Acclaimed Nordic opera Autumn Sonata is set to offer ‘humane, emotional experience’ for Hong Kong audiences amid city’s political turmoil
- Based on Ingmar Bergman’s classic film, the Swedish-language opera runs for three shows at the World Cultures Festival next month
- Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund says production company saw no reason to postpone performances despite other events cancelling recently
A powerful emotional experience is in store for Hong Kong audiences with the Asian premiere of an acclaimed Nordic opera, regardless of safety concerns among the visiting Scandinavian musicians, the opera’s composer says.
Adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s classic 1978 film, Autumn Sonata is a two-act work commissioned by the Finnish National Opera; it premiered in Helsinki 2017 after Sebastian Fagerlund spent two and a half years composing it.
The premiere comes at a time of political turmoil in the city sparked by the now-abandoned extradition law, which could have allowed criminal suspects to be transferred to mainland China for trial.
“For me it is a very special thing to perform an opera in a Scandinavian language in such a great city as Hong Kong,” the Finn composer tells the Post from Helsinki shortly after the opera’s second performance by the Malmö Opera in Sweden, the troupe that will perform three shows at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre on 19-21 October to kick off this year’s World Cultures Festival under the theme “The Nordics”.
“[The Malmö performance] hit the nerve of the audience and the reaction was breathtaking. It was an absolute dream cast – the lead soloists, chorus, and the conductor – and we are all looking forward to performing for a Hong Kong audience, which is a great honour for us as it will be the first time we take the work outside Scandinavia,” the 46-year-old Finn adds.
