Carl-Gunnar Ahlen, Svenska Dagbladet

Fortunato (1993)

An opera that resonates in the imagination… “Fortunato is not for friends of convention and etiquette. A work first and foremost for the stage, the title page characterises is as “A Comedy beset with Tragedy in three acts”. It is also a morality, a “bildungsroman”, a picaresque comedy’, a folk-tale sprinkled with archetypes; a post-modern testament. I propose that, while partly concerned with these things (which somehow relate to the roots of theatre) it is above all concerned with the theatre’s ability to express passions and morality: good and evil. This work has inspired the cast to create parts that are stunningly beautiful in vocal terms, dramatically moving and terrifyingly alive. The realism of the love scenes is so disarming thatit would seem immoral to stage them in another way…similarly, the unforgettable and musically powerful scene at the gallows. Opera should be like this: not nailing up old theses again, but rather encouraging us to reflect…”