Gabriel, come back! in the Helsinki Conservatory, the 16th of February, 2018

There are more and more small societies in the Finnish opera scene that make interesting productions. One of them is Opera Nova, who produces opera and musical theatre pieces that are meant to be suitable for tours. As the Finnish centennial production they made Ilkka Kuusisto’s opera “Gabriel, come back!”, which was finally shown also in Helsinki. The opera was performed twice in the Helsinki Conservatory, at its main stage. I bought the ticket only on the day of the performance and I managed to get one of the last tickets on sale on the internet site. At the conservatory the main stage turned out to be half empty, since it seemed that the majority of the tickets were only on sale at the conservatory. A bit pity that there weren’t more spectators, since the performance was quite good and would have deserved a larger audience.

Most Finns know the story of the opera, since it is based on a story by a well-known Finnish author, Mika Waltari. The play has been staged tons of times and the TV-version is really well-known. The story is about two, slightly older, wealthy sisters, who meet a younger charming man Gabriel. Gabriel is after their money and after a lot of things happening on the stage, finally leaves them, but in the end the sisters still want him to come back – there is even some money left to tempt him.

I had seen this opera once before in the Finnish National Opera and therefore the decision to go and see it was born so late. Kuusisto’s music is rather light and entertaining; there are different dance tunes included (like waltz), but they actually suited this type of humoristic piece. The music was played by Nova Ensemble band (four musicians) with success.

Taina Relander’s stage setting suited the main stage really well and moving the settings between acts was smoothly done while listening to the tunes of old Finnish schlagers. Great idea!

However, this opera was made by the singers. Marjatta Airas in the sole of tight, older sister Ulriika and Päivi Pylvänäinen in the role of the more romantic, younger sister Kristiina did fantastic performances. Their voices suited their roles superbly and they created living and breathing (and believable!) sisters. The other singers weren’t bad either, but their characters were more cliché; so much so that they were less believable. But “Gabriel, come back!” made a funny and relaxing start for the weekend and was definitely worth seeing!