Organization

Stage director

Daniel Bohr

Set designer

Dirk Hofacker

Conductor

Anne Randine Øverby

Singer

Baritone

Richard Resch

Gavin

Tenor

Heinrich Schopf

Storm Kolson

Soprano

Tone Kvam Thorsen

Königin der Trolle

Opera Bergen

Orchestra

Opera Bergens Orkester

Others

Opera Bergen children's and youth choir

The Two Fiddlers

Bergen

Norway

Håkonshallen

The Two Fiddlers Davies,PM

Public

Approved

ir Peter Maxwell Davies and The Two Fiddlers

Maxwell Davies is considered one of our foremost living composers, and in 1987 was knighted by the Queen of England for his rich and varied production, which he perceived as an honor for music more than for himself; - Music is of crucial importance to people, and society has betrayed us all by underestimating this value.

He began his career as a composer and musician with a great interest in early avant-garde music, from his homeland as well as from all over Europe, and contributed to a lot of music created in the 50s and 60s being played and listened to - albeit by a small and particularly interested audience.

This made him aware of and concerned with the complex, and often contradictory, relationship between composer, performer and audience, and at the same time became the germ of his strong pedagogical interest and work.

The three years (1959 - 62) he worked at Cirencester Grammar School were crucial to his further development as a composer; from being able to relate to musical "equals" (professionally trained performers, critics and composers) it was now children and young people he had to communicate with. This had significant consequences for his further work as a composer; first, the musical style became clearer and simpler, and he made it a habit to think of the performance and grouping of performers while composing. He also developed a very liberal attitude towards transcripts in general, because one always had to take as a starting point what kind of resources are available, and adapt the works on that basis.

His teaching method has always been closely linked to the performance of the music being worked on, which early on made him a sought-after guest instructor and lecturer at a number of educational institutions in Europe and the United States.

Since 1970, Peter Maxwell Davies has lived in the Orkney Islands. In 1977 he took the initiative and established the St.Magnus Festival - an annual "Celebration of the Arts" - where music forms the main part of a program that also addresses drama, dance, literature and visual arts. Over the years, the festival has grown from a humble beginning to become one of the UK's most respected and eventful art festivals.

In the same way as his work as a composer, the festival is also characterized by the lucky combination of world-class performances and artists and high-quality local participation, where children and young people form an important group of participants.

Based on the composer's commitment to children and young people and the need for them to meet and participate in musical contexts, the festival has hosted a number of premieres of Maxwell Davies' children's operas, musicals and singing cycles, in which children from the Orkney Islands have participated; educational projects conceived and planned in collaboration with visiting orchestras, ensembles and artists - with a clear focus on performance with a public audience present.

The Two Fiddlers saw the light of day already at the second festival (1978), and is still considered his best children's opera. The combination of skill, modernity and insight into children's musical performance

his music represents a far more advanced and "advanced" style than what many associate with children's and youth music, and convinces us that children are far less prejudiced against (adults' supposed?) deterrent properties of modern music.

A journalist who was in the Orkney Islands when the opera was performed again in 2004, could tell about the composer's popularity among the participating children:  - My biggest memory is the sight of Max surrounded by children who hung on to him where they came to, in arms and legs, in shirt sleeves and pocket edges: “Have you written anything more for us? What are we going to sing next year? Can I join? ”

Playing The Two Fiddlers in Håkonshallen emphasizes the close ties between Bergen and the Orkney Islands, and in a year of cultural heritage, it is interesting that Håkonshallen becomes an arena for a musical encounter between past and present.

Håkonshallen was built by Håkon IV Håkonson, who was king of Norway in the years 1217 - 1265. Håkon was born into a society ravaged by war, armed gangs and warlords, and died as the undisputed ruler of a large and internationally respected kingdom. , where the monarchy had clearly been strengthened. He died on the Orkney Islands, and was temporarily buried in St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall before the body was returned and buried in Christ Church on Holmen in Bergen; today marked with a memorial stone at Bergenhus Fortress.

That the performance venue is Håkonshallen is also curious in the sense that the composer was present right here in 1978; the same year he composed The Two Fiddlers. It was in connection with the Festival's performance of his chamber opera The Martyrdom of St.Magnus ; the first opera he wrote from the Orkney Islands (1977), which is described by its clarity, economization with facts and simple tools to thematize the concept of peace.

Peter Maxwell Davies' tradition-based, but at the same time very modern musical and textual adaptation of George Mackay Brown's narrative has become an opera for and with children and young people with great experiential value in itself as an artistic expression. It is based on Nordic storytelling tradition; fairy tales, legends and myth-making, at the same time as it relates to our own time and looks at it with different eyes than we might do ourselves.

Kristin Knudsen

The Two Fiddlers - the action

English

The Two Fiddlers by Davies, From (2009/2009), Directed by Daniel Bohr,, Conductor Anne Randine Øverby, Håkonshallen, Bergen, Norway

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues