Kristina från Duvemåla - Concert 2015

On 13 November 2015 I saw Kristina från Duvemåla in concert, at Malmö Live Konserthus in Malmö, Sweden.

Before I go on reviewing the concert, I have to say something about the way I experience these kinds of concerts. I have seen several comments on this particular concert, and they are all very enthusiastic and very positive - unfortunately my review will not be entire positive.
It was a very good concert, there's absolutely no denying that, the music is spectacular and the performers are very talented indeed. However, I think that when you produce a musical concert, it is different from a regular concert. Even though there are no props, no real stage to move around and minimal costumes, I firmly believe that the performers should be in character throughout the concert. I want to see a stage presence, clear character portraits and a chemistry between the performers, so that they can tell the story of the musical.
And I felt I did not get much of that this time, unfortuanately.

____________________________________________________________________________________

This production of Kristina från Duvemåla was very similar to the concert I saw in Jönköping in 2013 (see below). They had a choir in the back, where some of the choirmemebers stepped forward to play smaller parts, such as Brusander, Nöjd and Reverand Jackson.
The orchestra was on the stage but the main performers had an area at the front of the stage where they could walk around and even though they were not able to act out a lot, they could easily move and interact with each other.

Just like in Jönköping, the concert-version was a bit shortened, the song "Duvemåla Hage" (Path of Leaves and Needles") had been shortened, and "Kamfer och Lavender" (english translation?) had been removed completely. I think it's a bit of a shame, as these songs are really beautiful - but I guess you can't have it all, right?
Also, Marianne Mörck was again the narrator, reading certain texts - some directly from Moberg's books, some newly written texts that very much reminded of the books - as a way of connecting the story and moving it forward. This is a very clever concept that I enjoy a lot - it also gives the prodcution more of a "regular musical"-feeling than strictly a concert.
And again, the orchestra and choir were conducted by Anders Eljas, whom I like a lot. I actually did spent quite a lot of time during the concert watching him, and it's amazing to see how completely consumed he is in the music and how he interacts with the members of the choir and orchestra, as well as the main performers!

Sanna Nielsen was Kristina, just like in Jönköping. And I am sorry to say, I don't think she is a musical artist. I felt that way two years ago, and I haven't changed my mind. Nielsen is a very talented singer with an amazing voice, but there is more to it than that. I did get the feeling she was struggling a bit with some of the higher notes this time, she reached falsetto a few times and it didn't quite work, but apart from that, I did not get that she was Kristina! She tried to interact a little bit with the other performers, but it was far from enough, according to me. I did not feel a chemistry between her and Philip Jalmelid, who played Karl Oskar - and the relationship with Kristina and Karl Oskar is an integral part of this story! I also felt Nielsen sometimes made a few mistakes ... like singing to Robert (Sonny Enell) but for the most part looking at Karl Oskar, which felt very confusing. I also feel like she did not know who Kristina is, because a lot of her reactions contradicts how Kristina really does react. I can't help feeling that Nielsen's focus was on delivering beautiful songs - which she did ... but in a musical concert, the focus should be in telling the story.
Her big song is of course "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"). I know I reacted in Jönköping to how much anger Nielsen placed in the song then, which I felt was quite wrong - so I was curious to see her now. Most of the anger was gone, which I was happy about, but I did not get much of the sheer panic and utter fright that I know is what this song is about. Nielsen made an enormous effort in this song, she gave it her all - and got some standing ovations in the middle of the concert for that song! - and I do appreciate that ... but again; focus was on delivering a beautiful song.

Philip Jalmelid played Karl Oskar. I have seen Jalmelid a few times now and I have always been very, very impressed by him. Not quite as impressed this time however.
He does have the most remarkable voice, and it is amazing to listen to him, but I felt the same with him as with Nielsen - the focus was on delivering beautiful songs, not in finding the character and telling the story. And I was a bit disappointed with that, because Jalmelid has always been completely in character before, and he is a musical artist ...
Jalmelid has a very powerful voice, and I felt he used his voice to make Karl Oskar very angry. Christer Nerfont in Jönköping also played an angry Karl Oskar (more so than the original Anders Ekborg), but I felt that Jalmelid at times took it to far. I think the song "Stanna" ("In the Dead of Darkness") is one of the more beautiful songs in the musical, but Jalmelid sang it so sharply that it almost sounded like he commanded Kristina to "Stanna kvar hos mig!" ("Please, please don't leave me!") - and it is not a command! For the first time in his life, Karl Oskar has absolutely no idea what to do, all he can do is sit and watch his wife die before his eyes. His exclamation is a plea, a prayer ... not a command.
At one point in the concert I truly felt that it was Karl Oskar on the stage - which was during "Vildgräs" ("Wild Grass"). This was without a doubt the best thing Jalmelid did during the night and it was amazing!! Everything in it was spot on, the intonation, the reactions, the power ... Amazing!!

