Violinist Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, like so many Icelandic artists, moves effortlessly between musical genres and here offers a lovely, reflective program exploring the moment just before a significant life change. Recorded, prophetically, in December 2019, the album features a tracklist that ranges wide, embracing popular pieces like Massenet’s “Meditation” and the Kreisler/Gluck “Mélodie.” But there is also much drawn from Sveinbjarnardóttir’s own country, including Jórunn Viðar’s Icelandic Suite of 1974, a rich and eloquent love song to Iceland on its 2000-year anniversary of inhabitation.
- Emma Wernig & Albert Cano Smit
- Pelléas Ensemble
- Stephen Schultz, Jory Vinikour & Alexa Haynes-Pilon