''The Red Line'' (''Punainen viiva'') is an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
in two acts with music by
Aulis Sallinen
Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...
to a libretto by the composer, which premiered on 30 November 1978 at the
Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...
.
[Arni E. The Red Line. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.][Opera News DVD review; accessed 29 March 2011](_blank)
/ref>
Based on the 1909 novel ''Punainen viiva'' by Ilmari Kianto
Ilmari Kianto (7 May 1874 – 27 April 1970), also known as Ilmari Calamnius and Ilmari Iki-Kianto, was a Finnish author. He was born in Pulkkila, Northern Ostrobothnia, and is best known for his books ''Punainen viiva'' ("The Red Line", publishe ...
(1874–1970), the opera – like the novel – is set in 1907, a watershed year in Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
history during which its first elections were held, leading eventually to Finnish independence in 1917.
Performance history
Outside Finland, the opera was performed at several European opera houses, including Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...
, London in June 1979, Göteborg and Stockholm in 1980, Zürich in 1981, Moscow, Leningrad and Tallinn in 1982, and in Osnabrück
Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
and Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
in May 1985, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
of New York in 1983.[ Bush A. Sallinen's Red Line. ''Performance'', Spring 1981, 29–30.] It has been revived several times in Helsinki and was recorded in November 1979 by Finlandia. A DVD of Finnish National Opera's 2007 stage production conducted by Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist.
Biography
Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...
has been issued by Ondine.
Roles
Synopsis
''North Finnish province of Kainuu; the croft of Topi and his family''
Act 1
:Scene 1
It is late autumn; a bear, symbol of the threat of brutal nature, is heard nearby; it has carried off one of their sheep. As Topi promises to slay the bear, he argues with his wife, both feel trapped by their poor life and realise that they have barely any food remaining for the family. Topi believes that things will change for the better.
:Scene 2
Topi dreams that he has gone to the village to ask for help for children, but, admonished by the vicar for not attending church, aid arrives too late and his children are dead. Topi awakes, terrified by his dream, but takes some birds to exchange for grain and sets off to the village. Riika regrets having called Topi names.
:Scene 3
A pedlar enters, Simana Arhippaini from Karelia, tells the children riddles and sings a ballad, but cannot answer their serious questions. Topi returns and gets Kunilla to read to him from a socialist newspaper, and talks about ‘an election’, a possible way of release from their toil and poverty without understanding the importance of it.
New Year
:Scene 4
An agitator addresses an open-air meeting. Despite interruptions from a young priest, he proclaims social democracy and tells of freedom, equality and fraternity. The people are slowly aware of the meaning of the vote.
Act 2
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
:Scene 5
Neighbours join Topi and Riika to celebrate Twelfth Night. Riika reads from a socialist tract; all will be voting in the election but Topi, having only ever held axes and spades in his hands, wonders how he will make his mark — a red line — on the ballot paper. As they are discussing the future, dogs start barking, aware that the bear is turning in his sleep, but the people can't sense this.
Fifteenth of March
:Scene 6
Outside the polling-booth a confrontation takes place between the young priest and his choir, and the socialist organiser and his group. The voters are checked as they enter to vote. Topi and Riika go in.
Later in the spring
:Scene 7
Topi is at the logging camp; Riika anxiously clears fresh tracks in the snow for him every day, hoping for his return. She desperately longs for word that the election has changed their lives; but no one comes.
The children have all fallen ill from malnutrition. Kaisi tells Riika it is a punishment; when Topi returns they have all died. The vicar agrees to bury them for a reduced price, as they can all fit in a single coffin.
:Epilogue
The message comes that the election has been won by the ordinary people. There is the promise of better clothes, food and health, but it is too late for Topi and Riika. Then dogs bark, warning of the bear, which has awakened. Topi goes to fight it, but he is killed and Riika finds him dead, and cries out in horror over his corpse, with blood pouring out of his throat, in a red line.
The music
Grove notes the careful structuring of mood via the music with lyricism in the opening scenes, pastiche folk music where needed and a choral confrontation between the old (folk melody) and the new (revolutionary fervour).
Bush describes the music as "expertly composed and elegantly orchestrated", and commends scenes 4 and 6, and the orchestral interludes. Another writer commented that in this "grim opera" the very intense dramatic effect of the music may be due to its generally low-key approach.[Amaral C. The Red Line on records. ''Performance'', Spring 1981, 30.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Line, The
Operas by Aulis Sallinen
Finnish-language operas
Operas
1978 operas
Fiction set in 1907
Operas set in Finland
Operas based on novels