Sonny Enell as Robert. What can I say? Clearly the brightest shining star of the evening. I had not heard of Enell before, but he was absolutely fantastic!! He was Robert, from the moment he stepped on stage until he took his bow afterwards. A great stage presence and completely in character - he had truly grasped Robert's rather complex character, and did an amazing job portraying it. He also had one of the better voices I have heard in a very long time, and I was close to tears during "Guldet blev till Sand" ("Gold can turn to sand").
I very much want to see more of him in the future!

Åsa Fång played Ulrika, just like in Jönköping. And just like two years ago, I did not like her interpretation of "Aldrig" ("Never") very much, but I think she improved a lot in the second act.

Marianne Mörck was Fina-Kajsa and the narrator. It is always lovely to see Mörck on stage, and quite special as she was part of the original cast and production from 1995! Unfortuantely I don't think this night was Mörck's best night - she did a great job as narrator, her reading of these intermittant texts was very good - but unfortunately she did forget the text to her songs sometimes and her timing was a bit off. I know these things happen and it wasn't that big a deal, but as I practically know every beat of this entire musical I do notice when it happens.

There were six children on stage, and they were amazing. In Jönköping there was a bit of confusion, as the same girl sang both Anna's and Märta's parts, but here each child had his and her own character which was very good!
All of the children took part in "Präriens drottning" ("Queen of the Prairie") which was a wonderful wonderful song! They did the best they could setting the whole thing up with a minimal part of the stage and it was fantastic to see the children sing and act out the way they did - they were all very talented!

As for the minor characters, I have a few comments. Unfortunately Åke Persson, who was Brusander, forgot almost the entire beginning of "Vi Öppnar Alla Grindar" ("We Open up the Gateways"), I didn't mind much as I know the text anyway, but I think it might have been a bit harder for those not that familiar with the musical. Johan Sandberg played Reverand Jackson, he made an apprerance on the stage during "Tänk att män som han kan finnas" ("American Man"), where he did a great job, but he was also the Norweigan shoemaker Thomassen ... the same performer did both these parts in Jönköping too. It does work, but it is a bit confusing in "Vill du inte gifta dig med mig?" (english translation?), where all these men propose to Ulrika - in the song it is Thomassen (and Nöjd and Abbott) who propose, but she is then married to Jackson ... it is confusing when the same performer plays these two parts.

All in all, a beautiful concert - but I wish it had been more of a musical concert, with characters, not performers, on stage ...

________________________________________________________________________________

I want to conclude by saying that I hope I have not stirred up harsh feelings or offended anyone with this review. I realize it is more "negative" than most my reviews, and I think this has several explanations.
First of all, I have not been feeling well at all lately, and this of course does affect how you look at things, and you tend to see things in a more negative light.
Secondly, this musical - but not only the musical; the story, the books, the characters, the movies, all of this - is very close to my heart. I know parts the book by heart, and on my mother's side, I have relatives that grew up in the same places in Småland, one of my relatives went to school with Vilhlem Moberg ... I feel strongly about this and therefore I also tend to look at the little details when it comes to this.
One last remark, that has less to do with me, personally.
When Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote this muscial, they on purpose went back to the book and made a musical that was as close to the book as you possibly could. Some of the texts in the musical are practically direct quotations from the book, which is astonishing!
Therefore I feel that when this musical is produced, whether in concert or as a "real" musical, you should try to stay as close to the original production, and the book, as possible! I can understand that you sometimes want to change little things, "upgrade", put your own mark on a production or a performance, but I don't think you should when it comes to Kristina från Duvemåla. Ulvaeus and Andersson were very careful to truly respect and honor Moberg's epic books, and I think this should continue.

Cast:

Sanna Nielsen - Kristina

Philip Jalmelid - Karl Oskar

Sonny Enell - Robert, Karl Oskars bror

Åsa Fång - Ulrika i Västergöhl, ogift

Marianne Mörck - Fina-Kajsa, berättare

Kristina från Duvemåla - Concert 2015

On 13 November 2015 I saw Kristina från Duvemåla in concert, at Malmö Live Konserthus in Malmö, Sweden.

