querini opera VENEZIA

Back from Venice and 4 weeks with Querini Opera! It's been a wonderful journey with lots of nice people from Røst and the rest of the gang that I got to know through the opera way back in 2012. The costumes have been noticed, and have been highlighted in several reviews.
In 1431, the Venetian merchant and nobleman Pietro Querini embarked from Crete with course for Flanders in Belgium. The ship was fully loaded with wine, spices and cypress wood.His journey would last from April 1431 until late autumn 1432, when 11 survivors from an original crew of 68 men returned to Venice after what must have been the journey of their lives. The passage was affected by terrible misfortunes and accidents. When they finally approached the English Channel, they were lead out into the Atlantic Ocean west of Ireland by heavy storms. They lost the ship’s rudder, and the sails were shattered by the strong winds. Right before Christmas the crew had to abandon the ship and embark the lifeboats. The two lifeboats soon lost sight of each other, but the largest one, with 47 men on board remained afloat. Because of the bad weather, they had to throw much of their provisions over board, and most of the ship crew died of hunger, thirst, exhaustion and cold.The surviving men were eventually desperate with thirst, and they drank both sea water and their own urine.The 5th January 1432, after twenty days in the lifeboat, they finally landed on a desolate island on Røst. 16 men had survived so far, and their joy was immense. They could see smoke from an island in the distance, but their lifeboat had developed a leak, so they could not reach them.They were stranded on the island for 29 days, until they were saved by local fishermen.The Italians stayed on Røst from 3rd of February until 14th of May 1432. In this period they lived together with the inhabitants of Røst, and the two written stories from this stay, Querini’s own and the crew’s, give an unique insight into daily life in a fishing community in Northern Norway in the 15th Century.
See also Querini website

querini opera venezia

October 2023

Music: Henning Sommerro / Libretto: Ragnar Olsen / Director: Lars Jacobsen / Light and stage/ Reidar Richardsen/ Carpenter: Halvor Sandbak / Soloist costumes: Tone Myskja / Soloistcostume collaborator: Ingvill Fjeldstad / Randi Liliequist / Choir costumes: Tone Myskja/The Røst costumegroup under direction of Frøydis Sæther and Birgitte Amundsen

On stage:
Pietro Querini: Magne Fremmerlid / Mrs Querini, his wife: Anna Einarsson / Skarven: Sissel Vera Pettersen / Bernardo da Caglieri: Eivind Kandal / Maria, his wife: Désirée Baraula / Nicolo : Henrik Holm / Christoforo Fioravante: Magnus Berg / Inga, young girl from Røst: Mina Nystuen / Direction: Per Kristian Skalstad / Orchestra: NOSO v/Bodø Sinfonietta / Repetition/working with the choir kor: Mikael Rønnberg / Røst Operakor / Røst barnekor and director Siriann Petronella Berdal / Statister

Producer: Kjetil Falkum / Voluntary coordination: Monica stendahl Rokne / Backstage Team: Kine Ekrem / Producer responsible: Røst Kommune
All photos / Annar Bjørgli