Peer Gynt

Peer Gynt takes stock at the end of his days. What has he done with his life? He has always been economical with the truth, and still now he lies to himself. What adventures he’s had! He’s been to far off lands, the realm of the trolls even, allegedly. But the secretive Button Moulder, who demands accountability of him, knows no forgiveness. If Peer doesn’t manage to put his very own stamp on his existence, the Button Moulder will melt him and his soul and make a new button out of them. Despairingly Peer must admit to himself that he is not even a real villain, never mind a hero. Indeed, he's nothing at all, or perhaps he’s average at best. Only Solveig, the woman who has loved him since his youth, thinks otherwise. For her, Peer is unique. Can Solveig’s love save Peer?

“Peer Gynt”, Henrik Ibsen’s dramatic poem, was originally not intended for the stage. This is why the poet was able to give free rein to his imagination and the countless changes of location connected with it. The stage play premiered in Oslo in 1876, with the famous stage music by Edvard Grieg. In Karl Alfred Schreiner’s interpretation, Grieg’s music also creates the sound atmosphere that whisks us away on the trail of Peer Gynt, into Nordic sagas and far off landscapes. With their contrasting moods, a selection of well-known and lesser known pieces by the Norwegian composer characterise the individual scenes. Naturally enough, parts from the incidental music form the basis here, but excerpts from the “From Holberg's Time” suite, the “Norwegian Dances” or the “Heart Wounds” lyrical piece also build the background against which Peer Gynt’s individual life episodes unfurl. The heart of it all is in the middle of the performance, marked by the death of Peer’s mother, Åse, the brief orchestral piece, Oceans, by the Icelandic composer, Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, which evokes the endlessness of the ocean in its sonic expanse.

PEER GYNT programme reading sample