Before I go on reviewing the concert, I have to say something about the way I experience these kinds of concerts. I have seen several comments on this particular concert, and they are all very enthusiastic and very positive - unfortunately my review will not be entire positive.
It was a very good concert, there's absolutely no denying that, the music is spectacular and the performers are very talented indeed. However, I think that when you produce a musical concert, it is different from a regular concert. Even though there are no props, no real stage to move around and minimal costumes, I firmly believe that the performers should be in character throughout the concert. I want to see a stage presence, clear character portraits and a chemistry between the performers, so that they can tell the story of the musical.
And I felt I did not get much of that this time, unfortuanately.

____________________________________________________________________________________

This production of Kristina från Duvemåla was very similar to the concert I saw in Jönköping in 2013 (see below). They had a choir in the back, where some of the choirmemebers stepped forward to play smaller parts, such as Brusander, Nöjd and Reverand Jackson.
The orchestra was on the stage but the main performers had an area at the front of the stage where they could walk around and even though they were not able to act out a lot, they could easily move and interact with each other.

Just like in Jönköping, the concert-version was a bit shortened, the song "Duvemåla Hage" (Path of Leaves and Needles") had been shortened, and "Kamfer och Lavender" (english translation?) had been removed completely. I think it's a bit of a shame, as these songs are really beautiful - but I guess you can't have it all, right?
Also, Marianne Mörck was again the narrator, reading certain texts - some directly from Moberg's books, some newly written texts that very much reminded of the books - as a way of connecting the story and moving it forward. This is a very clever concept that I enjoy a lot - it also gives the prodcution more of a "regular musical"-feeling than strictly a concert.
And again, the orchestra and choir were conducted by Anders Eljas, whom I like a lot. I actually did spent quite a lot of time during the concert watching him, and it's amazing to see how completely consumed he is in the music and how he interacts with the members of the choir and orchestra, as well as the main performers!

Sanna Nielsen was Kristina, just like in Jönköping. And I am sorry to say, I don't think she is a musical artist. I felt that way two years ago, and I haven't changed my mind. Nielsen is a very talented singer with an amazing voice, but there is more to it than that. I did get the feeling she was struggling a bit with some of the higher notes this time, she reached falsetto a few times and it didn't quite work, but apart from that, I did not get that she was Kristina! She tried to interact a little bit with the other performers, but it was far from enough, according to me. I did not feel a chemistry between her and Philip Jalmelid, who played Karl Oskar - and the relationship with Kristina and Karl Oskar is an integral part of this story! I also felt Nielsen sometimes made a few mistakes ... like singing to Robert (Sonny Enell) but for the most part looking at Karl Oskar, which felt very confusing. I also feel like she did not know who Kristina is, because a lot of her reactions contradicts how Kristina really does react. I can't help feeling that Nielsen's focus was on delivering beautiful songs - which she did ... but in a musical concert, the focus should be in telling the story.
Her big song is of course "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"). I know I reacted in Jönköping to how much anger Nielsen placed in the song then, which I felt was quite wrong - so I was curious to see her now. Most of the anger was gone, which I was happy about, but I did not get much of the sheer panic and utter fright that I know is what this song is about. Nielsen made an enormous effort in this song, she gave it her all - and got some standing ovations in the middle of the concert for that song! - and I do appreciate that ... but again; focus was on delivering a beautiful song.

Philip Jalmelid played Karl Oskar. I have seen Jalmelid a few times now and I have always been very, very impressed by him. Not quite as impressed this time however.
He does have the most remarkable voice, and it is amazing to listen to him, but I felt the same with him as with Nielsen - the focus was on delivering beautiful songs, not in finding the character and telling the story. And I was a bit disappointed with that, because Jalmelid has always been completely in character before, and he is a musical artist ...
Jalmelid has a very powerful voice, and I felt he used his voice to make Karl Oskar very angry. Christer Nerfont in Jönköping also played an angry Karl Oskar (more so than the original Anders Ekborg), but I felt that Jalmelid at times took it to far. I think the song "Stanna" ("In the Dead of Darkness") is one of the more beautiful songs in the musical, but Jalmelid sang it so sharply that it almost sounded like he commanded Kristina to "Stanna kvar hos mig!" ("Please, please don't leave me!") - and it is not a command! For the first time in his life, Karl Oskar has absolutely no idea what to do, all he can do is sit and watch his wife die before his eyes. His exclamation is a plea, a prayer ... not a command.
At one point in the concert I truly felt that it was Karl Oskar on the stage - which was during "Vildgräs" ("Wild Grass"). This was without a doubt the best thing Jalmelid did during the night and it was amazing!! Everything in it was spot on, the intonation, the reactions, the power ... Amazing!!

