Finnish Chamber Opera decided to show again two short operas, that had been seen before, in one night at Tenalji von Fersen in Suomenlinna. I saw the first one of the operas (Daniel Filippo) already in April 2017 and since the performers were the same also this time, no more about that opera.
The second opera was “Stopover”, which got its first night in February 2012. The composer is Markus Fagerudd and the libretto is by Maritza Núñez. During the interval the seats were turned around, so that the stage was at the other end of the room for the second half of the evening. This allowed the organizers to build the setting for both operas ready beforehand. First it felt a bit strange to change seats in the middle of the evening, but the solution was actually excellent.
The story of “Stopover” is about a man and a woman, who are stranded at the Amsterdam airport because of the ash cloud, the erotic tension between them and what happens then. The opera is not very long – just over half an hour –but it really kept the audience interested and it felt even shorter than it actually was.
I really liked Markus Fagerudd’s music. It had plenty of Mediterranean rhythms, which seemed suitable, since the libretto was in Spanish. The orchestra was not a typical chamber opera orchestra, but it was splendid! It consisted of three instruments: a guitar (Jarmo Julkunen), a tuba (Petri Keskitalo) and an accordion (Harri Kuusijärvi) and it sure played catching music.
The main characters of the opera were played by Reetta Ristimäki and Juha Kotilainen. Both acted their roles really well, but especially K was spectacular in his role as a rather crudely flirtatious plastic surgeon.
The direction by Kimmo Kahra was almost musical like which suited the rhythm of the performance. The climax of the erotic scene was well thought out; it was feverish and funny without becoming corny.
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