The spring for the wedding ceremony on the country’s theatres. In the space of a couple of weeks I have sat in the audience and at the same time participated as a bröllopsgäst in two different performances. The first in Lars von Trier’s ”Melancholia” at the house of the Sceptre with the earth’s destruction as backdrop, now the ”Creation” at Folkoperan with the world’s birth as a starting point. Seemingly two completely different types of pieces, each of which in its own way questioning the wedding as ritual.
In common with haydn’s ”the Seasons” is ”the Creation,” an oratorio that asks for a theatrical interpretation. There is lightning and thunder when the world becomes in this three-part choral work which begins with chaos and ends with the heavenly praise and worship. Joonas Tikkanens set design frameworks effective in the orchestra, the singer and actor with tempelpelare, stairs and the greenery of the trellis.
up in the black feathers, as if the paradise was already lost. But it is also about the biblical story filtered through John Milton’s epic ”Paradise lost” and the enlightenment ideal.
Haydn can be said to be both hierarchical, conservative and modern at the same time. When the director Mellika Melouani Melani takes on his oratory with the German language libretto by Gottfried van Swieten and spoke sequences in Swedish it is all about making traditionskostymen less narrow.
Against the background of 1790 century, the regulatory frameworks have thus Folkoperan, in collaboration with Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, wanted to invite the future. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden, set against the real people’s stories about love with the impediment that immigration laws and war, the culture of honor, tvåsamhetsnormen or even death. A beautiful, inclusive idea at the same time tramsas away among brudslöjor and bubbeldrickande.
from the Melouani Melanis kioskvältare ”Carmina Burana” with the 80-year-old queens, and Bach’s ”German” in Joshua Sofaers directed. Advance has also announced the following real brides who are married in the end of the show and may dance bröllopsvals to ”An der schönen blauen Donau” in the foyer.
The authentic livsödena concern, but the point about the non-normative love had gone forward only with such things as the black-and-white film noir scenes on videoduken, portrayed by the actor and completely without the need to expose individual people’s privacy. Now it is as if the reality tv moved with all what it means of emotional exploitation.
The reading, which would be broad to become paradoxically narrow and makes the set easy to lose touch with the music and the text itself. But there is also an occasionally refreshing the dynamic between the skådespelartrion Samuel Fröler, chynna phillips and Ann-Sofie Rases gapigt cheeky and fallen angels, as well as three singing companies. Not least, Susanna stern’s consecrate sopranstämma shine as alluring as a paradisäpple, nicely flanked by both basbarytonen Martin Hatlo as the tenor Jesper Blessed. With the convincing power of the spells also Mikaeli chamber Choir and the Folkoperans orchestra under the direction of Anders Eby.
Read more of DN’s current scenrecensioner here.