Sonny Enell as Robert. What can I say? Clearly the brightest shining star of the evening. I had not heard of Enell before, but he was absolutely fantastic!! He was Robert, from the moment he stepped on stage until he took his bow afterwards. A great stage presence and completely in character - he had truly grasped Robert's rather complex character, and did an amazing job portraying it. He also had one of the better voices I have heard in a very long time, and I was close to tears during "Guldet blev till Sand" ("Gold can turn to sand").
I very much want to see more of him in the future!

Åsa Fång played Ulrika, just like in Jönköping. And just like two years ago, I did not like her interpretation of "Aldrig" ("Never") very much, but I think she improved a lot in the second act.

Marianne Mörck was Fina-Kajsa and the narrator. It is always lovely to see Mörck on stage, and quite special as she was part of the original cast and production from 1995! Unfortuantely I don't think this night was Mörck's best night - she did a great job as narrator, her reading of these intermittant texts was very good - but unfortunately she did forget the text to her songs sometimes and her timing was a bit off. I know these things happen and it wasn't that big a deal, but as I practically know every beat of this entire musical I do notice when it happens.

There were six children on stage, and they were amazing. In Jönköping there was a bit of confusion, as the same girl sang both Anna's and Märta's parts, but here each child had his and her own character which was very good!
All of the children took part in "Präriens drottning" ("Queen of the Prairie") which was a wonderful wonderful song! They did the best they could setting the whole thing up with a minimal part of the stage and it was fantastic to see the children sing and act out the way they did - they were all very talented!

As for the minor characters, I have a few comments. Unfortunately Åke Persson, who was Brusander, forgot almost the entire beginning of "Vi Öppnar Alla Grindar" ("We Open up the Gateways"), I didn't mind much as I know the text anyway, but I think it might have been a bit harder for those not that familiar with the musical. Johan Sandberg played Reverand Jackson, he made an apprerance on the stage during "Tänk att män som han kan finnas" ("American Man"), where he did a great job, but he was also the Norweigan shoemaker Thomassen ... the same performer did both these parts in Jönköping too. It does work, but it is a bit confusing in "Vill du inte gifta dig med mig?" (english translation?), where all these men propose to Ulrika - in the song it is Thomassen (and Nöjd and Abbott) who propose, but she is then married to Jackson ... it is confusing when the same performer plays these two parts.

All in all, a beautiful concert - but I wish it had been more of a musical concert, with characters, not performers, on stage ...

________________________________________________________________________________

I want to conclude by saying that I hope I have not stirred up harsh feelings or offended anyone with this review. I realize it is more "negative" than most my reviews, and I think this has several explanations.
First of all, I have not been feeling well at all lately, and this of course does affect how you look at things, and you tend to see things in a more negative light.
Secondly, this musical - but not only the musical; the story, the books, the characters, the movies, all of this - is very close to my heart. I know parts the book by heart, and on my mother's side, I have relatives that grew up in the same places in Småland, one of my relatives went to school with Vilhlem Moberg ... I feel strongly about this and therefore I also tend to look at the little details when it comes to this.
One last remark, that has less to do with me, personally.
When Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote this muscial, they on purpose went back to the book and made a musical that was as close to the book as you possibly could. Some of the texts in the musical are practically direct quotations from the book, which is astonishing!
Therefore I feel that when this musical is produced, whether in concert or as a "real" musical, you should try to stay as close to the original production, and the book, as possible! I can understand that you sometimes want to change little things, "upgrade", put your own mark on a production or a performance, but I don't think you should when it comes to Kristina från Duvemåla. Ulvaeus and Andersson were very careful to truly respect and honor Moberg's epic books, and I think this should continue.

Cast:

Sanna Nielsen - Kristina

Philip Jalmelid - Karl Oskar

Sonny Enell - Robert, Karl Oskars bror

Åsa Fång - Ulrika i Västergöhl, ogift

Marianne Mörck - Fina-Kajsa, berättare

Kristina från Duvemåla - Concert 2013

Please note that this will be a translation of the review I published in my former Swedish blog.

