Website: http://www.oik.no

Date: February 2 to 18, 2012
Country: Norway

Translated as the opera weeks, Operafestukene is a 17-day opera gala hosted along the western coast of Norway during the month of February. The festival takes place in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county in the small town of Kristiansund which is the administrative center of the municipality. Known as a recognized opera city, Kristiansund congregates Norway’s oldest opera festival, which was established in 1928 by Edvard Bræin, a Norwegian choir and orchestra composer and conductor. Each year several of Norway’s most dedicated musicians come together with local talented artists resulting in full-scale opera, operettas and musicals. Not only does this city offer free performances in cafes, restaurants and shopping malls in addition to the concert events but also a candid picture of exceptional coastal architecture that survived bombings from World War II.

In 2012, guests are invited to not only enjoy concerts with local mezzo and tenors but also experience the music of Nils Olaf Dolven in the premiere of The Alchemist, an opera in two acts based on the famous book by Paulo Coelho about a man who is not ready to settle down just yet. Another spotlighted opera to be performed in the 2012 edition of the Kristiansund Opera Festival is Charles Gounod’s Faust, a German legend about a dissatisfied successful scholar who makes a deal with the devil.