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Oslo Operafestival
12. sep. - 16. sep.
Oslo
Oslo Operafestival 12-16 September
We welcome you to the 18th Oslo Operafestival, run by Opera til folket. This year we too have had to scale down the festival because of rising prices and difficult times. Even so, we promise a wonderful festival and hope many will find their way to one or more of our events. You will find us around Oslo in week 37. Oslo Operafestival is a great way to experience opera for the first time. For everyone who loves opera, it is a great way to relive the highlights of the operas we like so much.
As is tradition, we open the festival out in central Oslo. This year it takes place outside the public entrance to Oslo Konserthus on 12 September at 18.00, in collaboration with Oslo Urban Week and Operahøgskolen. It is the students on the one-year programme at Operahøgskolen who have the honour of opening the festival. Right after the opening, in the small hall of the concert hall, the audience can experience Scenebetennelse. A festive show that mixes humour with top-class singing. Fantastic soloists take the audience on a journey through the history of musical theatre, from opera and operetta to modern musical. Here the prunes come thick and fast. The audience also gets an insight into the drama and comedy that often plays out BEHIND the scenes at big opera houses.
Then it is one thing after another until Saturday. There will be an opera party for everyone with wonderful soloists at Gamle Raadhus Scene on Wednesday 13 September. A short version of Puccini's fantastic La bohème on Thursday 14 September at the same venue. On Friday it is Culture Night in Oslo and we invite young talents to sing at Gamle Raadhus Scene and on the tram on Friday 15 September. On Saturday 16 September we close the festival with Opera for Children, an extraordinary Saturday Opera and finally a concert of beautiful romances by Mahler and Norwegian composers, among others, at Gamle Raadhus Scene. There will be an Opera Pub at Grønland Boulebar. A brand-new opera pub in Oslo with free admission, lovely food and drink, and you can even get in a game of boules before or after.
This year we have invited some Norwegian singers living abroad to sing at this year's festival. We are also very proud that we have an extra large number of young singers this year. Opera til folket is first and foremost meant to be an arena for newly graduated singers before their careers take off, but it is also very nice for us when those who once sang some of their first professional engagements with us take the time to come back.
We would also remind you that we have a number of concerts at Gamle Raadhus Scene. Saturday Opera every Saturday at 15.30 in particular is a popular offering. We are moving the Opera Pub to Grønland Boulebar starting 26 August. We welcome you to the 17th opera festival run by Opera til folket. This year we have 27 different productions/concerts, several of which are performances for children, to be staged at Gamle Raadhus Scene and Tveten gård. We will also offer opera for children later in the autumn.
As is tradition, we open the festival out in central Oslo. This time by Tigeren at Jernbanetorget in collaboration with Oslo Kulturnatt. There the students on Operahøgskolen's one-year programme have the honour of providing beautiful arias, and State Secretary Gry Haugsbakken gives the opening speech.
Then it is one thing after another every day for nine days. There will be several short versions of well-known operas to experience. This is a great way to experience opera for the first time. Or, for those of us who love opera, a great way to relive the highlights of the operas we like so much. This year's short versions are: Carmen by Georges Bizet, Faust by Charles Gounod and The Impresario by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In addition, Ida Gudim has put together scenes from several more recent operas in the production The Lobby. There will also be the world premiere of Sigwardt Aspestrand's two one-act operas at Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo with Operahøgskolen's master's students. They also offer an Opera Gala during Culture Night.
There will be an Opera Pub and Opera Cabaret in Teaterkjeller’n, opera on the tram (finally, after two years of pandemic), a concert lecture on Norwegian opera history with Terje & Trond, several concerts during Culture Night, a concert lecture on Franz Schubert and, not least, a wonderful, sparkling show with the vocal group «Stillett».
This year we have invited a number of Norwegian singers living abroad to sing at the big concert in Universitetets aula. We have also invited two singers from Poland and one from Sweden to this concert. We are also very proud that we have an extra large number of young singers this year. Opera til folket is first and foremost meant to be an arena for newly graduated singers before their careers take off, but it is also very nice for us when those who once sang some of their first professional engagements with us take the time to come back.
We would also remind you that we have a number of concerts at Gamle Raadhus Scene. Saturday Opera every Saturday at 15.30 in particular is a popular offering. We are moving the Opera Pub to Teaterkjellr’n starting 7 September.
Upcoming concerts
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Past concerts
- 16. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Des Knaben WunderhornGamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 16. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – LørdagsoperaGamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 16. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Opera for barna: OperamysterietGamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 15. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Operatrikken 2Stortorvet i Oslo ved trikkesløyfen, Oslo
- 15. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Operatrikken 1Stortorvet i Oslo ved trikkesløyfen, Oslo
- 15. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Kulturnatt: Morgendagens OperastjernerGamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 14. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – La Bohème (Utdrag)Gamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 13. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Operafest for alleGamle Raadhus Scene, Oslo
- 12. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival – Scenebetennelse: humoristisk skråblikk på musikkteaterOslo Konserthus - Lille sal, Oslo
- 12. Sep 2023Oslo Operafestival 2023 – ÅpningskonsertOslo Konserthus - Lille sal, Oslo
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