# New opera video: The Snow Queen



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Hans Abrahamsen's first opera, The Snow Queen, had its English language premiere this month in Munich. A video from the December 28th performance is available for free streaming until January 29th. Cast includes Barbara Hannigan, Katarina Dalayman and Peter Rose, conducted by Cornelius Meister.

https://operlive.de/

To read about the background:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/arts/music/snow-queen-opera-abrahamsen.html


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Knowing the Hans Christian Andersen story and having faded but fond memories of an animated telling I saw many years ago, I couldn't resist watching this. The original story is an allegory of good and evil, innocence and experience, set in the cold north where winter is both cruel and magical and summer is a blessing that melts the heart.

I got little of this from the opera, which has transferred the story to a mental institution. The two main characters, Gerda and Kai, are not children as in the original but a middle-aged pair, he a nearly unresponsive mental patient and she his apparent lover who tries to bring him back to sanity and seemingly succeeds, although it's impossible to see how. I find that what little effect on my emotions the story exerts in this rather grim setting comes mainly from the performances of the singer-actors, provoking the observation that, as with so much contemporary opera, this one would seem heavily dependent on the staging and would not work terribly well purely as music. The score is at times interesting for its subtle orchestral colors and a certain delicacy of atmosphere, but it tends to be texturally, dynamically and emotionally static and without memorable melody, with few opportunities for the singers to make an effect. It certainly fails to achieve the sort of relief or catharsis the story's happy ending requires. I thought Barbara Hannigan was wasted on a role both vocally uninteresting and dramatically one-dimensional. For some reason the snow queen herself is played by a baritone dressed in ordinary male street attire, and the character comes across to me as a complete blank, as incomprehensible as much of the production would be if seen without knowledge of the original story. I found myself constantly thinking, "OK, I guess this part represents that part..."

Not something I'd care to revisit. Fans of Abrahamsen's music will probably find something to like. The opera was originally presented in Denmark in Danish, but this production is in English, and we're given the option of adding subtitles in English or German.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

So far I have had mixed feelings about it. For those who like the musical world of Abrahamsen's _let me tell you_, they will probably like (most of) this also, especially the interludes. As to the staging, I found myself listening rather than watching.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Becca said:


> So far I have had mixed feelings about it. For those who like the musical world of Abrahamsen's _let me tell you_, they will probably like (most of) this also, especially the interludes. As to the staging, I found myself listening rather than watching.


I can't imagine just listening. My first (and last, I fear) impression was that the vocal writing is mostly quite dull and sometimes odd in the way it sets words. The two female singers were very good, though. The snow "queen" himself seemed rough-voiced, but it didn't matter since I couldn't comprehend the character at all. At the end I had the impression that he was one of the mentally ill, as he just sat there repeating some syllable over and over while everyone else was happy and eating cookies. I'm sure there's an explanation somewhere.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I dipped into this and my thought was why one earth would anyone spend money watching this? A most depressing watch with music equally depressing. Sorry I might be a philistine but if I’m going to watch the snow queen I would prefer Disney’s version of Frozen


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I thought this thread was going to be about the Rimsky-Korsakov opera (which I don't think is based on the Anderson fairty tale).

Isn't _Frozen_ a different story entirely?

In any case it seems there are a number of alternatives that one can watch if this isn't your cup of tea.

N.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I've just realised that the Rimsky opera is The Snow _maiden_.

N.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The Conte said:


> I thought this thread was going to be about the Rimsky-Korsakov opera (which I don't think is based on the Anderson fairty tale).
> 
> *Isn't Frozen a different story entirely?
> *
> ...


Frozen is Disney's adaptation of The Snow Queen. In case it wasn't obvious I was being somewhat humorous. But I would certainly prefer sitting through Fraozen 1 and 2 rather than that depressing opera


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Then why did you bother watching it given the information that I posted and your known disdain of contemporary works? Was it just so that you could post a snarky comment about it?

P.S. I think that curmudgeon is a better description that philistine.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

DavidA said:


> Frozen is Disney's adaptation of The Snow Queen. In case it wasn't obvious I was being somewhat humorous. But I would certainly prefer sitting through Fraozen 1 and 2 rather than that depressing opera


Yes, the humour wasn't lost on me. I honestly had no idea that Frozen was based on The Snow Queen. You learn something new (on TC) every day (and not just about Opera).

N.


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