Oslo Opera House tickets 27 March 2025 - The Cunning Little Vixen | GoComGo.com

The Cunning Little Vixen

Oslo Opera House, Main Stage, Oslo, Norway
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7 PM
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US$ 101

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Oslo, Norway
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 30min
Titles in: English,Norwegian

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Mezzo-Soprano: Astrid Nordstad (Zlatohřbítek (Gold-Spur, the Fox))
Baritone: Audun Iversen (Forester (Revírník))
Conductor: Edward Gardner
Chorus: Norwegian National Opera Chorus
Orchestra: Norwegian National Opera Orchestra
Mezzo-Soprano: Tone Kummervold (Forester's wife (Revírníková))
Soprano: Victoria Randem (Bystrouška (Sharp-Ears, the Vixen))
Tenor: Ya-Chung Huang (Schoolmaster (Rektor))
Creators
Composer: Leoš Janáček
Librettist: Leoš Janáček
Director: Stefan Herheim
Overview

Stefan Herheim is back – with a fantastic fairytale opera for adults!

A magical forest and enchanting workshops: Encounter parallel worlds, dig through layer upon layer of games and meaning – and experience the music that makes it all possible.

Outfoxing humans 
A cunning little fox is taken home by a forester. She is full of animal instincts, yet also surprisingly human. The fox gossips, steals and kills. She fights for her freedom, seizes the moment with passion and shows everyone around her what it means to live. 

When the magic of opera comes to life 
Now and then, it takes a fairytale to make us see reality for what it is. And sometimes it is animals who draw our attention to what it means to be human. The Cunning Little Vixen does just that – through music. 

A celebration of the power of music 
The Cunning Little Vixen was written by Czech composer Leoš Janáček, who also wrote the operas Jenufa and Katja Kabanova. It first premiered in 1924 and is adapted from a novella by Rudolf Tešnohlídek published in a Czech newspaper in 1920. With this as inspiration, Janáček created an unconventional portrayal of both humans and animals that shows that nature and culture are not opposites, but two sides of the same coin.  

The music in the opera is as playful as it is melancholic, and is a celebration of the circle of life. Director Stefan Herheim takes this as an invitation to celebrate the transcendent power of musical theatre to change – both us and the world.

Critically acclaimed director returns – together with a new music director 
Norwegian Stefan Herheim is respected worldwide for his clever and light-hearted opera interpretations. Here in Oslo, he has orchestrated such critically acclaimed performances as Julius Cæsar, Tannhaüser, La Bohème and La Cenerentola.  

Herheim is currently opera director at the Theater an der Wien. The Cunning Little Vixen was the first performance he personally directed from this director’s chair. It first premiered in Vienna in 2022 and was praised by critics.    

Several of our up-and-coming Norwegian opera soloists are sharing the stage, while the Oslo Opera House’s new music director Edward Gardner can be found in the orchestra pit.

History
Premiere of this production: 06 November 1924, National Theatre Brno

The Cunning Little Vixen (Czech: Příhody lišky Bystroušky; alternative English title: Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears) is a Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček, composed in 1921 to 1923. Its libretto was adapted by the composer from a 1920 serialized novella, Liška Bystrouška, by Rudolf Těsnohlídek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny (with illustrations by Stanislav Lolek).

Synopsis

Act 1
In the forest, the animals and insects are playing and dancing. The Forester enters and lies down against a tree for a nap. A curious Vixen Cub (usually sung by a young girl), inquisitively chases a frog right into the lap of the surprised forester who forcibly takes the vixen home as a pet. Time passes (in the form of an orchestral interlude) and we see the Vixen, now grown up into a young adult (and sung by a soprano), tied up in the forester's yard with the conservative old dachshund. Fed up with life in confinement, the vixen chews through her rope, attacks the Cock and Chocholka the hen, kills the other chickens, jumps over the fence and runs off to freedom.

Act 2
The vixen takes over a badger's home and kicks him out. In the inn, the pastor, the forester, and the schoolmaster drink and talk about their mutual infatuation with the gypsy girl Terynka. The drunken schoolmaster leaves the inn and mistakes a sunflower behind which the vixen is hiding for Terynka and confesses his devotion to her. The forester, also on his way home, sees the vixen and fires two shots at her, sending her running. Later, the vixen, coming into her womanhood, meets a charming boy fox, and they retire to the badger's home. An unexpected pregnancy and a forest full of gossipy creatures necessitates their marriage, which rounds out the act.

