The National Opera’s Arena Tour got the Lappish audience excited and planning a trip to Helsinki.
Stunning, impressive, stunning, high quality. These were the words the audience used to describe the performance of the National Opera and Ballet Arena Tour in Rovaniemi immediately after the performance on Wednesday evening.
– A really great experience, it was great. I went to see it out of curiosity. There were really talented people singing, playing and dancing, so it was a joy to watch.
The arena tour presents the most beloved pieces of opera and ballet. Hartikainen has a hard time choosing the best piece of opera from the show. The show opened with Carmina Burana (O Fortuna).
– The first one, when it got off to a grand start. The last program numbers were really great, but you can’t make the second one better. Equally, everyone was good, Mika Hartikainen reflects.
– I don’t know if it’s the same experience through the screen. Maybe this can be experienced on the spot and I will definitely come to the spot to experience this again.
– I am really impressed. I have to go to the opera in Helsinki next. Last time we were at the ballet. There have already been fans of ballet, now I think there will be fans of opera as well.
– It’s wonderful that the National Opera is coming all the way here. Usually the performances stay somewhere in Oulu, but now we came to Rovaniemi, Sahimaa says.
The opera singer saw childhood friends in the audience during his performance
– Usually you can’t see the audience from the stage because the lights are like that. Now, however, we had a number where I got to \”step into\” the audience and I was lucky enough to see some familiar faces.
Mannermaa was surprised when he found old childhood friends in the audience.
– I was able to wave and make a little contact with them, it suited the situation. We waved back and forth. It felt like we were at home. Lappi also sang along nicely in the group song, says Mannermaa.
Mannermaa spent his childhood and youth in the rural municipality of Rovaniemi. He started studying singing at Lapland’s music institute. Now Mannermaa performed the role of one of the Valkyries in the Riding of the Valkyries scene at the Lapland Arena and got to sing the first solos in the show.
– I hope that the performance was also attended by first-timers, so that this sparked a spark for opera and ballet. Anyone can come to the opera and ballet. You can experience experiences in the same way as in a theater, a movie, an art exhibition or a sports competition.
“It is fair to come to the provinces sometimes”
– When you’re on tour with this kind of line-up and repertoire, it’s a great thing.
The opera as an organization operates mainly with state and public funds, and now the people of Lapland could enjoy a rare treat on the spot. The national opera is financed by cities, municipalities and the state.
– Even though the funding of the opera consists of different streams, it is reasonable that we sometimes come where the audience is, that the audience does not always have to come to where it is happening (i.e. Helsinki), Mika Pohjonen reflects.
– It went well. It was a massive spectacle, as it should have been. The audience had a warm reception. A standing ovation and a shout to match. Hits and sinks, says Erkkilä.