Review: CORALINE at Folkoperan, Stockholm

Fantasy opera Coraline

Coraline is an opera written for the the younger audience and is based on Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline. It's been compared as a modern Alice in Wonderland. Coraline (Robyn Allegra Parton) moves to a new apartment with her mother (Jaqueline Miura) and dad (Fredrik Zetterström). She's pretty bored in the new apartment. It's raining outside and she isn't allowed to go out for her mom. She vistis her neighbors Mr Bobo (Ulrik Qvale) who is the conductor of a mouse orchestra and Miss Spink (Hillevi Martinpelto) and Miss Forcible (Ingrid Torbiasson). But she continues to be sad and bored. She then discover a strange door in the apartment with a brick wall behind. She begins to hear voices from ghost children (Lovisa Sandenskog and Helig Reynisson)and they keep telling her that she is in danger and she is warned to open the door. The parents are busy with their jobs and so the curiosity takes over. She opens the door and all of a sudden she is in a mirrored world. There are also the mother and the father, but they are not the same. In this world, everyone has large buttons instead of eyes and you can get everything you want. But is it as good as it seems? The mother seems a bit too keen. Coraline returns to her ordinary world only to find that her mother and father are gone. She realizes that she must return to the strange and scary world to save them!

The music is written by Mark-Anthony Turnage and it is very modern and sometimes a bit too noisy and I miss the melody in it, but there are moments when it reinforces the eerie feeling in the story. The text is written by Rory Mullarkey and translated by Carin Bartosch Edström who sneaked in some fun references to the older audience. The language is everyday Swedish and for the most part it is quite easy to hear what they are singing even for someone who is not quite used to going to opera. After all, it is always a challenge to go to opera if you are not used to it because it can be difficult to hear what is being sung. But there is always texting that to support. As they are addressing a younger audience, it can be difficult for them to read quickly so it is important that they can hear the lyrics and understand the story in the song. In some parts it is a little hard to hear what Robyn Allegra Parton, who is brittish, sings but it is not odd as she is not Swedish but learned the lyrics to sing the part Coraline as she sang it at The Opera House in Covent Garden when it was premiered in 2018, the others for example Fredrik Zetterström, sing powerfully and well-articulated.

It is an interesting and a bit odd opera that you become more and more engaged in, but at times it feels a little long and could have been shortened a bit to keep up the pace. If you have children from the age of 9 who like Fantasy and some strange stories, this can be a way to introduce them to opera.

Coraline is played until March 8.

Tickets can be purchased at:

https://www.folkoperan.se/pa-scen/coraline

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