Oslo Operaen. Oslo Opera House.
The most northern point on the map where I saw an opera and, especially, the best production or reinterpretation of an opera`s performance, "La Boheme" by Puccini! Therefore, Oslo Opera House is one of my favorites among all theaters abroad, with Arena di Verona, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the Royal Opera House in London. Also promotes not only the futuristic design, but also beautiful, of the building, that allows not only admiring the building, but climbing (on summer) on top of itand admiring the city from a certain height.

Then we started, from Bucharest to Oslo to see another Puccini`s masterpiece and I hoped another masterpiece as direction. By train from Bucharest to Craiova, by plane from Banie to Dortmund, then other trains (24 hours collected) to Oslo so the returned journey being similar. Of course, on the way we had planned to see other performances, otherwise I would have flown directly between the capitals of Romania and Norway.

It`s quiet. Curtain rises. In its place remains a large and transparent canvas. On stage, only one desk on the left, a dry tree on the right and a door in the center right located about two meters high, some small rocks, more in front of a makeshift bed consisted of a mattress with a white sheet over it and a pillow! An older man, about60 years old comes, sits at the desk and puts a slide. The music begins.

Hvem er det?

Photos (slides) are projected on a small screen on stage, but also huge as whole scene on transparent canvas which is instead of curtain.
Pinkerton appears on the above door, descent down the stairs and takes pictures with an old and analogue camera with a big round flash. Easy, easy, I can make the association: pictures from projector are those made by Pinkerton!
Canvas curtain rises. First picture, with black and white sea, is in the background on all walls of the scene, in the back and sidewalls. Somewhere in the left the housepicture last on the videoprojector.

Pinkerton is young and handsome, physically Scandinavian genre has tie, is in a modern suit, that on the cuffs there are two parallel gold stripes and a golden star.Goro is in a long kimono, is bald, old man with a cane, and sometimes he wears sunglasses! Appears Sharpless, is in a creamy suit and is not an old man from the beginning of the opera, as I suspected! He is already on the stage and turns his back to those two, showing a slight contempt, when is played the American anthem!

Hvem er det?

Butterfly appears. The suite is in dark pink modern dresses and some women even smoke - bleah!
Love before marriage scene. Canvas fell. Others disappear into darkness. On stage remain Butterfly, Pinkerton and... the mysterious character. He is standing foot, on the left, away, and watching them closely.
Marriage. Those two are placed in the knee at the bottoms of tables. The judge is from present day, with a tie and suit. A drunkard falls from standing of drinking andemotion. :-)

This character is strange too, the drunkard, which I have not seen anywhere! I do not mean pubs in Oslo:-) but the performances "Madame Butterfly" that I have seenin other theaters of opera, that I recalled, even seen on this summer, in Glasgow, at Arena di Verona and Cologne. The drunker had played a little and before that moment, he is singing again now! Also, there are some small passages of instrumental music that I have not heard anywhere in this opera!

Here comes the uncle Bonzo. The suite as a sign of denial opens 5-6 hatches from the floor which slams them.
Butterfly changes clothes... behind the slide. I thought it was strange, because I have not considered as been part of the background of those two.
Pinkerton takes a gown from a desk drawer, totally ignoring the mysterious character who was sitting on desk chair, as if it did not exist.
The scene of love duet: the mysterious man occasionally wanders along the stage, sometimes watches them, and in the end turns his back and just listens, andoccasionally clenches.

Hvem er det? Hvem er det?

Act 2. The curtain rises and reveals the same setting that was added in the middle of stage a table and some chairs scene, and... an old Fram refrigerator, like that of"Madama Butterfly" from Cologne!! The mysterious man is somewhere to the left, Suzuki was cleaning the room somewhere in the right and Cio-Cio-San climbedslowly the step from the center, turned his back to the audience, to the door off-stage.

Un bel di, vedremo! They are illuminated Butterfly, Suzuki and... the above door!
After it`s illuminated all stage, it can see that mysterious man read a letter. Consul appears, sits at the table. Butterfly goes in the right of the stage to take cups of tea, turns her back, the mysterious man slips in hand to the Consul the letter from Pinkerton!!
At the end of the scene, the Consul will give back the letter to the mysterious man!

