Elysium, the World Premiere

I'm the kind of girl who puts songs on repeat and who watches the show Friends over and over. Plus, I'm a very classical girl, I like vintage clothing, tea time, and drinking champagne in coupes (not flutes). So modern operas, or even modern interpretations of well-known operas, aren't exactly at the top of my list. 

SOMETHING ELSE

But on Wednesday and Thursday, I went to see rehearsals of Den Norske Opera new production of Elysium (opening night is Saturday, March 12th, 2016). And both times, so many different thoughts were running in my head. To begin with, Elysium (libretto by Mark Ravenhill) is set in the future, where only 40 humans are left on Earth, kept on an island to perform Beethoven's opera Fidelio once a year for the transhumans, who occupy the rest of the planet. This type of storyline is in tune with the recent trends in movies: Interstellar, Oblivion, and even Ex Machina. This fact alone brings the opera very close to our reality, perhaps even closer than operas set in past times. The unknown is frightening and we all wonder what will happen to humanity in the future...

The transhumans communicate via a chip in their body (seriously, how far from this are we really??). They can transfer gigabytes of information this way, telling their whole life story, every feeling, every thought, in a matter of seconds. We already live in a very digital world, with enormous amounts of information available (and artificial intelligence is happening guys). But imagine being a transhuman? They can choose to die or live forever. This is ingeniously contrasted with the humans, who live in despair (one of them has cancer) and in fear that the transhumans will cut the power to the island, leaving them to die, if they don't play their part... 

Putting on the transhuman costume is no easy task! (Credit: Erik Berg)

The story follows two women, one human and the other transhuman, and each wished she were the other. It's your typical grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side kind of situation. They only see the best parts of the other race, but could they live with the dark ones? It's pretty much like social media actually: you think others have better lives than you do, but you only the bits they want to show. Are we just playing our part?

​MY THOUGHTS

The opera is sung in English (the language of the future?) which makes it easy to follow. Furthermore, the music by Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin doesn't feel awkward to listen to and fits perfectly within the story. The atonal pitches and electronically processed voices are how the transhumans communicate so it doesn't seem out of place or strange. The other parts resemble actual speaking tones but with more musicality, with bits from Beethoven's Fidelio . So overall, its pleasing to the ear although different than the typical operas that are performed.

What I truly enjoyed as well is having a boy soprano, Aksel Rykkvin, play the role of the boy. Edle Stray-Pedersen, Head of Children Chorus, was kind enough to let me follow her around backstage during the dress rehearsal (so we all love Edle from now on) and introduced me to him. His character sounds and looks exactly like how he should, like a boy! It might sound futile, but often, young boys are performed by women sopranos and mezzos (think of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro). We can make them look like young gentlemen, but the voice isn't the same. And Aksel isn't any boy soprano. No no. He has an international career as a soloist and records albums. *mouth drop* #childprodigy

THE HIGHLIGHT

​And my favourite part: the set design and costumes, signed Leslie Travers . Its Cirque du Soleil worthy. It has 3 floors, comes out of  the ground, it spins, it looks futuristic, all in a metal-finish with neon lights. Its incredibly versatile and advantageously used for the various moments in the opera. As for the costumes, you just have to see them. All combined with impressive lighting design, it's per-fect. 

Opening 'Elysium' at @DenNorskeOpera 12.03.2016. pic.twitter.com/SB5B8kANgC

— Leslie Travers (@LeslieTravers) March 4, 2016

Throughout the opera, you wonder what it really means to be human. How do you define humanity, when the 40 humans left are at the mercy of a greater race? We strive to instigate change for the best, but we always resist change, believing that it's unnatural. But what is evolution, if not exactly that? Think of freeing the slaves, votes for women, or gay rights. What we take for natural today, wasn't a few years ago. Would you resist change if you were one of the islanders, or would you take the Chip?