In November Puccini’s tragic, heart-rending and beautiful opera Madama Butterfly comes to Bummundal! The much-loved story of Cio Cio San’s unhappy love takes over Brummundal Kulturhus with no fewer than 7 performances.
Legendary opera in local dress
It is RingsakerOperaen that is staging this popular opera, in which several local stars have leading roles. Both the lead, Sassaya Chavalit, who plays Cio Cio San, and the set designer Plamena Dicheva both live in Ringsaker, but the local roots do not stop there. RingsakerOperaen “borrows” dancers from the municipal arts school, and has several local volunteers in various parts of the production.
With them they have conductor Torodd Wigum, director Ronald Rørvik and a number of very talented singers and dancers who maintain a high standard. Everything suggests that the people of Brummundal have wonderful times in store.
The opera, which was written in 1904, is set in Nagasaki, Japan, and touches on themes such as love, betrayal and cultural differences. It is about the Japanese geisha Cio Cio San and her husband, who is also the father of her child, Pinkerton. The relationship between the two is not built on mutual respect, which results in a personal tragedy.
Madama Butterfly is one of the best-known operas in music history, and has become a favourite for many opera lovers. Puccini’s music is strikingly beautiful and no one who experiences it live remains unaffected by it.
Good reputation
Many will probably already know RingsakerOperaen’s work. With three employees in the administration, plus one head of costume and around 150 volunteers, the opera has become an important cultural player for the county. They stage one full-scale opera production a year and otherwise arrange several concerts. In addition they run an opera school with a performance every spring.
When so many enterprising and skilled minds join forces, you can see it from the reviews of earlier productions. RingsakerOperaen has earned good reviews for several years, so there is great expectation and excitement surrounding this year’s production. People from near and far should recognise their moment and secure tickets before it is too late. This is quite simply one of the operas you must see in the course of your life.
