“Bold orchestral colours, hypnotic melodies and striking percussion make Heroin Chic a very powerful exploration of the darker side of the human experience.”
Norwegian composer Solveig Sørbø is a very adventurous operator in the field of contemporary opera with Heroin Chic, a 90 minute piece which fuses together contemporary classical music, a great deal of avant-garde and some very definite elements of pop culture. It’s an opera based on the novel by Maria Kjos Fonn and deals with the themes of addiction, identity, sexuality and the desire for transcendence. The opera’s real impact though is in the musical world that Sørbø has created. It’s a very distinctive piece with a very unusual instrumentation, some very strong percussion, some absolutely gorgeous melodies and a very eclectic orchestral palette. The opening pieces “Preludium” and “Prolog” are there to introduce the listener to the opera’s musical language before the story really gets going in “Dukken”, “Bleke sol” and “Englevugg”. Rather than treat it as a straightforward orchestral piece, Sørbø is drawing on a very wide range of contemporary classical and experimental music. There is space for all sorts of idiosyncratic instrumental colours and a very wide range of textures, resulting in an opera which has a very theatrical and unpredictable sound. “Søvn” and “Sultent hjerte” complete off the opening section with titles which suggest a move through the realms of vulnerability, yearning and unease.
bokas forfatter Maria Kjoss Fonn. Bildene er tatt i oslo Domkirke, og skildrer EIise.
As the piece develops “Rødt blod”, “Svelgets dyp” and “Speilet” lead into a much darker section of the musical narrative. The percussion is absolutely crucial to the character of the work and provides a tremendous amount of physicality. The orchestral writing on the other hand provides a much wider emotional palette. “Lokk”, “Brenner fett” and “Lys kropp” go on to add further chapters to this evolving musical world, followed by “Savn”, “Pulvermøte” and “Kjærlighetsrus”. The contrast between the hypnotic melodic lines and the more intense orchestral writing is at the heart of the opera’s appeal. Sørbø doesn’t stay in one musical mood throughout the piece, there is a constant movement between the melodic and the more experimental. The next sequence is “De røde delene”, “Blonde natt” and “Sov, baby” again continuing the theme of beauty and the dark. “Jeg dreper deg!” and “Jeg fryser uten deg” take the first act towards a more emotional climax and “Begravelsesrus” and “Eksolog” round off that section. “Heroin (Entr’acte)” provides the clear demarcation into the second act and allows the musical atmosphere to continue to evolve. Act 2 “Tilgivelse”, “Salg” and “Mitt dopa hjerte” are all part of a sequence which takes the opera into increasingly complex emotional waters. “Selvmordsblondine”, “Blek nattverd” and “Mørket i lyset” continue the juxtaposition of the fragile beauty of the music with the disturbing subject matter. The titles “Whiteout”, “Søster Morfin” and “Ekstase” further underline the work’s idiosyncrasy, while “Spøkelse” and “Mørkt sinn” point towards a move into psychological darkness. “Av den største kjærlighet” and “Gi meg sola” offer up contrasting images of love and light and we are then brought to the end of the work with “Elises klage (Finale)”.
One of the most striking features of the music is the use of the cimbalom in a very modern classical context. It’s a very unusual colour for the instrument and adds a great deal to the already quite varied orchestral palette. There’s a very strong percussion section and an extremely large soprano part for a child singer. All of these things are indicative of Sørbø being quite happy to go outside the bounds of the conventional operatic approach in terms of orchestration and performance. The melodies are of course still very much part of the piece and provide a very engaging melodic thread through the more experimental sections. The recording is soloists Susanna Wolff, Sofia Neacsu, Siv Misund, Ivar Magnus Sandve and Johannes Nikolai Aas with Ensemble Oslo under the direction of Hans Petter Mæhle. It was recorded live to tape at Jar Church outside Oslo, just two days after the Norwegian concert premiere. It’s a complete opera recording as a musical event with the ensemble and performers. At the heart of the opera is Elise, whose battle with addiction, her sense of identity and her self-destructive tendencies are what give the piece its dramatic thrust. Sørbø’s score is not simply there to accompany the narrative though. The percussion, the orchestral colours, the melodic lines and the use of non-traditional instruments all have a life of their own. Heroin Chic is a very ambitious piece of work which subverts the very notion of what an opera should be and provides a very interesting and diverse listening experience for those who are into contemporary classical and experimental music.
English