Musikanten Montana Salon Series: The Andrée Expedition

The Andrée Expedition by Dominick Argento

Robert W. Tudor, baritone

James Newsome, pianist

On July 11, 1897, Salomon August Andrée, Nils Strindberg, and Knut Frænkel took off from Spitsbergen, Norway in a balloon christened “The Eagle” for an historic flight to the North Pole and back. They were never seen alive again. On August 6, 1930, thirty-three years later, their remains were discovered on the south-western point of White Island, off the coast of Norway, and returned home to Sweden. At this time, the recovered diaries and notebooks of Andrée and Strindberg were published: most of the text from this cycle is taken directly from them.  Frænkel left no account behind, but the text assigned to him is partially based on his companions’ writings.

The evening will begin with an historic lecture by Rob Tudor about The Andrée Expedition. He will the audience through a fascinating exploration of the planning of the 1897 polar expedition and launch of The Eagle and her crew, their experiences and demise, and the historic records, including photographs recovered with their remains. The second half of the evening will be a concert presentation of the cycle The Andrée Expedition.