The Seventh Seal – Opera

The International Brazilian Opera Company returns to Scandinavia House this fall to present a concert recital of Act One from The Seventh Seal – Opera, a new work by composer João MacDowell with text from Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name.

“I relied primarily on the 1957 version of the film. I also used the audio of the film to guide me in writing the music, following the intonation from the actors,” MacDowell says.

MacDowell is a two-time recipient of an artist residency at The Bergman Estate on Fårö, where The Seventh Seal-Opera was created. The Seventh Seal, considered a classic of world cinema, follows the story of a disillusioned crusader’s return to his plague-ravaged homeland and subsequent chess match with Death. In MacDowell’s opera the role of Death has been given to a dramatic soprano, Olga Bakali, while tenor Nelson Ebo will play the knight.

Act One will be sung in Swedish with projected English subtitles.

Admission $30.

From Scandinavia House.