Opera. The mythological pair of lovers is interpreted by Katarina Karnéus and Kerstin Avemo when we stage this our first opera by Gluck.
The Parma version
In 2014, it is the 300th anniversary of the birth of opera reformer, Gluck. For the first time in this opera house, we are staging one of his operas, in a production that is rather luxuriously gilt-edged. The rarely-staged Parma version of his eternally beloved Orfeo ed Euridice was created in one act for a soprano castrato, with the role of Orfeo in a higher voice then the original. Here, it will be performed by The Göteborg Opera's mezzo-soprano Katarina Karnéus, who is leaving the alto voice of this role for the soprano's range. Her Euridice will be international soprano Kerstin Avemo. This will be an exciting reunion for this pair, who had the audience rejoicing with their interpretations of Romeo and Juliet in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi last season. Amor is sung by Sofie Asplund, who has previously sung Maria in West Side Story with us.
The artistic team, with our in-house director David Radok at its head, has a long-term relationship with our opera house and our audience. After the successes with Dvořák's Rusalka, expectations are high for yet another enormously enchanting production of timeless mythology. Conductor and baroque expert, Laurence Cummings, has been a visiting conductor with us before, with the Handel operas Julius Caesar and Alcina. International eyes will also be drawn towards this production, since we will be the first opera house in the world to use the new source-evaluation edition of the Parma version.
