FULL Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star (Sebastian Fagerlund) Helsinki 2026 Johan Reuter, Jenny Carlstedt, Helena Juntunen, Tommi Hakala

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star  
• Composer: Fagerlund Sebastian   
• Libretto: Gunilla Hemming, based on a neovella by Karl Ove Knausgaard    Libretto Text, Libretto Index
• Venue & Opera Company: Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, Finland  
• Recorded: February 10, 2026
• Type: Staged Opera Live
• Singers: Johan Reuter, Jenny Carlstedt, Helena Juntunen, Tommi Hakala, Niklas Björling Rygert, Mari Palo, Minna-Leena Lahti, Iris Candelaria, Nicholas Söderlund, Janne Sihvo, Jere Hölttä, Olivia Broman, Tuomas Lehtinen, Anu Ontronen, Juhana Suninen, Ann-Marie Heino, Maria Lenart, Kim Amberla, Martti Ojala
• Conductor: Hannu Lintu  
• Orchestra: Finnish National Opera orchestra  
• Chorus: Finnish National Opera chorus and children's chorus  
• Stage Director: Thomas de Mallet Burgess   
• Stage Designer: Leslie Travers  
• Costume Designer: Tracy Grant  
• Lighting Designer: Matthew Marshall  

Information about the Recording

• Published by: oopperabaletti.fi  
• Date Published: 2026  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: yessubs, othersubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Streaming on Stage24 on April 19, 2026

  A strange star rises above the city of Bergen. At first, few people take notice, but little by little, its regular appearance grows impossible to ignore. What happens to the human mind when the world changes in ways beyond our comprehension or control?

  In The Morning Star, the story by legendary Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard meets the music of Sebastian Fagerlund, one of the most acclaimed composers of his generation. Gunilla Hemming has written a compelling libretto based on Knausgaard’s novel.

  The Morning Star is a startlingly prescient work for our time. It invites us to get to know a series of modern-day characters who are trying to make sense of the world and deal with the personal chaos in their lives – alcoholism, career disappointment, crises of faith and despair. At the very moment we, as a species, need to change and take greater responsibility for our actions, there is a collapse of collective meaning and action. The lives of the characters in this opera carry a critical warning for our own time and place.

  Sebastian Fagerlund, composer

  Sebastian Fagerlund has established himself as one of the most important European composers of his generation. He is particularly well known for his large-scale works, his profound and powerful expression and his masterful orchestration.

  In recent years, Fagerlund has gained significant international recognition, with commissions from leading orchestras, conductors, and musicians worldwide.

  The Morning Star is his third opera. Fagerlund’s previous opera Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata, based on Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name, premiered at the Finnish National Opera in 2017 and was an international success.

  Synopsis

  Act I

  Prologue

  It is a late night in August. Kathrine, a priest, is meant to return home to her family in Bergen after a flight. Distressed, she chooses to stay in a hotel instead.

  Bergen

  Jostein, a journalist, is interviewing the Artist at her exhibition. Kathrine returns home, where her husband Gaute suspects her of infidelity. Later, while blessing the deceased at the church, Kathrine realises she is pregnant. Arne struggles to manage his psychotic wife, Tove.

  Their neighbour, Egil, arrives. He mentions the imminent visit of his ten-year-old son, Viktor, who is practically a stranger to him. Tove speaks to Egil about oddly behaving animals and other unsettling signs.

  Read full synopsis
  Solveig, a nurse, meets a patient. He turns out to be Ramsvik, a man she was once smitten with. Old feelings begin to surface.

  Jostein encounters the Artist in a hotel bar and attempts to seduce her, but suddenly faints. His wife, Turid, leaves for her shift at a psychiatric care home, troubled by their depressed son, Ole. In the garden of the summer house, Arne drinks and contemplates his life. His daughter Ingvild points out a strange light in the sky. Arne drives off to escape the turmoil at home.

  Egil collects Viktor from a bus stop. The boy refuses to obey his father and acts hostile. Solveig and Ramsvik observe the Morning Star, marvelling at its brightness. Arne, drunk, has driven into a ditch and also notices the star.

  At Turid’s workplace, chaos breaks out and a patient escapes into the forest. Jostein and the Artist have slept together and now dress in a hotel room. The Artist looks at the Morning Star and ponders its significance. Arne returns home to continued disorder.

  Turid gets lost in the forest while searching for the patient. She encounters the police at the site of a ritual murder and calls her journalist husband Jostein with the information.

  Solveig is called to an organ donation operation at the hospital. She discovers the donor is Ramsvik, who has died unexpectedly. To everyone’s horror, he regains consciousness during the operation.

  Gaute’s suspicion and jealousy intensify. As their argument escalates, Kathrine runs out into the night. Hoping for a scoop, Jostein arrives at the murder scene. He is turned away by the authorities.

  Arne decides that Tove must be taken into psychiatric care. Egil has also noticed the strange omens. He wonders what they might mean. Kathrine is alone and desperate. Turid and Jostein’s son Ole attempts suicide.

  Act II

  Turid returns home to find Ole lying in a pool of blood. Kathrine has suffered a miscarriage for which she blames herself.

  Egil admits to Viktor that he has failed as a father. Together they look at the shining Morning Star. At the hospital, Solveig comforts Turid; Ole may survive. Jostein faints again and enters a dreamlike state in which he searches for the Son.

  People gather under the intense light of the Morning Star. Arne asks Egil whether it signals the end of days. Jostein wakes and declares that he has brought his son back from the dead. To Turid’s relief, Ole begins to recover. Solveig reflects on what the Morning Star might mean for her. Kathrine and Gaute try to reassure themselves that they can still stay together.

  Children arrive and eventually draw the adults’ attention. They bring a message of hope, change, and the possibility of a better future.

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