Credits & copyrights

This website is publicized in 2006 under the copyright of Edition Samfundet, Copenhagen, www.samfundet.dk
Concept & design: Signe Klejs, www.cygne.dk

All material, except the libretto, may be used free of charge. The rightsholders, however, must be credited in each induvidual case of reproduction. Requests regarding reproduction of the libretto must be submitted directly to the librettist, Dánial Hoydal: dhoydal@hotmail.com

Credits for text appear at the end of each downloadable document. In cases of doubt, copyright is by Edition Samfundet.
Credits for photographs appear in the information-tag of each downloadable file.

Bjørn Blomqvist

Dánial Hoydal

Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson

Rebecca Persson

Ria Tórgarð

Sunleif Rasmussen

Bernharður Wilkinson

Kajsa Wadhia

Jamie Boylan

Hans Tórgarð

Gunnvá Zachariasen

Elisa Heinesen

Katrin Bonde

Lárus Björnsson

Premiere production - Tórshavn

Estonia

Iceland

First ever Faroese Opera in Estonia: The Madman’s Garden

The opera The Madman’s Garden (Hullu Mehe Aias) was performed in Tallinn in September, 2008. The opera, composed by Sunleif Rasmussen and libretto completed by Danial Hoydal, is the first of its kind to emerge from the Faroe Islands. The world premiere took place during October 2006 in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.

The opera opened in Tallinn’s Kultuurikatel, running September 10-12.

In an all-Nordic team, The Madman’s Garden was directed by Robert Annus (EST), designed by Samal Blak (FO), conducted by Veronika Portsmuth (EST) and assisted by Pál Ragnar Pálsson (ICE).
Artistically it boldly sought to emphasise its dramatic content, while still maintaining its strong operatic features. Rasmussen’s work replaces traditional opera’s arias with instrumental episodes and the text is laconic in style. Inventively, dance carries strong importance in this artwork and the opera was performed by Estonian singers, dancers and actors.
Both composer Sunleif Rasmussen and librettist Danial Hoydal were present at the Estonian premiere. A further unique opportunity to hear directly from them was afforded when they lectured on their artistic production and its music in the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.

For further information see: Opera's Estonian website: http://www.nordart.ee/

The Madman’s Garden in Reykjavik

The Madman’s Garden will be performed at The National Theatre, Reykjavik 22 & 23 May 2009.
The opera will be produced by Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir with Bernhardur Wilkinson conducting the Aldubáran Ensemble for Contemporary Music.

Visit The National Theatre's website:

English

Icelandic

There is no video available on the site just yet but should you be interested in obtaining a 15 minute video trailer of the opera please contact Edition SAMFUNDET at sales(at)samfundet.dk and we will be happy to send you a DVD.

The composer

“One of the first things I remember is the sound of water. The endless rain on the iron roof in my native village, a sound reminiscent of distant clapping after performances in the world's concert halls, the sound of water in overflowing gutters and splashing down-pipes running into the gravel and out into ditches and streams. You could lie in bed with your eyes closed and flow with the water until it plunged over the edge of the cliffs and down into the sea that spread all around us. There the sound of water was quite different, the rain was nothing then compared with the waves that washed up on the sandy beach or the breakers crashing onto the rocks and noisily receding.”

That is how Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen recalls the first experiences that helped form his artistic talent. The full-length article, The Islands in the Sea, downloads below.

Nature reigns supreme on the Faroes, it cannot be rejected or ignored. It is there no matter what. Every artist on the eighteen steep rocky islands far out in the ocean relates to this prevailing nature, where hard meets soft and where human beings, whatever their circumstances, have to submit to its forces.

The composer knows about idyll and threats along a frontier of indefinable yearning, which may well be an image of a particular Faroese feeling. Sunleif Rasmussen says himself that his upbringing in this special place in the world has been of decisive importance to him, ever since he first began to think in notes.

