The other Lulu: a Danish rarity in Copenhagen

By Aksel Tollåli, 05 February 2018

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“a weird and wonderful world of badminton-playing fairies and flamboyant villains”

Reviewed at The Old Stage, The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen on 4 February 2018

Kuhlau, Lulu

Royal Danish Opera

Sébastien Rouland, Conductor

Christian von Götz, Director

Lukas Noll, Set Designer

Sarah Mittenbühler, Costume Designer

Gert Henning-Jensen, Lulu

Dénise Beck, Sidi

Sofie Elkjær Jensen, Vela

Henning von Schulman, Dilfeng

Michael Kristensen, Barca

Siri Wolthoorn, Dancer

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in Copenhagen

David Karlin, 6th October

Anthony Almeida and Rosanna Vize's deconstructed ghostly country house provides plenty of tension; fine vocal qualities are marred by poor intelligibility.

***11

Carl Nielsen’s Maskarade: Love in the time of selfies

Aksel Tollåli, 18th April

Kasper Holten's production of Carl Nielsen's delightful comedy Maskarade delights in Copenhagen.

***11

The king is not well: Nielsen’s Saul og David

Aksel Tollåli, 17th April

The Royal Danish Opera's new production of Carl Nielsen's first opera Saul og David updates the action to the present-day Middle east and, while well-sung, comes off as overly simplistic.

**111

Send in the clowns: Stefan Herheim’s Lulu in Copenhagen

Aksel Tollåli, 20th November

Zombie clowns abound in Stefan Herheim's uncomfortably comical and upsetting Copenhagen production of Alban Berg's Lulu.

*****

An occasionally brilliant Don Giovanni at the Royal Danish Opera

Kevin W Ng, 25th May

Malin Hartelius and Palle Knudsen electrify an otherwise competent Don Giovanni in Copenhagen.

***11

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Aksel Tollåli

Aksel is currently studying towards a degree in musicology at the University of Oslo. At the moment he is an exchange student at Goldsmiths College in London. He is also a choral singer and a trombonist. His musical interests include 20th-cenury French music, Baroque opera and the music of Richard Strauss.