Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten) is an opera in two acts by composer Sebastian Fagerlund, with a Swedish libretto by Gunilla Hemming [sv] based on the screenplay for the 1978 film of the same name by Ingmar Bergman.

The opera was commissioned by the Finnish National Opera and premiered on 8 September 2017, directed by Stéphane Braunschweig and conducted by John Storgårds.[1] Three of the performances of the premiere production were recorded by BIS for a live recording that was released in September 2018.[2] In Autumn 2017 the opera was also streamed in HD on the OperaVision platform in collaboration with the Finnish Broadcasting Company.[3]

On 27 October 2018. the Finnish National Opera and the premiere production cast performed a concertante version of Autumn Sonata at the Baltic Sea Festival in the Berwald Hallen in Stockholm, Sweden. The performance was conducted by Dalia Stasevska.[4] The opera production was revived at the Malmö Opera in Sweden with a partly new cast including Charlotte Hellekant in the leading role as the mother and Fredrik Zetterström [sv] as Viktor. The Swedish premiere on 13 September 2019 was conducted by Patrik Ringborg.[5] On 18 October 2019, Malmö Opera brought the revived production to Hong Kong World Cultures Festival for three performances between 18 and 20 October 2019.[6][7] The premiere production of Autumn Sonata was revived at the Finnish National Opera between 15 November and 12 December 2019. The original cast was the same, except for the role of Eva, sung by Ingela Brimberg.[8]

Autumn Sonata is published by Edition Peters.

Roles

Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 8 September 2017
Conductor: John Storgårds
Helena, the younger daughter soprano Helena Juntunen
Eva, the older daughter soprano Erika Sunnegårdh
Charlotte, the mother mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter
Viktor, Eva's husband baritone Tommi Hakala
Leonardo, Charlotte's dead lover and companion bass Nicholas Söderlund [sv]

Reception

Guy Dammann gave a 5-star review in the Financial Times: "Striking, Superb!"[9]

Camilla Lundberg in the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter wrote: "A new opera has rarely struck so deeply" [Sällan har en opera träffat så djupt].[10]

Göran Forsling wrote in Seen and Heard International: "Sebastian Fagerlund has created a colorful score that powerfully comments, underlines and punctuates the text. The music is not melodious, but it is expressive and full of feeling."[11]

Reviewer Martin Lim wrote in the South China Morning Post: "Opera Autumn Sonata, adapted from the original Swedish film, is an explosion of musical color ...".[12]

Andrew Mellor reviewed the CD recording of Autumn Sonata in Gramophone: "Fagerlund's brooding, tension-ridden score is excellent at differentiating between Charlotte (her music all uppity and precious) and Eva (lost in a sea of loneliness and emotional damage) and grinding those elements together to deliver the opera's sucker punches."[13]

References

  1. ^ "Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata – Ooppera – Finnish National Opera". Baletti. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  2. ^ "BIS Records – Fagerlund – Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata), an opera". bis.se. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  3. ^ "Autumn Sonata – Fagerlund". Operavision. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  4. ^ "Autumn Sonata – Baltic Sea Festival". Berwaldhallen. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  5. ^ "Höstsonaten | Malmö Opera". malmoopera.se. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  6. ^ "WCF – World Festival". worldfestival.gov.hk. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  7. ^ "When your loved one hurts you: 'Autumn Sonata' goes from big screen to grand stage to tell of estranged mother-daughter relationship". South China Morning Post. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  8. ^ "Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata – Ooppera – Finnish National Opera". Baletti. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  9. ^ "Autumn Sonata, Finnish National Opera, Helsinki – striking, superb". Financial Times. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-25.(subscription required)
  10. ^ "Recension av Höstsonaten på Ooppera, Helsingfors med bland annat Anne Sofie von Otter, Erika Sunnegårdh, Tommi Hakala, Helena Juntunen". Dagens Nyheter. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  11. ^ "Autumn Sonata: New Opera Evokes Bergman Film". Seen and Heard International. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  12. ^ "Opera Autumn Sonata, adapted from the original Swedish film, is an explosion of musical colour masterfully wielded by HK Phil". South China Morning Post. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  13. ^ "Review". Gramophone. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
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