"Tutte le feste al tempio", Rigoletto, Verdi

HAUGTUSSA - ESMERALDA From Kunsthuset Kabuso in Öystese, Norway Supported by the Norwegian Art Council Laila Thortveit - Soprano Mariam Kharatyan - Piano From Arne Garborgs lyrics of romance to the strong expression of «Notre Dame de Paris» of Victor Hugo, the contrasts are many! Yet there are huge similarities aswell! Love is a universal theme. The natural beauty of Veslemøy in Haugtussa and the sensuality of Victor Hugo’s Esmeralda, lifts the love to the height of all heights in the situations it comes from. The intense music of Edvard Grieg, the musical father of national romance, blends perfectly with his contemporaries. Verdi, Fauré, Donizetti and Louise Bertin. All of them have written music to the stories and poems of Victor Hugo. The story is a universal journey of night and day. A musical postcard that pays tribute to love.