Friendship, betrayal and a hidden family secret in “The Olympiad”

This is a review. The author is responsible for the opinions in the text.

The timing is grateful in Olympic times. Antonio Vivaldi has been rediscovered as an opera composer in recent years. With his setting of Pietro Metastasio’s popular libretto about love and sport, he came second at the ball in 1734. The “Olympiad” takes place against the backdrop of the (ancient) Olympic Games with a blue sea and marble columns. However, that doesn’t stop biathletes and ice hockey players from getting in on the action at the Folkoperan. Complete with Olympic (rock) rings and sports commentator to compensate for streamlined punches.

All-artist Charlotte Engelkes has been busy with opera performances, but last year he staged his first full-length opera – “Lohengrin” at the Malmö Opera. Her flair for twisted spexes is repeated here and works well with Metastasio’s convoluted plot, even if acrobatics and magic tricks sometimes steal the focus from the text itself. The scenography by Linus Fellbom and the costumes by Anna Ardelius seem to have provided a foretaste of this year’s production at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with the countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński in the role of Licida.

Stephen Yeseta takes on the role of the prodigal son in the folk opera’s 50th anniversary. Licida is thus the Prince of Crete, determined to win the Olympiad and the hand of Princess Aristea. For this purpose, he enlists the help of his girlfriend, the well-known athlete Megacle (Ebba Lejonclou as a singing rocker in a light blue muscle suit), who in turn loves the same Aristea. Megacle, of course, becomes deeply unhappy as he is torn between love and loyalty to his friend.

Aristea herself (a casually brilliant Amie Foon) is a king’s daughter with a feminist edge, while father the king (Erik Rosenius) is a bit of a drifter with great base potential. Added to this are Licida’s fiancée Argene in sheep’s clothing (Sally Lundgren), Licida’s mentor and confidante Aminta in an octopus-like creation with ballet feet (Solveig Bergersen) and three dancers (Sara Östberg Diakité, Johannes Tenstam and Simone Stevens) to further increase the confusion and entanglement.

In fact it is In this playfully athletic ensemble, no small demands are placed on the ensemble and the singers impress with both their tonal and physical agility. Last but not least, Bernt Ola Volungholten – a golden baritone who has to wrestle with a gymnastics mattress and transforms Alcandro, who is closest to the king, into a queer and funny guy. Seldom has there been as much laughter in an opera house as here.

Seemingly modern exclamations in Rikard Bergqvist’s Swedish vernacular are supported by Metastasio’s extremely realistic dialogue exchanges, with lots of exclamation marks. “The Olympiad” is an opera written in a serious Italian style. Nevertheless, the material has given rise to several contemporary productions that can be described as tragicomic. This is due in large part to Vivaldi’s exuberant music, which in itself may contradict the seriousness of the text, but equally captures the concerns and needs of the characters. There are plenty of such in the field of love.

But all’s well that ends well when the truth comes to light in this story of friendship, betrayal and a hidden family secret. The slender orchestra – sorry, gods of Olympus – with strings and harpsichord is placed on stage and plays under the baroque Peter Spissky as Zeus himself. It is a resilient set that sparkles with life, emotion and energy – just like Vivaldi’s beautiful music with a hint of “spring” from the violin concertos “The Four Seasons” as a well-chosen, put together finale.

Read more music reviews and other writing by Johanna Paulsson.