I am Ulla Winblad
An opera cabaret about the woman whom Bellman praised and defiled
We're going to the Opera again for 10 years. A long tradition continues. This time it's a fantastic production about Ulla Winblad, Bellman's friend.
I operakabarén Jag är Ulla Winblad får 1700-talets mest mytomspunna och omsjungna Stockholmskvinna spela huvudrollen i sin egen berättelse. Bakom Folkoperans jubileumsföreställning står supertrion Klas Östergren som skrivit librettot, kompositören Andrea Tarrodi och regissören Nora Nilsson. På scen möts skådespelarna Björn Kjellman och Hanna Dorsin och Folkoperans solister och orkester.
Nis an aged Bellman (Björn Kjellman) seeking out ”Ulla” (Hanna Dorsin) to say goodbye and perhaps reconcile, we are thrown back to the days of youth and the brutal 18th century Stockholm. Among bustling taverns and stinking alleys, the young beauty Maria Kristina Kjellström ”Maja-Stina” (Tessan-Maria Lehmussaari) and the young star Carl Michael Bellman (Wiktor Sundqvist) meet.
Under the alter ego "Ulla Winblad", Maja-Stina became a central figure in Stockholm's entertainment scene - she was celebrated both as a goddess and a royal whore as Bellman's popular ballads spread across the country. Nasty rumors haunted her throughout her life, and like the modern-day Marilyn Monroe, she gradually lost control of her identity.
Behind the myth was a real woman from simple circumstances, who defied the conventions of her time. She moved between the city's poor neighborhoods and royal balls and was caught on the street wearing a red silk gown of French cut - something that was not befitting a poor girl. The story of Ulla Winblad contains questions about power, class, female identity and who owns the story of a life - as burning in 18th century Stockholm as in today's influencer culture.
Tredje gången gillt i Folkoperans 50-åriga historia, efter succéerna Marie Antoinette (1998) och Zarah (2007), låter vi återigen ett historiskt kvinnoporträtt ta plats på scen genom nyskriven opera.
The libretto is written by Klas Ostergren, författare till moderna klassiker som Gentlemen, Renegater och nu senast Klenoden. Med Jag är Ulla Winblad lyfter han fram kvinnan bakom myten i Bellmans epistlar – och återvänder till kvarteren runt Hornsgatan där verklighetens Maja-Stina och Bellman levde, arbetade och dog.
Composer is Andrea Tarrodi who has been recognized and praised for her music that moves seamlessly between the grandly poetic and the darkly expressive – and which has been played by orchestras around the world. At the Folkoperan she brings together the beauty of opera, the blackness of cabaret and Bellman's immortal ballads and epistles.
Fwhere is the government standing? Nora Nilsson, som hyllats för sin operadebut med Askungen på Folkoperan 2023. I hennes iscensättning möts mytens Ulla Winblad och den verkliga Maja-Stina i en våldsam, hjärtskärande och humoristisk berättelse. I skärningspunkten mellan fiktion och verklighet växer 1700-talets groteska, överdådiga och samtidigt barskrapade siluetter fram genom Julia Przedmojskas scenography, Lena Lindgren costumes and Theresia Frisks mask and wig work.
Register yourself and a possible friend using the form below.
We buy tickets and, as usual, we sit in row 2.
For those who want, we will have a bite to eat at the Tapas Restaurant Madrid, right next to the Folkoperan. If you want to join us, select it on the form.
Tickets cost 435 SEK per person.
They have changed the arrangement so I have already paid, I would be grateful if you swish for your ticket(s). 070 789 10 81 Gerry Askefalk
Go to the full page to view and submit the form.
