Scandinavian Culture Calendar: February 2022
TEXT: HANNA HEISKANEN
Red Pear. Photo: Hurjaruuth
Billy Budd (from 28 January)
Billy Budd, the British composer Benjamin Britten’s 1951 opera, is now tackled for the first time by the Finnish National Opera in a production directed by the Belfast-born Annilese Miskimmon. This dramatic version is set on a submarine during the Vichy regime in 1940s France and stars Ville Rusanen in the title role. Helsinginkatu 58, Helsinki, Finland
Red Pearl Clown Festival (16-19 February)
The Red Pearl Clown Festival was first organised in 2012 and celebrates the contribution and talent of female clowns in a traditionally male profession. Past festivals have featured an interactive performance in the spirit of film noir, Canada’s most famous clown sisters, and a surgery by clown doctors. Tallberginkatu 1, Helsinki
www.hurjaruuth.fi/en/punainen-helmi
Die Walküre (24 and 26 February)
The Wagnerian epic Die Walküre will receive its Icelandic premiere this February at the Harpa Hall. The production will be directed by Julia Burbach and co-directed by the BAFTA award-winning Tal Rosner, who has also been in charge of the video production. The famous Wagnerian soprano Iréne Theorin reprises her role as Brünnhilde, and Icelandic baritone Ólafur Kjartan Sigurðarson makes his debut as Wotan. Austurbakka 2, Reykjavik
HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival (28 February to 6 March)
HUMAN International Documentary Film Festival is Oslo’s largest film festival and has a strong focus on human rights and other societal issues. The festival hosts a competition series which, in 2022, includes a documentary about running a TV channel in Putin’s Russia, another about actors fighting for democracy in Belarus, and a film on the masked democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Culinary City Walk in Oslo (5 March)
If you are new to Oslo, or you want to experience the city in a novel way, what could be better than eating your way through the city? The Culinary City Walk does precisely what it says on the tin and allows you to explore a variety of neighbourhoods, from multicultural Grønland to hipstery Grünerløkka, through food. The tour is led by authorised Oslo guides.
Munch and the Rasmus Meyer Collection (permanent exhibition)
KODE 3, a part of a network of local art museums and composer homes in Bergen, Norway, hosts the world’s third-largest collection of works by Edvard Munch. 19th-century collector of the golden age of Norwegian art, Rasmus Meyer, is behind the core of the collection, which includes the works Jealousy, Melancholy, The Woman in Three Stages, and Evening on Karl Johan. Rasmus Meyers allé 7, Bergen
Wine tasting Gamla Stan (throughout February and March)
If you are in the mood for a little cheese and wine in an atmospheric setting with a group of friends, join this tasting session in Stockholm’s old town. The two-hour session features eight wines accompanied by a variety of cheeses. Österlånggatan 28, Stockholm
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