I was really looking
forward to this new Finnish opera, since I had a chance to see the main
technical rehearsal of it a few weeks ago and based on that, the opera seemed to
be very promising indeed, even though the accompaniment was then only a piano (the
fabulous Hans-Otto Ehström behind the keys) and some of the singers were saving
their voices.
The story of the opera
is known to those, who have seen Ingmar Bergman’s film (can be seen in Finland
in Yle Areena at the moment), on which the opera is based. It tells about a concert
pianist mother and her two daughters. The mother has mainly concentrated on her
career and that has created conflicts between mother and daughters and these
conflicts are gone through in the performance.
Sebastian Fagerlund’s
music definitely sounded different when played by a full orchestra, which is
totally understandable. Extremely strong music that expressed the emotional storms
of the family members incredibly well. Balancing the colourful/strong moments
were the quiet spans, when only a few instruments played and the singers had
room to do their thing. The contrasts in the music flow fascinated me and it would
be nice to hear the opera again, because I am fairly certain that I had not have
time to grasp all the nuances.
The soloists of the
opera were really well chosen. The mother was the fantastic Anne Sofie von
Otter. She both sang well and created a superly credible mother, concentrated
on her art. Helena Juntunen sang the role of the handicapped daughter Helena.
Even though she was silent most of the time and did not even move, she still
was able to make her presence felt. One of the finest moments of the opera was
when Eva’s husband Viktor (Tommi Hakala) grieved the death of their son. A truly
touching moment, where Hakala’s singing and performance were a jackpot. But
among these exquisite artists my favourite was Erika Sunnegårdh, who sang the
role of the daughter Eva. Perhaps it is partly because in the rehearsal she was
still saving her voice and acting, and thus left a bit bland a picture. In the
performance itself she was vocally magnificent (and the role is not easy to
sing) and additionally she really knew how to express the feelings of pain,
hate and sorrow of a traumatized daughter. You are left almost speechless in
front of such a performance!
If you haven’t got a
ticket to one of the remaining performances (a few tickets are still on sale), in
Finland you can see the opera as a live broadcast in Yle Areena on Saturday
the 23rd of September. This opera is definitely worth seeing!
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