Hvem er det? Who is he?

What do you do if he does not return?" - Butterfly dropped Pinkerton`s picture, the mysterious man become carefully cautious, holding still the letter in his hand.

"E questooo?" ("And this?") I did a calculation, the child is 2 years and 7 months old and 2 years and 10 months old. Almost everywhere, at all theaters of opera there are usedchildren of 5-7 years old to play roles. Here the child is not seen, Butterfly come on stage (behind it) with a stroller. Mysterious man is upstairs, on ladder, with his backto all and he turns and sees the child when Butterfly passes with him …along the scale! He`s scared, transfigured, he takes the hand on his head and suffers betterwhen Butterfly confirmed to Consul that is Pinkerton`s child!
Butterfly sing sufferings that would go if become geisha again, mysterious man stared at her, at the end of area Butterfly turns suddenly and fastens his eyes (upon him!! ) , as would arrows! The dark man feels the arrow and framed as Butterfly, in a powerful cloud of light falls on stairs on his back, writhing moments!

Who is he???

He will rise after a while and will watch quiet. At one point he will come to the stroller and watch the child carefully.
It is the sound of a cannon. Pinkerton`s ship enters in the harbour. "Entrava sull nell porto" becomes reality, the above door opens, an action highlighted by a stronglight which reveals. Two women are watching with binoculars, the darker is swinging cart with the child.
When Butterfly is hanging the American flag from the dry tree, the mysterious man turns his back again.
Women scatter flower petals on stage - petals that they take …from the stroller! - Mysterious man goes near the dry tree, looked up and down the arms and from above... there are falling flower petals!

Who is he???

The choir... is letting dumb dumb!
Butterfly inserts a slide into slideprojector, there is a photo from her marriage. Mysterious man rises from the desk, goes slowly on stage, suffers, takes the letter from his pocket, leads it to a candle, burn it, suffers again, hold it in his hand watching burnt, burnt it down pressing with feet full of hatred and pain, still suffers, goes slowly on the stage, suffers, puts hands on his head, suffers again, he cuddles, he gets up, he goes slowly and overwhelmed, suffers, suffers, suffers and he sits at the desk finally.
And after the silent choir... you stay even more dumb dumb!

Who is he?

If you want to try to answer before I reveal to you, now is the time! Take a piece of paper, a pen or a pencil and write down... Who is the mysterious character?

After the silent choir, Butterfly put more pictures from projector, pictures visible on the semi-transparent curtain. A large, her home, then she stops at a specific one inwhich Pinkerton appears in the middle, framed on the right by an elderly silver-haired lady and on the left by an elderly gentleman and the same character.
After few seconds, those three from picture come back from the dark just right of the scene (I recall that the projector is on the left of it) and stop... just like in thepicture!
After few seconds - for a picture... - Pinkerton retires and the elderly man and woman come affectionately to Butterfly. The elderly woman kissed on the cheeks, the elderly man kissed her hand, then both go to the stroller and looked at the child, happy, and then embraces Butterfly for... the blessed nephew! The mysterious man puts to projector a slide with the Statue of Liberty from New York, during which the elderly man and woman take the baby carts, greet from distance with raised armsto Butterfly and dissappear behind the stage! And Butterfly has only one raised arm which resembles with the Statue of Liberty!

On display are seen more pictures of America (New York, Rushmore), the music still runs - it is instrumental after the silent Choir -in the right of the stage, diffuse at first, in the dark, reappears the old man, the old woman and Pinkerton stop at the same place in the same position, recreating the same image of the picture!!!
Like the first time, Pinkerton disappears in the back, the old woman kisses on the cheeks Butterfly, the old man kisses her hand, then... they went to the mysteriousman and hug him, they socialize with gestures full of affection and friendship!

Who is he???

