New opera format takes to stage in Turku
So-called “news operas”, based on current events and written on a tight schedule, will premiere at the Turku Music Festival on Friday, August 17.
The new format borrows inspiration from musicals as well as the opera genre.
One of the works, “Kenraali” (The General), deals with the human rights situation in Russia. The idea took off when a top Russian commander visited Finland and provoked widespread consternation by criticising the country’s cooperation with NATO.
Director Kurt Nuotio says that the text of his opera took five days to write.
Since then, the work has incorporated other developments in Finland’s eastern neighbour.
The second opera, directed by Aino Kivi, handles the eurozone crisis and the situation with Greece.
The creators want to show that a workable opera can be created without a years-long production process. From their point of view, the topical nature of the news opera and its rapid production rhythm will bring a breath of fresh air to the opera world.
“Opera is a tough and expensive art form. Here we have tried to make it so that the making of opera would be thought about in a light way. This could bring something new and refreshing to opera,” says Kivi.
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