Even though the majority of Finns are today members of the Lutheran Church, the country has a strong catholic history. This is clearly seen in the Naantali Church, which is the only remaining building of the Catholic Bridgettine Convent that stood there before the Reformation. Externally the church has remained through centuries rather unchanged, but there have been significant changes in the internal constructions since the heyday of the convent. This week an opera about the life of the founder of the Catholic Bridgettine Convent - Saint Bridget - as if seen by her wet nurse Anna, is being performed in the church.
In this opera a significant role is played by the Naantali Church itself. The light coloured vaults and unusual acoustics have a huge effect on the operatic experience. The director Ville Saukkonen must have thought hard, how to balance the good and bad sides of the church in the performance.
Saint Bridget was a Swedish woman, who became a nun after a marriage, eight children and widowhood. She founded her first convent in Vadstena, Sweden. The opera tells by jumping from one decade to another her story from a young girl to her funeral.
The vaults of the Naantali Church gave an immense echoing effect and this worked superbly when the choir was singing. The Chamber Choir Audite sounded absolutely stellar. It sang from the collection of hymns Cantus Sororum when the audience arrived and I can only say, it was a pity that the audience’s babble sometimes almost covered the beautiful hymns. Even during the opera the singing of Audite from the back of the church echoed in a very impressive way and I fell totally in love with their performance. When the soloists were singing from the altar, the echo made it sometimes really hard to distinguish the words. Therefore, I strongly recommend reading the libretto (it is rather short) before the performance, because that will make it considerably easier to follow what happens on the stage.
In addition to the choir, I must praise the light design by Mari Agge. The surroundings cannot have been the easiest possible, but Agge’s lights suited the story and they were imaginative. As I said in the beginning, the performance of the Naantali Church was imperative and the impact of the opera would have been without doubt quite different in another place.
Jani Sivén’s music was in my ears at its most interesting (in addition to the choir) when the organ joined the music. An organ just suited the theme of the opera and the surroundings so well. And extra spice to the experience was added by the fact that there was actually a group of today’s Bridgettine nuns in the audience. It seems that they also wanted to hear the first performances of the opera covering the life of their founder.
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