Eatnama váibmu: Opera in Northern Sámi brings nature and language to life on stage
As the first stage in Europe, the Royal Swedish Opera presents a work written and performed in Northern Sámi this upcoming autumn season. Eatnama váibmu (The Heart of the Earth, in Northern Sámi) is a new opera created by librettist Rawdna Carita Eira and composer Britta Byström, directed by Elle Márjá Eira, who directed the film Stöld (Theft) recently released on Netflix. The story of Eatnama váibmu is based on the Sámi creation story with its current theme of good and evil, and interaction with nature. Premiere on the Royal Swedish Opera's Main stage on November 15.
The audience at the Royal Swedish Opera will encounter a visual reinterpretation of Sami tradition and a musical experience with both a countertenor, a large children's choir and elements of joik. The opera is aimed at audiences from the age of 10 and up. Everyone sings in Northern Sámi with translation in Swedish on text machine.
Eatnama váibmu depicts the Sámi creation story with a current theme of living in harmony with nature. The god Ipmil creates the sun, the moon, the people, the reindeer and the magnificent nature. Deep down inside the earth, Ipmil places a beating heart that depicts the passage of time. The two sons of the Sun, Njáveš and Háhčes, who both find love in the Sun Daughter and the Moon Daughter. But then the brothers start arguing – when Háhčes realizes that he cannot hear the heart of the earth, he becomes jealous and bitter, and soon the battle is in full swing. The dramatic events have fatal consequences on the return of Ipmil...
Director Elle Márjá Eira is a Sámi singer, reindeer herder, film director and writer from Norway. She has previously directed, among other things, the film Stöld (Theft), filmed in Sweden and based on a novel by Sámi author Ann-Helen Laestadius.
Librettist (lyricist) Rawdna Carita Eira is a Sámi playwright and writer from Norway. She has worked as a playwright at the Sámi National Theatre Beaivváš - Det samiske nasjonalteatret in Norway. In 2011, she made her debut as an author with the Northern Sámi/Norwegian bilingual novel Ruohta muzetbeallji ruohta/Løp svartøre løp, which was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.
Composer Britta Byström's music has been played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Gürzenich Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. Recently, her chamber operaThe Play of the Night world premiered at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
The story behind Eatnama váibmu,Youtube
STARRING
IPMIL: Katarina Leoson
MÁNNU (MOON): Jan Jakub Monowid
NJÁVEŠ Klas Hedlund
SUN DAUGHTER: Johanna Rudström
HÁHČES Jens Persson Hertzman
MOON DAUGHTER: Minna Tägil
ARTISTIC TEAM
MUSIC: Britta Byström
TEXT: Rawdna Carita Eira
CONDUCTOR: Anna-Maria Helsing/David Björkman
DIRECTOR: Elle Márjá Eira
SCENOGRAPHY & LIGHT: Markus Granqvist
COSTUME & MASK: Lena Lindgren
DRAMATURG: Katarina Aronsson
CHOREOGRAPHY: Joakim Stephenson
The opera is performed in Northern Sámi with Swedish subtitles on a text machine.
Kontakter
Jenny MattssonPressansvarig /Head of Press
Kungliga Operan / Royal Swedish Opera
Bilder
About the Royal Swedish Opera
The Royal Swedish Opera is Sweden’s National theatre for opera and ballet, founded by king Gustav III in 1773. The Opera House is the heart of opera in Sweden and also home of the Royal Swedish Ballet, which offers both classical ballet and contemporary dance. With one foot rooted in tradition and the other stepping into the future, the company has a loyal and diverse audience. The Royal Swedish Orchestra, resident orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera, is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1526, and the backbone of the Opera House.
One of the Royal Swedish Opera’s most important missions is to put on exciting performances for children and young people, making it possible for them to pursue high culture.
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