Orpheus’ Comfort, opera for babies / Orfeus’ trøst, opera for babyer

2020; dur: 25'; An opera for children 0-3 years old
photo by Erik Berg/DNO&B

An operatic experience for children aged from 0-3!

Pain, sorrow, solace and happiness – these are feelings that even the youngest among us recognise. And feelings are what opera has always been about! The Solace of Orpheus is a brand-new opera for very young children, in which children and adults together get to experience what it is to lose something – and to find it again.

Orpheus cries out – he has lost his most beautiful possession, his beloved Euridice! This makes him sad and he grieves. Then Euridice appears, but is suddenly gone again! Peek-a-boo! It unfolds like a game.

In the baby opera Orpheus’ Comfort, children and adults are transported back into the Baroque era. The music was composed by Maja S. K. Ratkje, to a fragment of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s aria from the opera Orfeo ed Euridice (1774). A world of costumes, dance and sound from long ago shows us how we can always manage to find each other again – and find solace.

The successful Korall koral – a baby opera was performed for many seasons in the foyer of the Oslo Opera House after its premiere in June 2009. Parts of the team are now back, in Orfeus’ Comfort, opera for babies.

Team and performers

Idea, concept and scenario (libretto) Christina Lindgren
Music and text Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje etter en arie fra Orphée et Euridice av Christoph Willibald Gluck/ Ranieri de´ Calzabigi/ Pierre-Louis Moline

Direction Christina Lindgren
Set design Tormod Lindgren
Costumes design Christina Lindgren
Choreography Elizabeth Svarstad
Dramaturgy Svante Aulis Löwenborg
Performers Elisabeth Holmertz, Silje Aker Johnsen, Marie Delna
Producer Babyopera Camilla Svingen / Syv Mil
Consultant Karstein Solli
Production A co-production between Babyopera and the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, and part of Ultima 2020.

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