Ийро Рантала - опера «Санаторий-экспресс» - Калле Куусава - арта Сид /Iiro Rantala - Sanatorio Express - Kalle Kuusava - Maria Sid - Johanna Rusanen - Finnish National Opera and Ballet
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SANATORIO EXPRESS Rantala - Finnish National Opera and Ballet
A woman on the verge of divorce hopes to shed her excess kilos over the weekend at a much-lauded sanatorium, until her husband checks into the same facility.
Composed by jazz pianist Iiro Rantala and written by best-selling novelist Minna Lindgren, Sanatorio Express is a side-splittingly funny opera about modern neuroses and relationships. A great introduction to opera for first-timers, it will also please aficionados with its deep connection to the tradition of comic opera.
Streamed live on OperaVision on 2 October 2018 at 17:30 CET
Music: Iiro Rantala
Text: Minna Lindgren
Conductor: Kalle Kuusava
Director: Maria Sid
Set Designer: Anna Kontek
Costume Designer: Anna Kontek
Lighting Designer: Joonas Tikkanen
Video Producer: Joonas Tikkanen
https://oopperabaletti.fi/en/repertoire-and-tickets/sanatorio-express/
The STORY
Act I
The Healer and his assistant, the Receptionist, operate Sanatorio Express, which gives its customers personal attention and exercises to recover from the trials and tribulations of life. The ambience is heavenly.
The Soprano arrives at the Sanatorium because she is overweight and believes she’s on the verge of divorce. She sings an aria in two parts, the first of which is slow, detailing the reasons behind her excess weight. The second part, a joyful cabalette to the pace of waltz, is dedicated to the joys of eating.
Customers compare notes on their troubles. Most have been diagnosed as addicts, and addiction is behind all their adversity. Only the Tenor remains quiet. He is too slow for this world.
The Healer uses all his strength on the Soprano. As he makes a pass at her, she shoos him off the stage, but she’s left wondering: Was this lewd man interested in her? The Receptionist responds to her aria with a flamenco number, based on years of experience.
The Tenor steps out. He is in love with the Soprano and sings an aria about the woman’s small hands. It grows into a love duet, as in opera the sopranos fall in love even quicker than tenors.
Customers focus on self help exercises, while the Receptionist tackles crosswords. The Soprano, now deeply in love, begins to doubt whether being thin would solve her problems after all. Frustrated, she bursts into an ecstatic, bel canto like song. The Tenor’s calming coloratura fails to make her feel better.
The Soprano’s husband, a managing director with the appearance of a hound, rushes into the Sanatorio to rage at his wife. The Tenor challenges him to a duel. When they fail to find a peaceful way to battle, the husband sings a song about shame. The act ends in general confusion. Everything is shamefully baffling.
Act II
Time has passed. In the face of ever tougher challenges, Sanatorio Express has changed its focus to deep therapy, which has left the customers rather confused. The Healer tries to boost their motivation by singing about death, which is lurking just around the corner. Once recovered from the death scene, he presents the model patient: the Soprano’s husband. He has chosen distance therapy and says hello to the rest via the internet.
Self analysis in trio ensues. The Receptionist is looking after her beauty, the Soprano is mulling over her face in the mirror, and the Tenor is updating his social media profile. The Soprano and the Tenor no longer recognise themselves but they find each other once more. They are incurable and hence they’re happy. The Receptionist tells them that the hound-like husband is closer than anyone thought, as his distance therapy is in fact secret love therapy. The lovers rejoice at this fantastic news. The Receptionist conjures a plan, and once the Soprano and the Tenor have happily departed, she reveals her deepest secret: she is lonely.
Things are going as the Receptionist planned: people are running in the semi-darkness wearing masks. The Healer turns up and nearly ruins everything. The husband gets angsty in the cupboard, but he can’t get out. The Soprano relents and helps out, finally understanding why she wasn’t good enough for her husband. She and her husband say their wistful goodbyes.
The Healer tries to slip away, distracting the crowd with a loud bass laughter, but he can’t escape. He has to deal with scathing customer feedback and face the facts. Everyone is overjoyed to discover that there was nothing wrong with them after all, and the episode has produced a few happy couples too. Sanatorio Express is closed down, but the Receptionist already has a new business idea.
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