Composer Tage Nielsen
Instrumentation S, mS, T, 2 Bar soli + 1.0.1.1/1.1.1.0/perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Category Music Drama and Stage Music
Publication year 1993
Catalogue no. B.0211
Latter i Mørket (Laughter in the Dark)
(1992)
(1992)
Composer Tage Nielsen
Instrumentation S, mS, T, 2 Bar soli + 1.0.1.1/1.1.1.0/perc/pno/1.1.1.1.1
Category Music Drama and Stage Music
Publication year 1993
Catalogue no. B.0211
”Laughter in the Dark” is a chamber opera with a cast of five (soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor, baritone, bass baritone) and a mute child part. The orchestra consists of 13 players (three woodwinds, three brass winds, percussion, piano and a string quintet). The libretto by Marianne Rosen is based on Vladimir Nabokov’s novel of the same name. The opera plays for appr. 90 minutes.
The scene is set in Berlin about 1930. This is easy to hear in the music, which may primarily lean towards expressionism and neo-Romanticism but also contains a touch of corny jazz, pop and clean dance music in the manner of the 20s. As a whole the work is characterized by a very sophisticated use of quotes and quasi-quotes in order to create a sense of irony and distance.
In the musical dramatization. Nabokov begins his novel with the following words: ”Once in Berlin, Germany, there lived a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable and happy; one day he left his wife in favour of a young mistress; he loved but was not loved himself, and his whole life ended in disaster, - This is the whole story, and that might have been all, had it not been for the use and pleasure in telling it,...” There can be no doubt that the author enjoyed writing this infamous and deeply fascinating story filled with erotic obsession, jealousy, deceit, misfortune, death etc. In short: we are dealing with a dense psychological drama, which seemed perfectly suited for an opera with a veristic stamp.
The opera was composed between 1986 and 91 and was first performed by the Danish National Opera (Den Jyske Opera) in Aarhus in May 1995. After that it was performed at the theatre in The Old Town in Aarhus before it was transferred to the Court Theatre in Copenhagen. In 1996 and 97 the German version of the work was performed by the Berliner Kammeroper in Berlin, Innsbruck and Copenhagen.
All categories Solo 2-6 Instruments 7+ Instruments Choir Orchestra
To nocturner
1961 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Il Giardino Magico
1968 • Tage Nielsen
Orchestra
Paesaggi
1985 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
A Sentimental Journey
2002 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Retrospekt
2001 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
In tribulatione mea
1985 • Tage Nielsen
Choir
Nocturne
1996 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Songs of Sun, Wind, and Darkness
1999 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Tre danske korsange
1998 • Tage Nielsen
Choir
6 Epigrammer
1998 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Trio Semplice
1997 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Konzertstück
1998 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
Canzone per oboe solo
1997 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Fantasistykke
1997 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Improvisation og Fuga
1983 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Ballade
1984 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Passacaglia
1982 • Tage Nielsen
Orchestra
Lamento og Koralfantasi
1995 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Diptykon
1996 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Drei Lieder
1995 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
Uccelli
1992 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
4 Miniaturer
1963 • Tage Nielsen
Orchestra
Pastorale
1990 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Toccata
1951 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
A Winter’s Tale
1994 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Opstilling og landskab
1981 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
5 poems by William Blake
1979 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
Sonate for piano, op. 3
• Tage Nielsen
Solo
Salon
1984 • Tage Nielsen
2-6 Instruments
Attisk Sommer
1974 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
Varianter
1963 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Ritual
1989 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
Five Romantic Songs
1994 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
5 Operafragmenter
1986 • Tage Nielsen
7+ Instruments
The Frosty Silence in the Gardens
1990 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Tre karakterstykker og en epilog
1974 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Marker og Enge
1971 • Tage Nielsen
Solo
Three Black Madrigals
1978 • Tage Nielsen
Choir