1-2-3 Mendelssohn

8th-10th November 2024

A celebration of Fanny and Felix!

ENGEGÅRD quartet with friends invite you to
NYNORSKENS HUS in OSLO

This year's 1–2–3 festival explores the life and music of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn — through music, film, dance, theatre and conversation!

Artists

Engegård Quartet
Elias String Quartet
Marianne Beate Kielland - mezzo
Sveinung Bjelland - piano
Ariel Lanyi - piano
Marianne Thorsen - violin
Eivind Ringstad - viola
Bjørg Lewis - cello
Tore Linné Eriksen - Concert Introductions
Sheila Hayman - Film and Concert Introductions
Sølvguttene - The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s Boys Choir
with their conductor Fredrik Otterstad
Junior Ensemble Barratt Due, with their conductor Sigyn Fossnes
Nordberg String Orchestra, with their conductor Juliet Jopling
Den mangfaldige scenen/BUL


Norwegian Premiere of the film
Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn
— with an introduction by Film Director Sheila Hayman

Highlights from the festival programme:

Festival Opening Concert
Friday 8th November, 7pm
Nynorskens Hus

This festive opening concert offers you the unique opportunity to hear almost all our festival artists. We are absolutely delighted to welcome international star guests Elias String Quartet and Ariel Lanyi, and our equally starry Norwegian guests. Our opening concert programme will surely make your heart sing, opening as it does with one of classical music’s most famous pieces of all time, Felix Mendelssohn’s Wedding March. A feast of chamber music will follow, from quartets and quintets by Felix, to songs and a piano trio by Fanny. The siblings Fanny and Felix shared a childhood with an unparalleled cultural education, but their genders meant that they led very different adult lives. This festival offers an amazing chance to get to know Fanny's music and life, as well as enjoying many well-known and lesser-known works by Felix Mendelssohn. The Festival Opening Concert is just the start….

Child prodigies
Saturday 9th November, 2pm
Nynorskens Hus

It is said that Felix Mendelssohn is the Mozart of Romanticism. Not only with his endless ability to write beautiful melodies, but also with the obvious genius of his early works. However, Fanny Mendelssohn was also a great talent. When only fourteen years old, she could play all 24 preludes from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier by heart. The siblings' composition teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter described Fanny's skill as a pianist to the poet Goethe, she plays like a man (!!) At this concert you can hear early works from both siblings, including the world-famous Octet by Felix Mendelssohn.

On the Wings of a Song
Sunday 10th November, 7pm
Nynorskens Hus

As always, we end our festival weekend with a concert full of masterpieces. The concert opens with a bang with the much-loved piano trio in D minor with Sveinung Bjelland, Marianne Thorsen and Bjørg Lewis. We look forward to hearing our award-winning guest from London, Ariel Lanyi, play his favorite solo piano work by Felix Mendelssohn: the Fantasy in F minor. Marianne Beate Kielland has saved perhaps the best song for last - the eternally beautiful Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, which she has programmed with several other songs by Fanny and Felix. The Engegård Quartet ends the official program with the powerful and all-consuming quartet in F minor opus 80. But then - everyone must warm up their voices for the encore! Felix wrote one of Britain's favorite Christmas songs "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". Christmas starts in November, doesn't it?

Buy your festivalpass here

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Buy your festivalpass here —

The Festival hosts

The Engegård Quartet has been directing and hosting the classical minifestival “1-2-3…” since 2016 when they started with 1-2-3 Schumann.

Formed under the midnight sun in Lofoten in 2005, the Engegård Quartet has rapidly become one of Norway’s most sought after ensembles. Their bold, fresh interpretations of the classical repertoire combined with a deep attachment to their Scandinavian roots has attracted international acclaim, and inspired some innovative partnerships and programming.

The Festival’s home

The classic minifestival “1-2-3…” has it’s home in Nynorskens hus - a real gem of a hall for chamber music, right in the centre of Oslo. The sound is rich and warm and the audience are close to the musicians. Nynorskens hus is home to several choirs, theatre groups and dance groups, all of which make the multicultural life of Oslo their focus. This is an inspiring background for the classical minifestival “1-2-3…” in many ways.

We make creative use of the spaces Nynorskens hus offers, opening up a dialogue between the audience and the performers. With a balcony, a raised stage, the possibility for dance and traditional chamber music concerts, be prepared for an “up-close-and-personal” experience. Nynorskens hus has access for wheelchair users and is a comfortable place for our visitors with disabilities.

Welcome!

Festival Pass

Our festival pass is an incredibly reasonable way to experience all eight events at our festival 1-2-3 Mendelssohn. It also gives you a 10% discount in the neighbouring restaurant “Kaffistova” which serves delicious and traditional Norwegian food.

Friday 8th November
7pm: Festival Opening Concert

Saturday 9th November
11am: Café Concert - Songs without words
2pm: Child prodigies
7pm: Sølvguttene, The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s Boys Choir

Sunday 10th November
11am: Mendelssohn performed by students
1.30pm: Pre-Concert Talk (in Norwegian)
2pm: Salon Concert
4pm: Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn
7pm: On the Wings of a Song