Easy, easy, it`s morning. The old man and woman slowly disappeared into darkness of the background, Butterfly, only her illuminated is standing in the center of the stage. The darker - I will continue to call it so - approaches her, touches her left hand, and lifts her a little and looks with gratitude more seconds.
It slowly illuminates the entire stage, the mysterious man stretches slowly, on one hand, with her face to the audience, on a makeshift bed from the middle of the stage, Butterfly is singing to her child to sleep, then she lies behind the mysterious man and she falls asleep.
On top door appear Pinkerton, the new Consul and new Mrs. Pinkerton, the last remaining in the doorway, while men come down. Suzuki puts the marriage slide from the projector and shows them how Butterfly intensely waits for him. "Non posso rimaner! Non posso rimaner! " ("I can not stay! "), Pinkerton removes the picture from the projector and sing "Addio fiori d`asil". Then goes.

Butterfly wakes, the darker remains extended a while, then he rises, but he stays sitting on the bed with his face to the audience and with his back to the characters. Then he goes to the desk - in that period the Consul gives Butterfly a note from Pinkerton - arrives at the desk, takes out of a drawer some notes, that, after he readthem, throw them away one by one, that none of them being looked at him.

The end. Butterfly takes the dagger, crosses the stage, stops somewhere in the right, sits in the knee. The mysterious man looks at first closely, then comes near her, sits on his knees, touches her, she throws the dagger, she rises, "You! You! You! You! The light of my eyes! You! You! "
The mysterious man has the look that he sees her for the last time. "Amore, Addio! Addio! Piccolo amor! "
His mother takes him by the hand, lead him in the back, she sits him on the knees, she binds the eye, gives him a paper airplane and says "Va! Gioca! Gioca" ("Get out! Go playing! Go playing ") she puts the American flag on his shoulders and back, she moves away, he is playing with the paper airplane waving it in the air, she goes in the center of the stage, takes the picture of Pinkerton, puts it on the table and staring at it, she suicides with the dagger.

Inside the upper door Pinkerton appears, shouting "Butterfly! Butterfly! " The mysterious man hears him, takes off his eye tape and throw away the flag on his shoulders, turns to Pinkerton, so father and son look in the eyes for the first time.
The lights fade away.
All I did was to record the colossal interpretation of the Opera in Oslo. As in "La Boheme" Norwegian Opera House managed to bring in a new light the main subject of the opera without updating for the sake of being different, on the contrary, changes having no sense, but also the surprising substance. After just two performancesseen here, I`m falling in love with Opera in Oslo, whose performances I am trying to come every time I could, this "changing" which I highly recommend, although theclimate in the capital of Norway is usually cold. :-)
And from Oslo can take the train to Trondheim, then to Bodo (14 hours) or to Stockholm, and to Lulea (read "luleo": P), to Kiruna, to Rovaniemi or to Narvik (22 hours), places where on winter can see Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis.; -)

Wizz Air flights from Bucharest to Oslo are around 100-130 lei per direction (lei, not Euros! ). Certain days on January-February (if can be purchased about two months before, meaning this period, on November-December), InterRail train 5/10ticket (which can be purchased from North Station), around 281 euros - or 184 forunder 26 years old and 253 euro for those people over 60 years old;-) -it remain to solve the accommodation - the cheapest ways are couchsurfing.org, next oneairbnb.com - the entrance ticket to the opera and, especially, the availability of everyone to make this journey. Which I did and I consider heavenly. And Oslo Opera House has in their schedule performances as "Carmen" and "The Barber of Seville" at the beginning of February. ;-)
During the intermission, I talk to an usher - young, blonde, pretty. :-) Among other things, I say to her that I`m from Romania, I ask her if she knows Angela Gheorghiuand gives me a sweet answer: Yes, she knows that she is a great Romanian soprano and says that it`s her all-time favorite soprano! I accept the sentence withoutinterpretations, refusing - justified, I said, - to think why she said it politely. :-) Even especially in Opera store I found few DVDs with Angela Gheorghiu: Puccini`sareas, Verdi`s areas, "Tosca" at the Royal Opera in London and "Fedora" when she sang together with Placido Domingo.
After the performance, having some time "to kill", I was and visited "Henrik Ibsen" National Theatre and the Philharmonic. A little incorrect said "visited"... I waited to finish the scheduled performances and, while spectators came out, I went beside them on the grounds that I "forgot something" in the auditorium.

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