Peterson-Berger: Adils och Elisiv

[mikehopf]

Colin announced this earlier... well, it's on tomorrow evening on Swedish Radio

"Adils och Elisiv" av Wilhelm Peterson-Berger

Opera i tre akter (1925). Libretto: tonsättaren. I rollerna: Elisiv - Elisabeth Meyer. Adils - Jesper Taube. Ochlonna - Ingrid Tobiasson. Gorm - Kristian Flor. Samt Fredrik Zetterström, Mikael Magnell, Torbjörn Pettersson och Thomas Annmo. Kungliga operans kör. Kungliga hovkapellet. Dirigent: Tobias Ringborg. Konsertant framförande 26/1, Kungliga operan, Stockholm. Programledare: Per Lindqvist. (3 hrs.)

[mikehopf]

Not only was the opera very worthwhile, but the added bonus of the  Symphony in Dm ( 1887) by Joseph Dente provided a further delight.

By coincidence, I had heard this symphony on youtube a couple of weeks ago and remember thinking what a fine work it was.

As with the Hurum symphony as a tailpiece to the Hallstrom opera, it is worth keeping the recorder on after the opera ends.

[Justin]

6 years late to the party, but I listened to it on YouTube recently. The performance has cuts in it and lasts about 2 hours, while the sheet music shows it running around 3. I like about 30 minutes of the 2 hours, and that is because I find this opera the least melodic of those that Peterson-Berger wrote that have been recorded.

That doesn't mean there aren't beautiful moments in typical Peterson-Berger pastoral beauty, but much of the singing is declamatory in the style of Wagner, and not very interesting in my opinion. The music is for the most part beautiful, and I believe it would succeed well on its own as incidental music. The highlights are the four watchmen in the beginning of the third act (with similar rhythm to the guards in the Brendler opera Ryno), and the singing of Fredrik Zetterström, of whom I am a fan. His singing over the short but incredibly fantastical oboe melody at 15:34 is wonderful. The melody comes back at 1:54:16, and it reminds me of Frösöblomster.

This just screams Sterling material and I hope that the opera will one day be issued on CD in its full version.