20. DESEMBER
Annilese Miskimmon, the opera director of the The Norwegian Opera and Ballet
Foto: Pressebilde fra Den Norske Opera og Ballet sin hjemmeside
1. What´s your job description?
I collaborate with a lot of colleagues to make decisions, but basically I choose the operas we perform. I also who directs, designs and conducts them, as well as who sings in them. In this work, I do take in the needs of the audience and the artists in the house, but also make sure that the budget is in balance.
2. What was your relations to the theatre/opera when you were young?
I loved musicals and plays of all kinds. When I was about 10 I went to see my first opera: “Mozarts the Magic Flute” – and I realised opera was simply a more complex classical music version of all the things I loved about the theatre. I fell in love with it because of its beauty and power as an art form that talks about the big questions of life – and does it in an often mysterious way.
3. Which is the best performance you’ve seen in 2018?
Our childrens chorus performed “Purriot og den forsvunne bronsehesten” this spring, which is a story about a detective who is a leek. This fall they did “Maxwell Davies’Askepott – en barneopera”. I loved both shows a lot!
4. Is there a particular performance you’re looking forward to see in 2019?
We are doing a big all-male-voice opera by Benjamin Britten, “Billy Budd”, set on an English submarine in 1940. It is full of the music of the sea and it is one of my favourite operas – so I cannot wait to hear the orchestra and singers perform this piece. The opera is from 1951, but will have its first Norwegian premiere 18. January 2019.
5. How will you be celebrating christmas?
I’ll be in Oslo with riskrem! Plus I always listen to a radio version of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens on Christmas Eve– it makes me cry in a good way.
This desember, Teaterungdom.no host its first very own Advent calendar: Every day towards Christmas we will ask five quick questions to a new theater director. This way you can get to know the theaters of Norway, and the people who leads them. Quick, easy and for the young adults.
