Artistic director Randi Stene about The Cunning Little Vixen

It is not often that we can welcome you to a modern classic that we have never performed before! Leoš Janáček wrote his enchanting opera about the cunning little vixen over a hundred years ago, but this is the first time in the history of the Norwegian Opera that we are performing it. It is both challenging and rewarding for us who perform it, and a unique opportunity for us in the audience to get to know something new. 

Janáček composed this work at a time when harsh modernism and atonality dominated the classical music scene. Nevertheless, The Cunning Little Vixen is both tonal and accessible – with grand, romantic waves and an immediate dramatic force. We are taken into a musical universe that sparkles, bringing to life a drama where the animals allow us to see our own humanity. Janáček playfully explores the profound seriousness of what it means to be human – just as director Stefan Herheim is known for doing in his opera productions. 

Stefan Herheim is currently the opera director at Theater an der Wien, where this production had its first premiere in 2022. We are delighted to have him back in the house with a performance that perfectly matches his playful seriousness. Herheim creates a wild and creative universe, where layers of action and parallel stories both engage our minds and challenge us – while also entertaining us. The Cunning Little Vixen started as a comic strip and contains several comments on the creation of both comics and opera. This meta-level is continued and expanded in this production, which takes us into the opera house's workshops, where the performances are created. It becomes an opera about creating opera: a performance about giving new life to something that lies dead, before we together bring it to life. 

For this creative process, I could not have wished for a better team than Stefan together with our music director Edward Gardner. He leads the choir, soloists, and orchestra, and has a unique ability to bring out all the colors of the music – colors that bring the characters on stage to life. 

For the soloists, these are demanding parts, and I am glad that we can use so many of our own singers in the ensemble for this, along with guest soloists. One of them is the Norwegian soprano Victoria Randem in the title role. She started her career in the Opera's children's choir and now works at several major international opera houses. When she returns to us, we see a circle being completed. 

Seeing circles being completed is an important theme in this work, which among other things is about being part of a larger life cycle. But even more important than completing the circle is to continue drawing, creating, and producing. We will bring in new life, new perspectives, and new works that both challenge and enrich us. The Cunning Little Vixen does just that. 

Welcome! 

Randi Stene, Opera Director