The ticket grants access to the concert.
What music was heard at Ole Bull’s theatre in Bergen? Now you have the opportunity to experience music that has not been heard for more than 150 years
Pre-concert talk: 12:30–13:30; concert: 14:00–15:00
In 1850, Ole Bull founded Det norske Theater. Among the works performed there were Danish-Norwegian versions of opéra comique, an 18th-century French form of opera combining spoken dialogue and song. This popular form of opera quickly came to dominate the stages of Paris and soon spread to theatres internationally. One of these was the stage of Ole Bull’s theatre in Bergen.
At the concert, you will hear music from Adolphe et Clara, ou Les deux prisonniers (1799). This exuberant comedy was one of the most successful works by the duo Marsollier and Dalayrac, librettist and composer respectively. They were active in Paris during the French Revolution, but their works were performed throughout Europe as well as in the Caribbean colonies and North America. The work was innovative in many ways, perhaps most notably because it explored ideas emerging from the radically new society that followed in the wake of the Revolution, a society that in many respects still shapes the world we live in today. The work focuses on something that was, at the time, an entirely new phenomenon: divorce. During the French Revolution, women gained the right to divorce, although this right proved short-lived and disappeared with the fall of Napoleon in 1815. The story follows a young couple who want to separate but are put through a series of trials that force them to reconsider their choices. This creates ample opportunity for misunderstandings and comic escapades. Laughter is never far away in this comedy. Dalayrac was one of the most frequently performed composers in Europe during his lifetime. His music can in many ways be reminiscent of Mozart, who was himself influenced by the French musical theatre tradition of opéra comique to which this work belongs
The production is a collaboration between Kode, Orkester Nord and the newly established Hansa Opéra-Comique. It is an academy production featuring young performers, offering audiences the opportunity to hear some of Scandinavia’s emerging opera stars in an intimate chamber setting.
The concert will be preceded by a conversation about opéra comique and Det norske Theater. The participants are Martin Wåhlberg, conductor and Professor of Comparative Literature at NTNU, and Karina Valnumsen Hansen, Senior Curator of Music, PhD, at Kode.
Performers:
Clara: Clara Hallenberg
Adolphe: Evert Karlsson
Limbourg: Filip E. Steinland
Gaspard: Martin Tornquist
Stage direction: Amalie Tolo
Conductor: Martin Wåhlberg
Orkester Nord Academy, orchestra
Martin Wåhlberg is a conductor who has specialised particularly in this repertoire. Together with the Norwegian ensemble Orkester Nord, which performs on historical instruments, he has produced several internationally acclaimed recordings of major 18th-century opéra-comique works. As a scholar, he has also published books and articles on music and literature, with a particular focus on opéra comique in 18th-century France. As a conductor, he has appeared at numerous venues and festivals throughout Europe. His books have been published by Norwegian and French publishers.
Karina Valnumsen Hansen is Senior Curator of Music at Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes. She holds a PhD in Musicology from NTNU, where her research examined politics and declamatory practices in W. A. Mozart’s German operas. Following her doctorate, she worked as an Associate Professor of Musicology at NTNU before taking up a postdoctoral position at Heidelberg University in Germany. Her research interests include music and politics, Mozart’s biography and music, 18th-century opera, Norwegian vocal music of the 19th century, and musical declamatory practices in the 18th and 19th centuries.