I saw a concert version of the musical Kristina från Duvemåla (Kristina from Duvemåla) on 7 September 2013 in Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping (Sweden).
First of all I have to add a note, saying that this will be a long entry, with a lot of personal opinions. I have been absolutely in love with this musical since I saw it for the first time in Gothenburg (in 1997?), and I love "The Emigrants" books by Vilhelm Moberg very much indeed! Part of my heritage comes from these parts of Småland in Sweden, which makes the musical and the story very dear to me (my mother's grandfather went to the same school as Vilhelm Moberg!) - and naturally I have high standards and high expectations ... maybe too high? Naw, I don't think so! :)
Anyway - this review will contain a lot of personal thoughts and feelings, just so you know!

This was a concert, it was not a regular musical, meaning it has been shortened. I have to say I was less bothered by that than I had expected, which felt good. The only thing I did react to was the shortening of "Duvemåla Hage" ("Path of Leaves and Needles"), and they had also removed "Kamfer och Lavender" (english translation?) - I enjoy both these songs a lot, and of course I would have loved to hear them in their entirety.
The performers were not wearing any costumes and they had no props - the orchestra was sitting at the stage, although the performers were able to move around and interact with each other.

There was an amazing choir, about 650 members of Sveriges Körförbund, which created a wonderful atmosphere in the huge arena - surely not only for the audience but for the performers as well!
The orchestra was conducted by Anders Eljas, which came as a very pleasant surprise! I have seen him before and I like him a lot, but I had no idea he was involved in this project.

Marianne Mörck was Fina-Kajsa in the original prodcution, a part she played in this concert as well. It was great seing her again, and she was also the narrator during the concert. This  was a great set-up, she came in and read certain texts between the songs to hold the story together, and sometimes to move the story forward. For the very most part it was direct quotations from Vilhelm Moberg's books (yup, I know the books so well I can tell when it is a direct quotation and when it is newly written text!), which of course was something I appreciated a lot! Right from the start, when "Kristina från Duvemåla" was first staged, it was very important to stay close to Vilhelm Moberg and the original texts and stories, and it was fantastic to see them adhere to the same concept for just this one concert!

Åsa Fång played Ulrika. She was not one of my very favorites, but she did a good job. I think she overdid it a bit in the song "Aldrig" ("Never"), and you couldn't quite make out what the song was about, but she improved a lot during the second half of the concert. She did have a rather small part, and not that much to act out.

Bruno Mitsogiannis played Robert. He was quite sharp in the beginning, I don't know if it was a technical setting or not, but it was too sharp, and quite weird. Robert is not at all forward and driven, but a day dreamer, and that was not made very clear, according to me ... He, as well, improved a lot after the break, and I was quite impressed by his "Guldet blev till sand" ("Gold can turn to sand")!! I have heard others sing it better (e.g. Christer Nerfont and Peter Jöback), but it was without a doubt a very good performance - and the audience appreciated the song a lot!!

 Christer Nerfont - Karl Oskar. My favourite performer ... :) He is undoubtedly the one with the most experience of "Kristina från Duvemåla" among the artists in the concert, as he was understudy to Peter Jöback in the original performance, both in Malmö and in Gothenburg - and I felt that did become obvious! I felt he was the one most in character, which is very important to me! I did like that he was his own Karl Oskar, he did not copy Anders Ekborg's interpretation of the part at all, but did his very own - I appreciated that a lot! Christer Nerfont's Karl Oskar was in general an angrier Karl Oskar, I was a bit doubtful in the beginning, but I think it works. Karl Oskar is not indifferent and withdrawn, he questions and he sets demands, and this became very clear in Christer Nerfont's interpretation.
Unfortunately I did not see a real connection beteween Nerfont's Karl Oskar and Sanna Nielsen's Kristina, and that is a very important feature in the books, and in the musical ... Pity we didn't get to see it in the concert, of course it is more different in a concert - but it is still an important part, and I would have liked to see more of it!

