“I have dreamed of a great deed on Earth”, says Johan Nilsen Nagel, the main character in Johan Kvandal’s opera Mysteries, thereby putting the main theme of the opera into works. Kvandal started working on Mysteries at the beginning of 1990. The novel is about strong characters who are well suited for musical drama, says Kvandal.
Audience success and a musical vitamin injection
The composer Johan Kvandal’s opera ‘Mysteries’, opus 75, was premiered in the Norwegian Opera on Saturday. It was a winner with the audience and a musical vitamin injection. Broadly constructed, it has an impact both as a musical work and as a theatrical performance.
The mysterious Johan Kvandal
– Why do I think ‘Mysteries’ is suitable as an opera? Well, this distinct cast of carachters lends itself brilliantly to the stage! Johan Nilsen Nagen – ” in an eccentric yellow suit and with a wide velvet hat”, Dagny Kielland – “with a thick blonde braid down her back”, Martha Gude – “her hair is white; her eye hair is terribly black, and appear to make the eyes smolder”, and Minutten – “his walk was so troublesome it was conspicuous; and yet he moved so quickly around”.