On March 11, the recipients of the Faroese Music Awards 2023 will be revealed, and among the nominees are Anna Katrin Øssursdóttir Egilstrøð and Allan Gravgaard Madsen's symphonic song cycle BEINTA. The evocative work is nominated in the category Release/Concert of the Year. 

The two composers, Faroese Anna Katrin Øssursdóttir Egilstrøð and Danish Allan Gravgaard Madsen have, highly untraditionally, written the score together, and with characteristics from both art pop, classical music and electronic music the work testifies to a meeting between two different artistic backgrounds

BEINTA draws on inspiration from the story of the 18th century legendary femme fatale Beinta from the Faroe Islands. During her own age, she was notorious for her complex, contrastive nature, which was as untamed and unpredictable as the harsh nature of the Faroe Islands around her. Darkness and changeability are the foundation stone of the work of the two composers. The 40-minute work is made up of seven songs with texts in Faroese and English, about unrest, desire, love, sorrow, loss – a vibrating landscape.

BEINTA was premiered by Aarhus Symphony Orchestra with Anna Katrin Øssursdóttir Egilstrøð as soloist in 2016, and the work received its Faroese premiere during the Nordic Music Days in 2021. In April 2022, the work was released in a recording by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Anna Katrin Øssursdóttir Egilstrøð, conducted by Andreas Delfs and released by Dacapo Records.

Listen to BEINTA here.