onto the Icelandic music scene, galvanizing all those around her. She stood out for her elegant performances of songs from Iceland and elsewhere, such that Icelandic composers vied to write pieces for her. She premiered many songs, song-cycles, arrangements of Icelandic folk songs and chamber pieces, where the solo voice was used innovatively in an atonal style. This was almost unknown in Iceland at the time. Many of those pieces can be heard on Söngvaglóð.

When the Icelandic Opera was founded in 1982, Elísabet performed in its first production, the Gypsy Baron by Johann Strauss II. She sang many parts both at the Icelandic Opera and the National Theatre, for example the leading role in the 1979 production of Orpheus and Eurydice that marked the 30th anniversary of the National Theatre.

Elísabet's impact on music education in Iceland is unique and invaluable. She established the first degree course in solo singing in Iceland. In 1973, her student, the well-known icelandic opera singer Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir, was the first to graduate with a final examination from the Kópavogur College of Music. Later Elísabet became head of the vocal department at the Reykjavík College of Music and she was on the music faculty of the Iceland University of Arts from its beginning in 2001, where she oversaw the education of solo singers. Throughout her career, she gave master classes at many music academies in Scandinavia, Europe and the United States of America. No teacher in Iceland mentored as many students that later became professional singers.

It is impossible to trace Elísabet Erlingsdóttir's life story without mentioning her pioneering work for Icelandic choirs. She was the first practitioner of vocal training, where each voice in the choir is given special coaching. For many years, several of the largest choirs in Iceland, including the Icelandic Polyphonic Choir, the Icelandic Philharmonic Chorus and the Langholt’s Church Choir, were lucky enough to have Elísabet as their vocal trainer. Elísabet also served as a representative of musicians and artists, for example as the chairman of The Icelandic Society of Solo Singers and of the opera division of the Society of Icelandic Actors.