Elsewhere
Elsewhere
✭✭✭✭✩
by Eduard Du Puy, translated and directed by Lars Runsten
Royal Swedish Opera, Drottningholm Slottsteater
May 30-June 15, 2002
Ever since I saw Ingmar Bergman's film of "The Magic Flute", I have longed to see an opera performance at the Drottningholm Slottsteater. In the film Bergman recreates to delightful effect what a performance at the 18th-century theatre of Drottningholm would be like (since he was not allowed to film there). Drottningholm was originally the summer palace of the Swedish royal family. Now it lies within the bounds of Stockholm itself and has become the royals' permanent residence. (The King himself drove one of his cars right past us as we waited outside the theatre.) The theatre built in 1766, housed in a separate building, is unique in Europe as the only theatre still to retain its original décor and stage machinery. At only 450 seats it is a jewel-box of an opera house. The Royal Swedish Opera stages three operas there in succession in the summer months. I was fortunate enough to be there for the opening night of the 2002 season.
A prerequisite for any opera staged at Drottningholm is that it must draw from the theatre's existing store of 18th-century scenery. The house is lit only by flickering electric candles--real ones would be too dangerous and harsh light would harm the décor. Börje Edh's period costumes made the stage picture look like an early Empire era painting come to life. To add to the effect, the small orchestra on period instruments is also in period costumes including wigs.
I was pleased that the opera on offer was completely new to me, "Ungdom och dårskap" (“Ungdom og Galskap” in the original Danish, “Youth and Folly” in English) by Edouard Du Puy (1771-1822). The libretto by N.T. Bruun is based on the play "Une folie" by J.N. Bouilly. (Coincidentally, another play by Bouilly, "Léonore", became the basis for Beethoven's only opera, "Fidelio".) This opera with spoken dialogue, originally Danish, premiered in Copenhagen in 1806 and has become the most popular Danish "Singspiel" ever written. Presumably because the dialogue is so extensive (and perhaps because of the continuing rivalry between Sweden and Denmark), director Lars Runsten had translated the libretto into Swedish and changed the setting and historical references from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Thus the peasant with the comic dialect comes from Skåne instead of Jutland and the painter's painting is of Svante Sture and Märta not Hagbard and Signe.
The story is very similar to "The Barber of Seville". In this case a jealous painter Proferssor Grandal has locked his ward Wilhelmina in his house to keep young men away from her. Young Lieutenant Rose (originally sung by Du Puy himself) has fallen in love with Wilhelmina having seen only her portrait and having heard her sing at her window. His first attempt to gain entry by disguise fails. When he and his trusty servant Johan learn that Grandal's servant Pål is expecting Mickel, a relative from the country to arrive, Johan so successfully impersonates Mickel that Pål kicks out the real Mickel when he turns up. Once inside Johan engineers the entrance of Rose as one of Grandal's models. The young lovers first meet each other while posing for an historical scene Grandal is painting.
Du Puy, who sang in the title role in the Danish première of "Don Giovanni", was very much influenced by Mozart and promoted Mozart's work in Denmark. While it is not as inventive or rich in melody as Mozart's, Du Puy's music is charming and varied and always always suited to each character. He gives Johan arias influenced by folksong a and delightful showpieces to the male and female leads.
The revelation of the performance was Kristina Hansson as Wilhelmina. She sang with a clear, pure soprano and tossed off the many coloratura runs Du Puy gives her with precision and dazzling panache. She had the most energizing presence on stage and could easily become a new star in early music. Carl Unander-Scharin as Lieutenant Rose could not match Hansson in purity of tone but he sang ably making his highest notes ringing and clear.
Baritone Ola Eliasson made Johan more than the stereotypical servant with a wayward master. He sang his central song about the joys of domestic bliss with such warmth and good humour that it really set the gentle mood of the whole piece. Stig Tysklind has a rich voice and made Professor Grandal a much more subtle character than the typical suspicious old man of comedy. Tenor Niklas Björling Rygert was hilarious as Mickel the poor relation who when rejected comes to doubt his own identity. Bertil Norström, more an actor than a singer, played Grandal's aged servant Pål with such good humour and perfect comic timing that he would immediately remind any Canadian theatre-goer of the late, much-missed Eric Donkin. Baritone Anders Bergström sang the small role of the pompous hussar that Rose impersonates.
As a "Singspiel" close to half of the two-hour running time consisted of dialogue. What I found amazing was that the singers were equally adept at superbly acting the long spoken sections as they were in singing. How many opera singers are there who have enough training or talent to do this?
Conductor Tobias Ringborg kept the pacing swift and light, making the most of the more Mozartian sonorities, especially those echoing passages in "The Magic Flute". The orchestra played with a beautifully blended tone and the enthusiasm of the ensemble was infectious.
Drottningholm has no facilities for surtitles which in any case would ruin the period atmosphere, but the English plot synopsis in the programme plus Runsten's clear direction and the singers' deft acting made the work easy to follow even if one didn't get all of the jokes the Swedish audience did. "Youth and Folly" is one of those lighter works that despite its indebtedness to other works helps lift the spirits. It really should be better known outside of Scandinavia. Some of our opera schools would do well to investigate it.
The website for both the Royal Swedish Opera and for Drottningholm (www.opera.se) has sections in English. The season at the Royal Swedish Opera runs from the end of August to the beginning of June on the repertory system. The season at Drottningholm runs from June to August on the "stagione" system.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in the TheatreWorld (UK) 2002-06-16.
Photo: Carl Unander-Scharin and Ola Eliasson. ©2002 Mats Bäcker.
2002-06-16
Drottningholm, SWE: Ungdom och Dårskap