Sanna Nielsen played Kristina. I have very mixed feelings about her performance. I have to say I haven't really  had an opinion on Sanna Nielsen earlier, I haven't seen her much - but I have to say she is a very talented singer and performer. However, she is not a musical performer! In my opinion, that is ... (I can compare her to Charlotte Perrelli, whom I saw in Malmöoperans production of "Evita" in 2012 - also a very talented performer, but not a musical performer ...)
Sanna Nielsen gave a wonderful singing performance in the concert, but to me she was nothing like Kristina from Korpamoen!! I saw an interview with Nielsen where she mentioned she hadn't seen the musical but had made some attempts to see parts of it on Youtube - and you could tell she hadn't seen it. Naturally you can't have too high expectations for just one single concert, but I still ask myself how much research had been done before the show - becuase I hardly saw anything of Kristina in Nielsen's interpretation.
The love between Karl Oskar and Kristina could overtake anything ("vi ä di goaste vänner ...") - I didn't see it. Nor did I see Kristina's enormous faith in God. And I do have to comment on Kristinas big solo song, "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"). It was an astounding song, Sanna Nielsen sang it to perfection, from a purely musical (that is, not musical theatre) perspective - which you could also tell from the audience's response - and I was impressed by Nielsen's ability to sing it beautifully - but it was not Kristina! I saw a lot of anger and frustration in Nielsen's interpretation of the song, which to me feels completely off! (sorry...) Kristina is not angry with God, she feels a great insecurity, and a great anxiety, she's on the verge of panic! What IF God does not exist, the faith that is the foundation of her entire life, her entire being - if this foundation is gone, how can she live on?!?!
But - Sanna Nielsen gave it her all and delivered a beautiful song (even though it was character-wise off the mark), and that is something I truly appreciate. She also got an immediate response from both Anders Eljas and Christer Nerfont, something I think she really deserved.

Along with Marianne Mörck there were five children on stage - Moa Eklöf, Alex Boozer, Emma Boozer, Nora Nilsson and Kasper Westerberg - and that was a lovely addage! The biggest part for the children was of course "Präriens Drottning" ("Queen of the Prairie"), a wonderful performance!
One little "mistake", I think, was letting Moa Eklöf sing both Anna's and Lill-Märta's solo-parts ... both children's names are mentioned in connection with what they are singing, and it was a bit strange that the same girl did both parts (especially since Anna dies before they travel to North America!) ... Moa Eklöf did do a wonderful job, but if you want to stay true to the story and the characters, this didn't make much sense.

Smaller parts, such as Nils, Märta, Brusander, Reverand Jackson and others had their places above the orchestra, but separated from the choir. These performers often played more than one part, but mostly it worked out fine ... with one exception.
Andreas Glans played Reverand Jackson, and he was at stage for "Tänk att män som han kan finnas" ("American Man") - but he was also the shoemaker Thomassen in "Vill du inte gifta dig med mig" (english translation?), which was quite confusing! You had to know that it was actually Thomassen's part (in Norweigan!) not to think it was Reverand Jackson singing ...

I also have to give huge credit to the amazing choir - they were absolutely astonishing! I loved the fact that they did get their own little tribute, as they were singing "Down to the sacred wave" a capella! Very nice indeed!!

And then I have to have a discussion on whether or not to actually play a charcter in a concert. And I'm probably going to be quite harsh here ...
If it is a concert like this one, which comes from a musical I think that as far as it is possible you should try to portray your character! I think it is different if you are in concerts like "Best of West End" or Peter Jöback's "I Love Musicals" (I have also seen e.g. "Musical Showstoppers" with various West End performers, and "Musical Highlights" with Christer and Cecilie Nerfont), where you pick certain famous songs from different musicals - but when you make a concert version of a musical I think you should portray a characther. Which was not always the case here ...
According to me Christer Nerfont was the performer that mostly managed to portray his character - but it was not uncommon for the performers to walk up to each other after a song, say a few words - and to me that's not really okay. Granted, after Sanna Nielsen's "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"), it felt okay. Depsite my ramblings on what the song should contain I could see that Nielsen gave everything she had, the audience was very impressed, and I think it is quite all right for Anders Eljas to come down to her and say a few words. But otherwise, and especially between songs that actually belong together in the musical, I don't think you should loose your character.

Even after all my thoughts and feelings this was all in all an AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC concert, which I enjoyed a lot, with a great and positive audience. The peformers were called back on stage and we did get a little extra number, a short version of "Överheten" ("Emperors and Kings")! :)

Cast:

Sanna Nielsen - Kristina

Christer Nerfont - Karl Oskar

Marianne Mörck - Fina-Kasja, berättare (narrator)

Åsa Fång - Ulrika i Västergöhl

Bruno Mitsogiannis - Robert

Kristina från Duvemåla - Concert 2013

Please note that this will be a translation of the review I published in my former Swedish blog.