Act 3
The poacher Harasta is engaged to Terynka and is out hunting in preparation for their marriage. He sets a fox trap, which the numerous fox and vixen cubs mock. Harasta, watching from a distance, shoots and kills the vixen, sending her children running. At Harasta's wedding, the forester sees the vixen's fur, which Harasta gave to Terynka as a wedding present, and flees to the forest to reflect. He returns to the place where he met the vixen, and sits at the tree grieving the loss of both the vixen and Terynka. His grief grows until, just as in the beginning of the opera, a frog unexpectedly jumps in his lap, the grandson of the one who did so in Act 1. This reassurance of the cycle of death leading to new life gives his heart a deep peace.

Venue Info

Oslo Opera House - Oslo
Location   Kirsten Flagstads Plass 1

The Oslo Opera House is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for the Norwegian government. The structure contains 1,100 rooms in a total area of 38,500 m2 (414,000 sq ft). The main auditorium seats 1,364 and two other performance spaces can seat 200 and 400. The main stage is 16 m (52 ft) wide and 40 m (130 ft) deep. The angled exterior surfaces of the building are covered with marble from Carrara, Italy and white granite and make it appear to rise from the water. It is the largest cultural building constructed in Norway since Nidarosdomen was completed circa 1300.

In 1999, after a long national debate, the Norwegian legislature decided to construct a new opera house in the city. A design competition was held and, of the 350 entries received, the judges chose that of Snøhetta. Construction started in 2003 and was completed in 2007, ahead of schedule and 300 million NOK (~US$52 million) under its budget of 4.4 billion NOK (~US$760 million). The gala opening on 12 April 2008 was attended by His Majesty King Harald, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and President Tarja Halonen of Finland and other leaders. During the first year of operation, 1.3 million people passed through the building's doors.

The Opera House won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in October 2008 and the 2009 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

The roof of the building angles to ground level, creating a large plaza that invites pedestrians to walk up and enjoy the panoramic views of Oslo. While much of the building is covered in white granite and La Facciata, a white Italian carrara marble, the stage tower is clad in white aluminium, in a design by Løvaas & Wagle that evokes old weaving patterns.

The lobby is surrounded by 15 m (49 ft) tall windows with minimal framing and special glass that allows maximum views of the water. The roof is supported by thin angled columns also designed not to interfere with views.

Interior surfaces are covered in oak to bring warmth to spaces in contrast to the coolness of the white exterior. The main auditorium is a horseshoe shape and illuminated by an oval chandelier containing 5,800 handmade crystals. Seats include monitors for the electronic libretto system, allowing audiences to follow opera libretti in Norwegian and English in addition to the original language.

Several art projects were commissioned for the interior and exterior of the Opera House. The most notable is She Lies, a sculpture constructed of stainless steel and glass panels by Monica Bonvicini. It is permanently installed on a concrete platform in the fjord adjacent to Opera House and floats on the water moving in response to tides and wind to create an ever-changing face to viewers. The work was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Sonja on 11 May 2010.

A perforated wall panel which covers roof supports in the lobby was designed by Olafur Eliasson. It features hexagonal opening and is illuminated from below and behind to create the illusion of melting ice. Other artists involved in the construction include Kristian Blystad, Jorunn Sannes and Kalle Grude, who designed the shape of the pavers on the forecourt and roof; Bodil Furu and Trine Lise Nedreaas, who created a film and video project; Marte Aas, Talleiv Taro Manum, Tom Sandberg, Gerd Tinglum and Nina Witoszek Fitzpatrick, who created the art book Site Seeing; and Linus Elmes and Ludvig Löfgren, who created the foundation stone.

The main stage curtain is the work of Pae White who designed it to look like crumpled aluminum foil. White scanned a crumpled piece of foil into a computer which translated the information to a loom that wove the curtain from wool, cotton and polyester to create a three-dimensional effect. The curtain was manufactured by the German-based theatrical equipment company Gerriets GmbH. The finished curtain measures 74 ft (23 m) wide and 36 ft (11 m) and weighs 1,100 lb (500 kg).

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Oslo, Norway
Starts at: 19:00
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 30min
Titles in: English,Norwegian
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