Sunleif Rasmussen is the first Faroese composer to have been performed outside the Faroes to any significant extent. He has a significant international career. He undertook a thorough musical training in Denmark, but has never forgotten his original musical tongue. It is telling that after a year's stay in Denmark this artist moved back to the Faeroes, where he presently lives and composes.
Until a few years ago, art in the Faroes was regarded chiefly as pictorial art. True, folk music and the old ballad were sung and discussed, but when the Faroes were mentioned abroad, painting was the chief topic. Sunleif Rasmussen put the Faroes on the musical map. He writes music, which is not merely a catalogue of natural phenomena, he writes modern music that interprets and takes musical language a step further.

Sunleif Rasmussen starts out from tradition and local forms and figures, but never merely reproduces them, a transformation always takes place, a desire to convey the essence of a mood or expression. In this way Rasmussen fine-tunes his music and his material in the same way as painters like Samuel Mykines, Zacharias Heinesen and Amariel Nordøy.

Literature is also one of his sources of inspiration, especially the Faroese poet William Heinesen (1900-1991) who wrote in Danish and is a major cultural force in the Faroe Islands. Sunleif Rasmussen has written music for several poems of his, and the libretto for Rasmussen’s new opera, The Madman’s Garden, is based on Heinesen’s short story (1060) by the same title.

Sunleif Rasmussen is a modern composer with a modern musical idiom, but he lives in an isolated world, surrounded by the sea. But away from the clamour of the world this Faroese artist can concentrate on listening. He can listen in to the wind's song, to the primal notes of the world, and write the music of nature with the special interpretation and characteristics, which make his notes so compelling.

Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with teachers like Ivar Frounberg and Ib Nørholm. He is the first Faroese composer to enjoy an international career, and one of the major events in this respect was the awarding in 2002 of the prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize, which was granted to the composer for his Symphony No. 1 – “Oceanic Days”. He has also received a number of other prizes and awards over the years, of which ne could mention the Sonning Foundation’s grant for young composers in 1992, The Danish Composers’ Society’s grant in 1993, and The Danish Arts Foundation’s 3-year scholarship in 1997-1999.

Rasmussen’s first opera, The Madman’s Garden, was premiered in Tórshavn in October 2006.

Sunleif Rasmussen is represented by Edition Samfundet, Copenhagen. www.samfundet.dk

Please download our Sunleif Rasmussen resources at the bottom of this page.

download: discography _ work list _ biography _ the artichle "the islands in the sea" _

Libretto

The Madman’s Garden
Libretto by Dánial Hoydal (2006)
Based on William Heinesen’s short story by the same title (orig. title in Danish: Den gale mands have, 1960)
English translation of libretto: Dánial Hoydal & Jette Hoydal

Stella
Stella Christina
Look... There he is, The Madman.
Marselius
What is he doing? Why is he out in his garden this late?
Stella Christina
He watches over the dead...
Marselius
T-the dead...?
and the leafless shrubs are dark and covered with frost

Speaker/Jordanson
Ice birds!
Ice birds with eyes of hoar-frost
And whistling feathers
Hover over the barren frosty plain
Boom from heavy ice hearts
Flies like rays through the air
Soundless screams
Like showers of ice crystals
Cover the black vault like stars
...

Download the complete libretto below.

Please note that the English libretto is intended for reading purposes only. It has not yet been adapted for performance.

download libretto _

Said by the press

Hilary Finch in the Times gives The Madman's Garden four out of five stars.

"Sunleif Rasmussen has written the Faroe Islands first native opera... and conjured a work of haunting originality and beauty.

Rasmussen, with his librettist Danial Hoydal, has transmuted the tale into a potent fable of adolecence and the search for the self - and has created a challenging music drama for two singers, two actors , two dancers and a chamber ensemble of 15 musicians.

The actors give voice to their innermost thoughts and feelings in abstracted phrases and sensuous lines of vocalise that go beyond what words can express. Their final duet ... reveals a burgeoning and freedom within the meticulously heard and finely scored writing of Rasmussen.

