POUL ROVSING OLSEN
Belisa
Sten Byriel, bass
Anne Margrethe Dahl, soprano
Elisabeth Halling, soprano
Eir Inderhaug, soprano
Lise-Lotte Nielsen, soprano
Marianne Rørholm, mezzo soprano

Poul Rovsing Olsen, composer

Odense Symphony Orchestra
Ars Nova Copenhagen
Tamás Vetö, conductor

About
The girl Belisa is beautiful, amorous and sensual. “White underneath. Like sugar”; so sings the enchanted Don Perlimplin about his young bride. But already on her wedding night Belisa takes five lovers in front of the sleeping bridegroom, and the opera develops from stylized opera buffa into a mystical, ambivalent drama with an enigmatic ending. Poul Rovsing Olsen's opera based on the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca's The Love of Don Perlimplin and Belisa is a chamber play about eroticism, love and death; at once tragic and grotesque.

Poul Rovsing Olsen underscores the surrealistic aspect of Lorca’s drama with dreamlike music. Belisa’s wonderful songs cast an exotic lustre over the fundamentally lyrical tone of the opera. Belisa fuses elements of the Arab musical tradition with European modernism in a through-composed totality. A musical encounter between different cultures is elevated into a unique operatic work that has won a special status in recent Danish music.

Reviews
This is a masterpiece ... The performance is wonderful, beautifully sung, played, and recorded. This is a must have.
(Fanfare Magazine)

FAFARE MAGAZINE WANT LIST 2004

This is a clear and confident account of the piece under conductor Tamás Vetö, recorded in impeccable sound. Particularly impressive are the two protagponists, with Sten Byriel's warm lyric bass making much of his central, sorrowful aria, and the cool, high-lying soprano of Eir Inderhaug perfectly encompassing the needs of the exotic/erotic/dreamlike Belisa.
(Opera, UK)

Tamás Veto and the Odense Symphony Orchestra play magnificently, and the principals acquit themselves with real distinction. Beautifully balanced, natural sonics and attractive, elegant packaging complete the picture. This one's a gem.
(10/10 Classics Today, USA)

Rovsing Olsen's music for this lurid tale of passion, deception and death is beguiling and sensuous ... Tamás Vetö directs with great understanding, balancing beautifully the singers with the orchestra. Dacapo's sound is splendid ... A very fine opera, recorded to match.
(Nordic Sounds)

The performance is inspired, with nerve and dramatic presence in all roles, and Belisa's temperamentally teasing sweetness is a delight.
(Politiken, Denmark)

A lovely recording ... All the perfomers plunge into the project with heart and soul.
(Berlingske Tidende, Denmark)

The opera is haunting and lyrical ... Recommended.
(Opera Nights)

Lavish production ... Recommended.
(Musical Pointers)

Credits
Recorded at Odense Concert Hall on May 1-3, 6-7; June 10; and the Danish Radio Concert Hall on October 29 2002
Recording producer: Henrik Sleiborg
Sound engineer: Knud Esmarch
Editing engineers: Knud Esmarch and Henrik Sleiborg
Graphic design: Elevator

This CD has been recorded in cooperation with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR