Anyone who has been reading my blog has by now noticed that the themes of the operas vary a lot. Often they tell a love story or some family drama, but especially in modern operas the themes can be just about anything. Heinz-Juhani Hofmann’s opera ”The Square” tells about an uprising. The opera was performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir in the Louhi Hall of the Espoo City Cultural Centre.
The opera tells the frequently rolling cycle of an uprising.
In the beginning enthusiastic people gather to a demonstration, later the participants
start to quarrel, the demonstrators are attacked also violently, and the uprising
is finally crushed until the cycle starts from the beginning again.
The theme of an uprising as such is interesting, perhaps
eternally topical and maybe because of that a bit worn out. Slightly more mature
people have already seen several uprisings all over the world and perhaps even
become cynical about them. Unfortunately, Hofmann isn’t able to create anything
new and fresh about the theme.
Hofmann’s music is a bit difficult for me. At times it is
interesting, but sometimes also heavy for such a standard music listener as I
am. If I were a professional and listened more to modern music, the music might
be more rewarding to me. It was occasionally difficult to understand the text,
but fortunately there was a lot of repetition, which made it possible to follow
the story. My favourite among the singers was soprano Linnéa Sundfær Casserly.
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