Tampere Biennale brought to stage a new opera ”Silvia and
I” by Markus Fagerudd in the Old City Hall of Tampere. The Old City Hall is
from 1890 and it is in great shape after the restauration in 2003-2004. It
suited perfectly as a background to an opera that tells about the meeting of
the queens of United Kingdom and Sweden.
The excellent libretto was written by Eppu Nuotio and
Tiina Brännare (who was also the director of the piece). Queen Elizabeth has
invited several European queens to visit her, but one after another they
cancel. Then Elizabeth decides to cancel the whole party, but Queen Silvia has
already arrived. After a few drinks and royal gossip the couple, who have in
the beginning been a bit discordant, chat amicably about rather difficult
issues, too.
Fagerudd’s music was fresh and suited the theme. Styles varied
and the opera also borrowed some themes (e.g. the theme music of Hercule Poirot
TV-series) in suitable places. Tampere Raw –orchestra of four musicians played
strikingly throughout the opera.
The absolute queen of the opera was Johanna Rusanen-Kartano.
Her fine voice was no surprise to anyone, but she is also a stupendous
comedienne. What an incredible amount of facial expressions and gestures she
had, and she made a funny, personal Elizabeth. Riikka Hakola was in her role as
Silvia a bit more stiff and her articulation was – typically to a high soprano –
not so clear. Her performance was by no means bad, but she was just left in the
shadow of Rusanen-Kartano.
As a whole the opera was a real success. The most
superfluous part was the Skype call of Price Charles (by Arttu Kataja). I
really hope that this performance will not be the last of this opera, but it
will be seen in other cities, too.
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| The Old City Hall |
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| Interior |
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| Queen Silvia and Queen Elizabeth |
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