Opera | World Premiere

Short Stories V

New operas in mini format

David Saulesco, Ylva Fred & Stefan Klaverdal

Person with black goggles and composite face against a tricolor background of yellow, light blue and purple.
  • DATES:
    May 29 - June 10
  • LANGUAGE:
    Swedish, Swedish surtitles
  • STAGE:
    Rotundan
  • RUNNING TIME:
    approx. 1 hr 30 mins

With Short Stories, the Royal Swedish Opera introduces new, 20-minute works sung in Swedish in an intimate setting.

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Opera is more than classics and big productions. With Short Stories, the Royal Swedish Opera introduces new, 20-minute works sung in Swedish in an intimate setting. This time in the form of three stories about love and drama: Stefan Klaverdal’s Wild Bird (Vildfågel), David Saulesco’s The Loving Mother (Den ömma modern), and Ylva Fred’s meta opera The Rehearsal (Repetitionen).

Wild Bird is set in the 1940s. It is the story of Loulou Forsell, author and daughter of John Forsell, famed opera singer and general director of the Royal Swedish Opera. She is admitted to a psychiatric hospital from which she is determined to escape. The Loving Mother is about a worried new mother. She is consumed by dark thoughts about the child. No one seems to listen, and soon disaster strikes. The Rehearsal is the story of two opera singers who are about to rehearse a love scene. What their exasperated director does not know is that they are real lovers.

  1. The Loving Mother

    20 mins

  2. The Rehearsal

    20 mins

  3. Paus

    30 mins

  4. Wild Bird

    20 mins

  • »Three relationship dramas that will raise your pulse«

    SvD

  • »The concept is wonderfully unpretentious«

    DN

  • »I think this is probably one of the best, with high and consistent quality (on Short Stories)«

    SvD

  • »Spot on, that's what being a woman is like (on The Tender Mother)«

    DN

  • »There is potential for a full-length opera here (on The Wild Bird)«

    DN

  • »Director Jonas Österberg Nilsson has done a fine job of holding together the disparate material... an appealing humorous scent.«

    SvD

    Introductions & talks

    In connection with the premiere on May 29, all ticket holders are welcome to a free talk in the at 6 p.m. where the teams - David Saulesco (composer), Tora von Platen (librettist) Stefan Klaverdal (composer), Jonas Bernander (librettist), Ylva Fred (composer), Alex Harridi (librettist) and Katarina Aronsson (dramaturge) - presents their thoughts on Short Stories V. On other performance days, a free introduction to the pieces takes place 30 minutes before the performance starts! Entrance at the Rotunda stage, at Jakobs torg 8.

    Read more →

    Performance images

    • A woman, holding a pair of glasses, sits at a desk, on the table stands a lamp.
      Short Stories V 2025: The Tender Mother by David Saulesco
    • A woman in hospital clothes stands diagonally behind another woman, in regular clothes.
      Short Stories V 2025: The Tender Mother by David Saulesco
    • A woman and a man are pointing at each other, with another woman next to them who appears to be giving them instructions.
      Short Stories V 2025: The Rehearsal by Ylva Fred
    • A man in red looks down at a sheet of music paper, in front of him a woman in a white shirt gesturing.
      Short Stories V 2025: The Rehearsal by Ylva Fred
    • A man in red stands with his back turned to us, a woman in a blue hoodie appears to be talking to him.
      Short Stories V 2025: The Rehearsal by Ylva Fred
    • A woman is sitting in a hospital bed, a man in what looks like hospital clothes is talking to her.
      Short Stories V 2025: Wild Bird by Stefan Klaverdal
    • A woman in a doctor's coat extends her arm towards a woman in an overcoat, with a hospital bed in the background.
      Short Stories V 2025: Wild Bird by Stefan Klaverdal
    • A woman sits on a hospital bed, next to her a bedside table with flowers.
      Short Stories V 2025: Wild Bird by Stefan Klaverdal
      A woman, holding a pair of glasses, sits at a desk, on the table stands a lamp.

      More on Short Stories V

      Come even closer - hear different voices about the three pieces in edition five of the Short Stories concept at the Royal Swedish Opera: Wild Bird, The Tender Mother and The Rehearsal.

      More on Short Stories V

      Come even closer - hear different voices about the three pieces in edition five of the Short Stories concept at the Royal Swedish Opera: Wild Bird, The Tender Mother and The Rehearsal.

      A woman sits on a hospital bed, next to her a bedside table with flowers.

      BEHIND THE SCENES

      Short Stories V - meet the director

      Director Jonas Österberg Nilsson describes the three pieces in Short Stories V - contemporary opera in a short format! 

      Short Stories V - meet the director

      1 min

      A woman is sitting in a hospital bed, a man in what looks like hospital clothes is talking to her.

      BEHIND THE SCENES

      Short Stories V - Wild bird

      Jessica Forsell talks about her role in Wild bird and about her family connection to Loulou Forsell.

      Short Stories V - Wild bird

      1 min

      A woman in hospital clothes stands diagonally behind another woman, in regular clothes.

      BEHIND THE SCENES

      Short Stories V - The loving mother

      Lisa Thor talks about her role in The loving mother and about the music.

      Short Stories V - The loving mother

      1 min

      A man in red stands with his back turned to us, a woman in a blue hoodie appears to be talking to him.

      BEHIND THE SCENES

      Short Stories V - The rehearsal

      Hear about the Short Stories concept, and the music for the opera The rehearsal

      Short Stories V - The rehearsal

      1 min

      • Cast
      • Music & creative teams

        THE LOVING MOTHER
        Music         David Saulesco
        Libretto         Tora von Platen

        THE REHEARSAL
        Music Ylva Fred
        Libretto Alex Haridi

        WILD BIRD
        Music Stefan Klaverdal
        Libretto Jonas Bernander

        Conductor James Duddle
        Director Jonas Österberg Nilsson
        Dramaturge Katarina Aronsson

        Musicians from the Royal Swedish Orchestra

      Cast subject to change.

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