Sweden En julsaga (A Christmas Carol): Soloists, Children’s Chorus and Gothenburg Chorus and Orchestra / Josef Rhedin (conductor). Gothenburg Opera main stage, 15.12.2023. (NS)
Production:
Idea, lyrics and book by Tobias Ahlsell, David Lundqvist and Anders Wängdahl.
Composition and Musical arrangement – Mats Sköldberg
Original direction – Erik Ståhlberg
Revival director – Mia Nerenius
Set design – Katrin Pettersson
Costume design – Anna Carlberg, Therese Schimmelsohn
Video design – Katrin Pettersson, Niklas Elfvengren, Ludde Falk
Lighting design – Niklas Elfvengren
Sound design – Jonathan Assarsson
Choreography – Cynthia Kai
Cast:
Scrooge – Carina Söderman
Ghosts – Mats Almgren, Julia Carlström
Narrator / Mrs Cratchit – Tobias Ahlsell
Narrator / Fred – David Lundqvist
Narrator / Bob Cratchit – Anders Wängdahl
Tiny Tim – Allan Olsson
Child Scrooge – Ingrid Bosaeus
Child Simon – Alexander Friberg
Young Scrooge – Tiina Markkanen
Young Simon – Christopher Napier
This year’s Christmas musical at the Gothenburg Opera is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, sung in Swedish and set to a wide but thoughtful selection of music – from Allegri to Stevie Wonder. A trio of musical artists have adapted Dickens’s story and succeed in telling it in a way which is by turns humorous and deeply moving. Their Scrooge is a woman, but the setting is still visually Victorian, filling the stage with gorgeous period costumes and a huge Christmas tree. The set was simple but skilfully used video to make smooth scene changes. This and the versatile lighting brought the audience into the story, especially in the scenes with the ghosts.
Tobias Ahlsell, David Lundqvist and Anders Wängdahl created a great connection with the audience when they introduced the show as narrators and showed off their close harmony in an opening number set to the music of ‘God rest ye merry, gentlemen’. They were active on stage for most of the show, both as a trio and as individual characters. Anders Wängdahl and Tobias Ahlsell made wonderfully comic Bob and Mrs Cratchit, though Mr Wängdahl’s Bob Cratchit also showed great generosity of spirit despite the appalling way Scrooge treated him. David Lundqvist was affecting as Scrooge’s nephew Fred, being the only mourner at Scrooge’s funeral as shown in the vision of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
Operatic bass Mats Almgren made a great impression, first as the rather scary ghost of Jacob Marley bursting out of Scrooge’s fireplace encumbered with chains and moneyboxes, warning Scrooge that she has only one chance to avoid his fate in ‘Var gång som klockan slår’ (to the music of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Pastime paradise’). Then he returned as a flamboyant Ghost of Christmas Present who looked like he had stepped out of Aladdin, who then showed Scrooge his vision to the tune of Rocco’s aria from Beethoven’s Fidelio. This was probably the very best costume in the show, though with strong competition.
Julia Carlström was a sparkling Ghost of Christmas Past, singing an upbeat original song by Mats Sköldberg and Micaela Sjöstedt. The two scenes she showed of Scrooge’s early life were very moving, partly thanks to the wordless but effective acting of Ingrid Bosaeus and Alexander Friberg and Tiina Markkanen and Christopher Napier.
Carina Söderman brilliantly captured Scrooge’s dour and grasping character, with an opening number to music by Danny Elfman from The Nightmare Before Christmas. She also had great comic interactions with the three narrators. Söderman developed Scrooge’s character and opened up emotionally and vocally when Scrooge repented in ‘Är det försent för mig?’, to the music of ‘What kind of fool am I?’ by Leslie Bricusse. Her joyful ensemble with the Narrators in ‘Vi firar jul’ (to the tune of ‘It’s raining men’!) was infectiously energetic.
Conductor Josef Rhedin and the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra played with an infectious enthusiasm and gave a rich orchestral sound to the arrangements they played. The Gothenburg Opera Chorus and especially the Children’s Chorus had important roles in the show, with the children especially brilliant as the improbably large family of Bob and Mrs Cratchit. The final scene was a magnificent rendition of ‘O holy night’, started as a solo by Tiny Tim (Allan Olsson) and expanding into a chorus and ensemble of the whole cast. It was a moving finale to this brilliant adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic story.
Niklas Smith