The dancers play out what the actors and the singers dare not: at first, in the wild bird-play of childhood innocence, then in an intimate waltzing, in moving counterpoint with the estranged body-language of the actors."
(Times, 19 October 2006)

Opera Now considered Rasmussen's music "full of vibrant colour with a constantly changing and often contrapuntal feel" and the production as a whole "a truly engaging and enjoyable combining of arts and opera".
(Opera Now, May/June 2007)

Stephan Møsch in Opern Welt has decribed how Rasmussen's highly sensual music nevertheless reveals a thorough underlying construction. Folk-like melodies appear not directly quoted but as a result of the refined combination of spectral sounds, rhythmic segments and semantic coding.

"The public at the premiere were enthusiastic. On the Faroe Islands new music is heard as a living part of a growing cultural identity. It is not necessary for it to step out of a niche. The production is also connected with a special series of performances for children between the ages of 14 and 18. They will without doubt recognize themselves in The Madman's Garden and perhaps find their own point of entry into the music of our time. "

A review in the Finnish Rondo magazine refers to the influence of Faroese nature on Rasmussen's music in general and the opera in particular.

"Faroese nature is a close presence in Rasmussen's music which nevertheless avoids being directly illustrative. Many layered textures in which complexity emerges out of emptiness create associations with the sea, wind, birds and stones.

I thought about the operas poetic, mystical mood and the wide open spaces of Rasmussen's music. Around a solitary figure the colourful sounds of the magic garden take root - the minds inner landscape out of which dark and frightening tones also grow. "

Thomas Michelsen in his review of the premiere of The Madman's Garden in Politiken (16 October 2006) describes the work as a mood-drenched chamber opera - an intimate piece of spoken theatre with music in which Sunleif Rasmussen's score in its fine balance on the border of tonality and melody holds Heinesen's story alive to the extent that one wishes for further performances elsewhere.

[ Excerpts from Opern Welt and Rondo translated by Rudiger Meyer ]

The production of Í Óðamansgarði has been supported by:
Atlantic Petroleum, Mentamálaráðið (The Cultural Ministry of the Faroe Islands), Mentanargrunnur Landsins (The Culture Fund of the Faroe Islands), Tjóðpallur Føroya (The National Stage of the Faroe Islands), Norðurlandahúsið (The Nordic House), Nordisk Kulturfond (The Nordic Culture Fund), Tórshavnar Býráð (The Municipality of Tórshavn), Fjølrit, Atlantic Airways, Kunststyrelsen (The Danish Arts Agency), Landsmiðstøðin (Educational Centre of the Faroe Islands), Ferðaráð Føroya.

Sunleif Rasmussen’s opera Í Óðamansgarði (The Madman’s Garden) - the first Faroese opera ever.

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Photos of Sunleif Rasmussen. Click thumbnail to download photo in a high resolution tif/jpg
		Photos from the world premiere in Tórshavn on October 12th, 2006






				Please see File Info (Photoshop menu) for information on each photo.

The Madman's Garden

First Faroese Opera on Stage
The opera Í Óðamansgarði (The Madman’s Garden) will be performed at The Nordic House in Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands, in October.

“Boy meets girl”. But this time in an unusual setting. Both on stage and outside. For the first time ever, we have the opportunity to experience Faroese opera. Based on a short story by famous Faroese writer, William Heinesen, the Faroese composer, Sunleif Rasmussen, and Faroese librettist, Dánial Hoydal, have created an opera that tells the story about how the boy, Marselius, meets the girl, Stella Kristina, in a madman’s garden.

The mysterious madman is the central character in the story even though he is almost totally inactive. But the entire story evolves around him and the young couple’s perception of him. Is he mad? What is his background? Does he have supernatural powers? Does he even exist? These questions become essential to the young couple, and in their quest to answer them, they define themselves and their relationship. We follow their development, fantasies and struggle to cope with the mystery of life, adolescence and love, staged in the gloomy shadow of the madman and his seductive garden.

