PEER GYNT Comes to Den Norske Opera in August

A star-studded team of actors, singers and musicians will bring a powerful experience to the stage in a fully staged production of Peer Gynt at Den Norske Opera. Johannes Holmen Dahl is in charge of direction. Performances run 17 August - 12 September.

Most people are familiar with Peer Gynt, the braggart who drinks, lies and charms women, but runs away when the going gets tough, the adventurer who fights his inner demons and outer tribulations and enjoys success abroad – but ultimately returns to his beloved Solveig. 

A meeting of masters between Grieg and Ibsen 

Just like during the original premiere in 1876, we are presenting Ibsen’s amazing verse play to the accompaniment of Edvard Grieg’s magnificent original music. This is rarely done nowadays.  

In this new production of Peer Gynt, director Johannes Holmen Dahl explores what the tension between Ibsen’s political satire and Edvard Grieg’s national romantic music has to say to us today. 

A dream team of artists 

Johannes Holmen Dahl is one of the country’s leading stage directors who, together with set designer and costume designer Nia Damerell, has produced several critically acclaimed performances, including Hamlet (2021) and Tid for glede (2022). 

Herbert Nordrum, best known for Oscar-nominated Verdens verste menneske (The Worst Person in the World) and The National Theatre’s critically acclaimed Hamlet, is performing the role of Peer, while Norwegian National Opera performer Frøy Hovland Holtbakk is Solveig. 

Together with a strong ensemble of performers, the Opera Orchestra, the Opera Chorus, the Opera Children’s Chorus and Ragnhild Hemsing on the Hardanger fiddle, it promises to be a unique experience in which the essence of Ibsen’s text is given centre stage and the music the opportunity to shine.