Opera choir

& singalong

Join in a celebratory evening for opera lovers in Grieghallen. If you have an opera singer in you, this is the night to sing along to a string of opera gems. Take part in a giant choir made up of the audience and everyone on stage. 

Before the interval, enjoy music by Verdi, Puccini and Wagner, performed by orchestra, soloists and the combined opera choirs of Oslo and Bergen. Opera director at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo, Randi Stene hosts the evening, and the Director of the Bergen National Opera, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, conducts. 

Let the magnificent voices of the opera choirs inspire you in the first half. Then, after the interval, it’s time for the singalong opera, where every voice counts. Together, audience, orchestra and choruses will perform operatic works including Carmen, the shower singer’s favourite 'O Sole Mio, and Somewhere from the musical West Side Story. 

Bring your inner Luciano Pavarotti or Lise Davidsen, and gather your friends, colleagues or family for a Festival evening celebrating beloved melodies from the world of opera and musical theatre. 

Photo: Erik Berg

Contributors

• The Opera Orchestra

• Eivind Gullberg Jensen conductor, host

• Randi Stene host

• Soloists from The Norwegian Opera & Ballet

• The Opera Choir

• Bergen Philharmonic Choir

Music

• Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
  Overture to La forza del destino (The Force of Destiny)
  "Anvil chorus" from act 2 of Il trovatore (The Troubadour)
  "Triumphal chorus" from act 2 of Aida (Aïda)

• Giacomo Pucchini (1858–1924)
  "Vissi d’arte" from act 2 of Tosca, sung by Marita Sølberg as Tosca
  "E lucevan le stelle" from act 3 of Tosca, sung by Magnus Staveland as Cavaradossi
  "Te deum" from act 1 of Tosca, sung by Yngve Søberg as Scarpia

• Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
  "Prelude to act 3 and bridal chorus" from Lohengrin
  "Pilgrims' chorus" from act 3 of Tannhäuser
  "Sailors' chorus" from act 3 of Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman)

• Interval

• Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
  Overture to Carmen
  "Habanera" from act 1 of Carmen, sung by Astrid Nordstad as Carmen
  "Toreador" from act 2 of Carmen, soloist Yngve Søberg as Escamillo

• Alexandr Borodin (1833–1887)
  Excerpts from "Polovtsian dances" from act 2 of Prince Igor

• Franz Lehár (1870–1948)
  "Vilja-Lied" from act 2 of Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), soloist Marita Sølberg as Hanna

• Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
  "Somewhere" from act 2 of West Side Story, soloist Astrid Nordstad

• Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917)
  "’O sole mio", soloist Magnus Staveland

• Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
  "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves / Va, pensiero" from act 3 of Nabucco

A collaboration between

Bergen International Festival, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet and Bergen National Opera