Commissioned in 2001 by the classical ensemble, Aldubáran, and produced as a joint production between The Nordic House and The National Stage of The Faroe Islands, the opera has been on its way for a long time. This is an enormous undertaking for a country populated by fewer than 50,000 people. But because of this very fact, it is with pride that the islanders now invite audience and media around the world to witness this historic event.

The Madman’s Garden is a chamber opera performed by an ensemble of 15 musicians, two actors, three singers, and two dancers. The performers are from the Nordic countries and the Faroe Islands. The singers are from Åland, Iceland, and Denmark. The dancers are from Sweden. The musicians are Faroese and Danish, and the conductor is Icelandic but lives in the Faroe Islands.
On stage the setup is also rather unusual compared with traditional opera. In stead of using opera singers as actors, the roles of Marselius and Stella Kristina are played by traditional actors. The tenor and soprano, however, are attached to these two as a kind of alter ego or inner voice. They do not have traditional arias but sing mostly just words and phrases.

In connection with the opera a special education programme has been made for students at the age of 14-18 – precisely the same age as the two characters in the opera. A large part of students at this age take part in the programme and will also be given the opportunity to hear lectures, attend rehearsals and finally experience the opera at special performances exclusively for youth. This
cooperation between dramatic art and education is quite unique on the Faroe Islands.

An English version of the libretto is available on this website – please use the menu on the left. A printed version can be purchased in The Nordic House prior to the performances.

download factsheet _

The premiere production in Tórshavn on October 12th 2006, was created by...

Bass: Bjørn Blomqvist (Åland)
Tenor: Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson (Iceland)
Soprano: Rebecca Persson (Denmark)
Marselius (Actor):Hans Tórgarð
Stella Kristina (Actor): Gunnvá Zachariasen
Dancer: Kajsa Wadhia (Sweden)
Dancer: Jamie Boylan (England)

Stage director: Ria Tórgarð
Dramaturge: Eyðun Johannesen
Choregraphy: Kajsa Wadhia & Jamie Boylan
Costumes: Katrin Bonde
Set design: Elisa Heinesen
Lighting design: Lárus Björnsson (Iceland)

Aldubáran – Ensemble for Contemporary Music. www.aldubaran.fo
(with guest appearance of musicians from the Nordic countries)
Conductor: Bernharður Wilkinson • www.wilkinson.fo

Music: Sunleif Rasmussen (Click to enter "The composer")
Libretto: Dánial Hoydal

Synopsis

Act I
The opera begins with a short prologue where an unknown prologus sets the stage and introduces in an abstract way the two main characters. The young boy Marselius watches the girl Stella Christina intensely and composes a small song about her. He calls her ‘Christella.’ Stella Christina is annoyed with his starry-eyed admiration of her and interrupts him angrily.

In Scene 2 the two children play outside a strange garden, where a mysterious man lives. They call him The Madman and the atmosphere is tense with childish fear of this strange madman (Jordanson). They tell myths and invent stories about him. Also about Alvilda, his wife who died in a mysterious way and is said to haunt the garden in the night. They imagine that the madman killed her. The children are very close and share deep secrets together. Through the stone wall they see Jordanson sit by the small stream in the garden. It looks like he is crying. The situation becomes very intense and reaches a climax when they hear a strange sound and run away scared.

In Scene 3 they play a game they call ‘the lonely birds’ which they have obviously played a hundred times before. They fantasize and fly off to strange and mysterious places where they are the only living creatures in a vast landscape. They find a ‘Tower of Babel’ and are awestruck by their own discoveries. They have a kind of emotional pact.

In Scene 4 they play outside the garden again. And again they wonder about the fate and history of Alvilda and Jordanson and wonder about all the strange things that they can find inside The Madman’s Garden. Stella Christina behaves differently and threatens their emotional bond by revealing that she has secrets of her own of which Marselius is not a part. She challenges him to enter the garden. She shows that she is braver and more emotionally mature than he, and Marselius is very uncomfortable with the situation. They both enter the garden excited, insecure and fascinated at the same time. Once again they get scared and run. Outside the garden Christella takes off her wet clothes and lays them out to dry in the sun. Marselius sees her naked and sees her for the first time as a women – as something fundamentally different from him. He is in shock and has conflicting emotions: contempt and fascination.