I saw a concert version of the musical Kristina från Duvemåla (Kristina from Duvemåla) on 7 September 2013 in Kinnarps Arena, Jönköping (Sweden).
First of all I have to add a note, saying that this will be a long entry, with a lot of personal opinions. I have been absolutely in love with this musical since I saw it for the first time in Gothenburg (in 1997?), and I love "The Emigrants" books by Vilhelm Moberg very much indeed! Part of my heritage comes from these parts of Småland in Sweden, which makes the musical and the story very dear to me (my mother's grandfather went to the same school as Vilhelm Moberg!) - and naturally I have high standards and high expectations ... maybe too high? Naw, I don't think so! :)
Anyway - this review will contain a lot of personal thoughts and feelings, just so you know!

This was a concert, it was not a regular musical, meaning it has been shortened. I have to say I was less bothered by that than I had expected, which felt good. The only thing I did react to was the shortening of "Duvemåla Hage" ("Path of Leaves and Needles"), and they had also removed "Kamfer och Lavender" (english translation?) - I enjoy both these songs a lot, and of course I would have loved to hear them in their entirety.
The performers were not wearing any costumes and they had no props - the orchestra was sitting at the stage, although the performers were able to move around and interact with each other.

There was an amazing choir, about 650 members of Sveriges Körförbund, which created a wonderful atmosphere in the huge arena - surely not only for the audience but for the performers as well!
The orchestra was conducted by Anders Eljas, which came as a very pleasant surprise! I have seen him before and I like him a lot, but I had no idea he was involved in this project.

Marianne Mörck was Fina-Kajsa in the original prodcution, a part she played in this concert as well. It was great seing her again, and she was also the narrator during the concert. This  was a great set-up, she came in and read certain texts between the songs to hold the story together, and sometimes to move the story forward. For the very most part it was direct quotations from Vilhelm Moberg's books (yup, I know the books so well I can tell when it is a direct quotation and when it is newly written text!), which of course was something I appreciated a lot! Right from the start, when "Kristina från Duvemåla" was first staged, it was very important to stay close to Vilhelm Moberg and the original texts and stories, and it was fantastic to see them adhere to the same concept for just this one concert!

Åsa Fång played Ulrika. She was not one of my very favorites, but she did a good job. I think she overdid it a bit in the song "Aldrig" ("Never"), and you couldn't quite make out what the song was about, but she improved a lot during the second half of the concert. She did have a rather small part, and not that much to act out.

Bruno Mitsogiannis played Robert. He was quite sharp in the beginning, I don't know if it was a technical setting or not, but it was too sharp, and quite weird. Robert is not at all forward and driven, but a day dreamer, and that was not made very clear, according to me ... He, as well, improved a lot after the break, and I was quite impressed by his "Guldet blev till sand" ("Gold can turn to sand")!! I have heard others sing it better (e.g. Christer Nerfont and Peter Jöback), but it was without a doubt a very good performance - and the audience appreciated the song a lot!!

 Christer Nerfont - Karl Oskar. My favourite performer ... :) He is undoubtedly the one with the most experience of "Kristina från Duvemåla" among the artists in the concert, as he was understudy to Peter Jöback in the original performance, both in Malmö and in Gothenburg - and I felt that did become obvious! I felt he was the one most in character, which is very important to me! I did like that he was his own Karl Oskar, he did not copy Anders Ekborg's interpretation of the part at all, but did his very own - I appreciated that a lot! Christer Nerfont's Karl Oskar was in general an angrier Karl Oskar, I was a bit doubtful in the beginning, but I think it works. Karl Oskar is not indifferent and withdrawn, he questions and he sets demands, and this became very clear in Christer Nerfont's interpretation.
Unfortunately I did not see a real connection beteween Nerfont's Karl Oskar and Sanna Nielsen's Kristina, and that is a very important feature in the books, and in the musical ... Pity we didn't get to see it in the concert, of course it is more different in a concert - but it is still an important part, and I would have liked to see more of it!

