The Trial - chamber opera
The Trial (Oikeusjuttu) - premiere in 5th of December 2019 at Louhi Hall, Espoo Cultural Centre - takes on big issues in life and touches the audience. The chamber opera offers a recognizable vision of the essential absurdity of our world. We are led to explore the haphazardness of life, of disconnectedness, the uses and abuses of power, of sexuality, and love.
The Trial is based on Franz Kafka’s famous novel Der Prozess, which was left unfinished. The chamber opera is a profane and macabre performance that is itself incomplete and unstable, like the world of Josef K, the famous protagonist of Kafka. We follow a strange theatre in a theatre, that is like a rehearsal of performance, that does not seem to answer the questions that it sets. Josef K sticks to his frantic role because he no longer wants to wake up to his nightmare. The story of Josef K is told from a point of view of an insect. Sometimes the world seems absurd and that's why it feels so familiar to us...
The Trial is a multilingual performance which is performed mainly in Finnish and partly in German and in French, and it has surtitles in Finnish and in English.
The Trial was performed together with I väntan på en jordbävning chamber opera in 2019 and with The Box chamber opera at Helsinki Contemporary Opera Festival in 2021.
Duration: 60min (no intermission)
Language: Finnish, German, French
Surtitles: Finnish, English
Trailer
Creative Team
Composer: Paavo Korpijaakko
Librettist: Jussi Moila (adapted from Franz Kafka's The Trial)
Director: Vilppu Kiljunen
Costume Design: Marja Uusitalo
Set Design: Sampo Pyhälä
Lighting Design: Jarkko Lievonen / Tuittu Teivainen
Assistant Director: Miro Apostolakis
Production: Finnish Chamber Opera in collaboration with Espoo City Theatre (2019) & Finnish Chamber Opera in collaboration with Greta Productions (2021)
Performers:
Gabriel Suovanen (baritone), Annami Hylkilä (soprano), Reetta Ristimäki (soprano), Ann-Marie Heino (mezzosoprano), Sampo Haapaniemi (baritone), Jussi Vänttinen (baritone) & Janne Marja-Aho (actor, dancer)
Conductor: Taavi Oramo
accompanied by a seven-piece orchestra:
Aleksi Kotila (violin), Heidi Rehnberg / Liina-Mari Raivola (cello), Joel Papinoja (piano), Laura Linkola (kantele),
Livia Schweizer (flute), Niilo Myllynen (double bass), Petteri Kippo / Tuomo Lassila (percussions)
Reviews
Sexpersonersensemblen stod kvällen igenom för en stark insats,
såväl kollektivt som individuellt.
---
The six-piece ensemble had a powerful performance throughout the evening, both collectively and individually.
Libretto on taiten kirjoitettu, ja sen kielipelit naurattivat.
Kapellimestari Taavi Oramo sai musiikin virtaamaan.
---
The libretto is skillfully written, and its language games made audience laugh.
Conductor Taavi Oramo made the music flow.
Oikeusjuttu iskee tajuntaan makaaberilla, alkuvoimaisella kokonaisilmaisullaan.
Korpijaakon Oikeusjuttu on
räväkkä ja räävitön musiikkiteatterispektaakkeli, joka toivottavasti jää ohjelmistoon. Näyttämöllä näytti olevan hauskaa, ja se välittyi myös katsomoon.
---
The Trial strikes consciousness with its macabre, elemental overall expression.
Korpijaakko's The Trial is a bold and obscene musical theatre spectacle that will hopefully remain in the repertoire. There seemed to be fun on the stage, and it was also conveyed to the auditorium.
Vilppu Kiljusen ohjaama Oikeusjuttu oli oopperakesän ehdoton kohokohta sekä musiikillisesti, laulullisesti että näyttämöllisesti.
---
The Trial, directed by Vilppu Kiljunen, was an absolute highlight of the Helsinki Contemporary Opera Festival, both musically, vocally and theatrically.
Read more in Finnish:
Paavo Korpijaakko: ”Säveltäminen on arkkitehtonista rakentamista, jossa pitää olla inspiraatiota”
Photos:
