A summer concert at Societetshuset on Marstrand

Some rooms do something to a voice. Societetshuset on Marstrand is one of them. Wood, high ceilings, a balcony leaning in over the stage — and an audience close enough that you hear them breathe between phrases. On 22 July I got to sing there, together with Marstrandsoperans Vänner, the Friends of Marstrand Opera, and four colleagues I was very glad to share a stage with.

I have been to Marstrand before. A few years ago we gave two outdoor concerts on the island, and I remember them as unusually happy evenings — the sea, the wind, an audience in summer clothes. When the invitation came to return, this time indoors and in chamber format, I said yes almost before I had time to think.

Opera and musical theatre in one evening

The evening's musical director was Anders Ottosson, who retired in 2025 after thirty-six years as a pianist, kapellmeister and conductor at the Gothenburg Opera, and now works freelance. He had a clear idea of what the concert should be: opera and musical theatre in the same programme, in two acts, without becoming heavy.

That is harder than it sounds. The two genres ask different things of the voice — and moving between them across a single evening forces you to listen closely to what each number is actually asking for. I like that challenge. It reminds me that technique is not a goal, but a way of reaching the expression.

On stage with me: Karin Funk, Tomas Lind, Christopher Wollter and Marco Stella — the last of whom also founded Marstrandsoperans Vänner. Three musical theatre performers, an opera tenor, an opera baritone and an opera soprano, with musicians in a small ensemble.

From my programme

From the opera repertoire I sang Puccini: the duet between Tosca and Cavaradossi, and Tosca's prayer Vissi d'arte. Then Verdi's Aida, the duet between Aida and Amonasro. Adriana's entrance aria from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. And the quartet from Verdi's Rigoletto, where I sang Gilda.

The rehearsals

We rehearsed on the Monday and Tuesday at Valand in Gothenburg, and on the Wednesday we had the soundcheck at Societetshuset. Then we were given lunch, and at six in the evening it was time for the concert. Anders Ottosson and the musicians were there on every occasion.

Marco and Tomas I have worked with before. Karin Funk and Christopher Wollter I met and worked with for the first time, and it was enormous fun to get to know them and to see their great professionalism at close range. We had such a good time in the rehearsals, and to give the concert together with all of these colleagues was wonderful.

Karin also sang opera alongside us opera singers — she sang and acted Maddalena in the Rigoletto quartet. She studied classical singing at Musikhögskolan i Göteborg, the music academy in Gothenburg, and manages the feat of singing classical, musical theatre and more popular music alike. That is inspiring, and something I want to explore further myself.

On the chamber format

What made the evening particular was the closeness. In an opera house you sing out into darkness; here I saw faces. It changes how you phrase, how much you need to give, where you can trust a nuance to carry. You can sing more quietly. You dare more.

Several times during the evening I thought that this is the kind of music-making I am drawn to now. After years on large stages in Bonn, at the Royal Swedish Opera, the Gothenburg Opera and Folkoperan, it is not the volume I miss — it is the conversation with the audience.

Thank you

Thank you to Marstrandsoperans Vänner for the invitation and the warm welcome, to Anders Ottosson for the musical direction, to my fellow soloists, and to the musicians. And above all, thank you to the audience in Societetshuset, who listened in a way you notice from the stage.

The association has stated plans to grow — the hope is a full opera production on Marstrand in the future. I would very much like to be part of that. You can read more about their work at movanner.se, about this summer's concert on this page, and about me on their site.

Photographs: Ludwig Hedeborg and Samuel Gustafsson.