Sanna Nielsen played Kristina. I have very mixed feelings about her performance. I have to say I haven't really  had an opinion on Sanna Nielsen earlier, I haven't seen her much - but I have to say she is a very talented singer and performer. However, she is not a musical performer! In my opinion, that is ... (I can compare her to Charlotte Perrelli, whom I saw in Malmöoperans production of "Evita" in 2012 - also a very talented performer, but not a musical performer ...)
Sanna Nielsen gave a wonderful singing performance in the concert, but to me she was nothing like Kristina from Korpamoen!! I saw an interview with Nielsen where she mentioned she hadn't seen the musical but had made some attempts to see parts of it on Youtube - and you could tell she hadn't seen it. Naturally you can't have too high expectations for just one single concert, but I still ask myself how much research had been done before the show - becuase I hardly saw anything of Kristina in Nielsen's interpretation.
The love between Karl Oskar and Kristina could overtake anything ("vi ä di goaste vänner ...") - I didn't see it. Nor did I see Kristina's enormous faith in God. And I do have to comment on Kristinas big solo song, "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"). It was an astounding song, Sanna Nielsen sang it to perfection, from a purely musical (that is, not musical theatre) perspective - which you could also tell from the audience's response - and I was impressed by Nielsen's ability to sing it beautifully - but it was not Kristina! I saw a lot of anger and frustration in Nielsen's interpretation of the song, which to me feels completely off! (sorry...) Kristina is not angry with God, she feels a great insecurity, and a great anxiety, she's on the verge of panic! What IF God does not exist, the faith that is the foundation of her entire life, her entire being - if this foundation is gone, how can she live on?!?!
But - Sanna Nielsen gave it her all and delivered a beautiful song (even though it was character-wise off the mark), and that is something I truly appreciate. She also got an immediate response from both Anders Eljas and Christer Nerfont, something I think she really deserved.

Along with Marianne Mörck there were five children on stage - Moa Eklöf, Alex Boozer, Emma Boozer, Nora Nilsson and Kasper Westerberg - and that was a lovely addage! The biggest part for the children was of course "Präriens Drottning" ("Queen of the Prairie"), a wonderful performance!
One little "mistake", I think, was letting Moa Eklöf sing both Anna's and Lill-Märta's solo-parts ... both children's names are mentioned in connection with what they are singing, and it was a bit strange that the same girl did both parts (especially since Anna dies before they travel to North America!) ... Moa Eklöf did do a wonderful job, but if you want to stay true to the story and the characters, this didn't make much sense.

Smaller parts, such as Nils, Märta, Brusander, Reverand Jackson and others had their places above the orchestra, but separated from the choir. These performers often played more than one part, but mostly it worked out fine ... with one exception.
Andreas Glans played Reverand Jackson, and he was at stage for "Tänk att män som han kan finnas" ("American Man") - but he was also the shoemaker Thomassen in "Vill du inte gifta dig med mig" (english translation?), which was quite confusing! You had to know that it was actually Thomassen's part (in Norweigan!) not to think it was Reverand Jackson singing ...

I also have to give huge credit to the amazing choir - they were absolutely astonishing! I loved the fact that they did get their own little tribute, as they were singing "Down to the sacred wave" a capella! Very nice indeed!!

And then I have to have a discussion on whether or not to actually play a charcter in a concert. And I'm probably going to be quite harsh here ...
If it is a concert like this one, which comes from a musical I think that as far as it is possible you should try to portray your character! I think it is different if you are in concerts like "Best of West End" or Peter Jöback's "I Love Musicals" (I have also seen e.g. "Musical Showstoppers" with various West End performers, and "Musical Highlights" with Christer and Cecilie Nerfont), where you pick certain famous songs from different musicals - but when you make a concert version of a musical I think you should portray a characther. Which was not always the case here ...
According to me Christer Nerfont was the performer that mostly managed to portray his character - but it was not uncommon for the performers to walk up to each other after a song, say a few words - and to me that's not really okay. Granted, after Sanna Nielsen's "Du måste finnas" ("You have to be there"), it felt okay. Depsite my ramblings on what the song should contain I could see that Nielsen gave everything she had, the audience was very impressed, and I think it is quite all right for Anders Eljas to come down to her and say a few words. But otherwise, and especially between songs that actually belong together in the musical, I don't think you should loose your character.

Even after all my thoughts and feelings this was all in all an AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC concert, which I enjoyed a lot, with a great and positive audience. The peformers were called back on stage and we did get a little extra number, a short version of "Överheten" ("Emperors and Kings")! :)

Cast:

Sanna Nielsen - Kristina

Christer Nerfont - Karl Oskar

Marianne Mörck - Fina-Kasja, berättare (narrator)

Åsa Fång - Ulrika i Västergöhl

Bruno Mitsogiannis - Robert