Organization

Bass-baritone (+3)

Håvard Stensvold

Gisle Skald / Narrator

Soprano (+1)

Tonje Eero Hove

Margrethe called Fredkulla

Mezzo-soprano (+3)

Nina Sætherhaug

Thora

Tenor (+1)

Kjetil Støa

King Magnus

Ola Marius Ryan

Agmund

Baritone (+1)

Sverre Johan Aal

Knight Giffard

Stage director

Stage director (+3)

Zuzana Gilhuus

Conductor

Eivind Gullberg Jensen

Chorusmaster

Chorusmaster (+1)

Ursa Lah

Morten Kvaal

King Inge

Bass

Jakub Adam Niedziela

King Erik

Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera

Orchestra

Trondheim Symphony Orchestra

Chorus

Trondheim Vocal Ensemble

TSO Choir

Olavshallen

Fredkulla

by Martin Andreas Udbye (1820-1889) Libretto Carl A. Müller

Lyrics processing: Jon Bing and Tor Åge Bringsværd
Arrangement of lyrics: Runa Svare

The opera is in the form of a singing game and the libretto (script) consists of lyrics and speech scenes. In tonight's edition, the speech scenes are not performed, but the music numbers are linked to a descriptive text performed by the poet Gisle. The visual backdrop shows Halfdan Egedius' illustrations of the saga and pictorial memories from the opera's world premiere in 1997.

Fredkulla and the premiere in Trondheim in 1997
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Martin Andreas Udbye's birth (1820-1889), TSO was to show excerpts from his opera Fredkulla . This marking was canceled due to covid 19. Now there is every possible reason to record Norway's first opera again. Udbye was born in Trondheim and worked all his life in his hometown as an organist in Hospitalskirken and in Vor Frue kirke and as a singing teacher at Katedralskolen. He wrote what is considered the first Norwegian opera, Fredkulla.

Fredkulla is a large-scale opera in two acts. It was created during two hectic months around the turn of the year 1857/58 into a libretto by the principal at Trondheim Cathedral School, Carl Müller. The overture and a selection of arias were performed at concerts in Trondheim in January and February 1858, as well as in March 1861 and May 1873. According to newspaper articles from the time, the overture particularly appealed to the public. The opera was created at a time when events from medieval Norwegian history were rewritten and sung. Fredkulla was on Christiania Theatre's schedule in 1877. Udbye was on his way to Christiania to lead the rehearsals when the theater burned down. So far, but no longer, he came in his efforts to bring the opera forward. However, the score did not burn up.

It was the businessman Bjørn W. Lunde in Trondheim who took the initiative for a restoration and production of the work. Under the auspices of the Music Theater in Trondheim, Fredkulla premiered in Olavshallen in Trondheim on 1 February 1997.

A music playwright
's' Your Name as a Composer has a better sound than anyone else's in this country '', Henrik Ibsen wrote in a letter to Martin Andreas Udbye dated 18 July 1861, in which he invited the Trondheim composer to collaborate on an opera. Ibsen's opera plans did not materialize, but the letter tells in clear text about Udbye's reputation among the nation's cultural elite. As a choir composer, he already had a secure position.

The plot
The opera's plot is taken from Magnus Berrføtt's saga with the story of the Swedish princess Margrethe, who was nicknamed Fredkulla, and her work to preserve peace among the Nordic nations. The war between the Norwegian king Magnus and the Swedish king Inge is the basic subject of conflict, but in the plot a love story arises between King Magnus and the Swedish king's daughter.

Style The
orchestration is in Viennese classical, early romantic style. The instrumentation includes a ensemble of about 40 musicians. Udbye shows clear influence from Mozart. His handwritten catalog shows that he owned a number of Mozart operas in addition to operas by Handel and Haydn. This has not prevented Udbye from showing a personal touch to both form and musical drama in the work.

Structure
All the 15 issues in the original manuscript are dated. The opera opens with an overture.
In the continuation of the first act, Udbye shows the entire classical repertoire of musical-dramatic means of expression with recitatives, arias, duets and ensemble finals. The second act follows largely in the same footsteps, except for a place where the musical expression demands that the thought should be traced back to the saga period and the poem. Towards the end, Margrethe makes it a condition for her love that the kings must enter into a peace agreement. This forms the basis of the opera's finale; peace in the Nordic kingdoms, where everyone in the final, powerful peace choir pays tribute to "the Nordic cohesive kingdoms". Most famous of the song numbers are Fredkulla's song and Skaldekvadet in the last act.

Thomas Ramstad

Eivind Gullberg Jensen
The Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen has this year taken over as opera director for Bergen National Opera. Bergen is also the conductor's hometown. He has an extensive international career, where he has worked with many different directors and singers from around the world.

- Conducting opera is my great passion, says Gullberg Jensen, who in his time studied conducting with Ole Kristian Ruud in Trondheim. He has visited TSO several times.

The new head of operations has led the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover for 5 years, and worked with orchestras in most major cities in Europe, in recent years also in the United States. He is also the first Norwegian to conduct at the prestigious Wiener Staatsoper.

Kuvia