Act II
A few years have passed and the children are teenagers. Marselius has had a night out and is on his way home early in the morning, drunk. He passes the secret place where he used to play ‘the lonely birds’ with Christella. He realizes how much he misses her. He starts playing the game again and is interrupted by Stella Christina. She is mystical and attractive – a femme fatale. She speaks to him, but Marselius is confused and does not know if she is serious or playing games with him. He follows her lead because he does not know what else to do. This goes on for a while until Marselius is so frustrated that he asks her to stop. She reacts by looking at him with disgust and leaves.

Scene 6. Some time has passed. Marselius has thought a lot about Stella Christina and goes back to their secret place. Again he is discovered by Stella Christina – and this time she has two girl friends with her. She reveals their old secrets to them and humiliates him completely. The secret pact is broken. Marselius experiences Stella Christina as a giant burning bird. She is a woman who knows and does all sorts of things that he does not understand.

Scene 7. Marselius is left behind. His feelings come to the surface and he is overwhelmed by them. There is a storm and he runs around in the rain in rage and cries. The scene is very dramatic but also comical, as the violent inner emotions of an adolescent boy are displayed openly. But to Marselius it is dead serious. He tries to understand her as well as get her out of his head. Tries to impress her and tries to understand his own feelings. Finally he runs to her house to tell her that he understands; that he is now also a burning bird. But through the window he sees her with her two girl friends preparing for a night out. They are extremely feminine, self-centred and confident. This sight paralyzes him and he falls to the ground crying in the rain.

Scene 8. The sun is shining on The Madman’s Garden. Marselius is in there alone. Marselius is projecting his feelings onto Jordanson. He winds himself up and boasts about how brave he is and what he would do if he met Jordanson. He calls Jordanson a coward who cries over a woman he has lost. He taunts Jordanson for not being able to cope with Alvilda and with his own fate and feelings. He shouts to Stella Christina that she cannot make it without him, because he is the only one who has ever cared for her and understood her. In this state of confusion he has moved deeper and deeper into The Madman’s Garden and is shocked when he finally realizes it. He escapes quickly.

Act III
Marselius is in their secret place by the river bank. All of a sudden Stella Christina is there. She has an irritable and patronizing look in her eyes. Marselius is terrified because he does not know what to expect. Again she starts playing games with him, and her remarks are even more ambiguous and obscure than before. Suddenly she starts complaining and accuses him of letting her down. She approaches him and tries to hug him. All of this is too much for Marselius and he is furious. They are both startled by this reaction. Marselius is annoyed with himself because he starts crying and is unable to express all the things he has been planning to say. Stella Christina realizes how she has been treating Marselius. She realizes that he has changed.

Stella Christina then tries to change the situation. She takes his hand and tries to re-establish their pact. She now speaks in a totally changed tone of voice. She tries to talk him into entering The Madman’s Garden. He follows her reluctantly as she leads him through mud and shrubs into a small glade. Here she seduces him.

As they lie there holding each other after this intense experience, they see Jordanson very close by. They had not noticed that they had gone this far into the garden. He is sitting by the stream as usual. Stella Christina is very startled and scared, but Marselius is strangely serene and composed. To their surprise there is no reaction from The Madman. His is so close that he must have seen and heard them. But he just sits there as if nothing has happened. His hands are on his mouth and it is difficult to see if he is crying or smiling. He hums a tune which is simultaneously tragic and full of vitality.

As Stella Christina watches him the tenor (♂) and the soprano (♀) sing the final duet about the young couple’s perception of life, their emotions, and Jordanson. It is clear that they are forever changed.

© 2006 by Dánial Hoydal
www.samfundet.dk

download: factsheet _ synopsis _