Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without ‘The Nutcracker’! YLC have teamed up with Kungliga Operan to put you in the seasonal mood.
Kungliga Operan, the Royal Swedish Opera, has a unique and exciting history. It was a creation of King Gustav III’s and completed in 1782. Ten years later, at a masquerade ball, an assassin shot Gustav III on the stage at his own opera house; he died days later from the wound. His last words were ‘Jag känner mig sömnig, några ögonblicks vila skulle göra mig gott’ (‘I feel sleepy, a few moments rest would do me good’). You couldn’t make it up.
So drama has always reigned at the opera, albeit with less blood and conspiracies now, under the talented directorship of Johannes Öhman. The auditorium holds around 1130 spectators and some 220 performances are put on annually, presenting to the world some of the greatest names: Jenny Lind, Peter Mattei and Birgitta Svendén (today both General Manager and Opera Director of the Royal Swedish Opera) are just some of the legendary Swedish singers. The Royal Swedish Ballet, resident Ballet Company of the Royal Swedish Opera, has fostered Swedish legends such as Jean Börlin, acted as a springboard for dancers such as Johan Renvall of the American Ballet Theatre and today presents its principal dancers, Marie Lindqvist, Olof Westring and our very own extraordinary expat, Gina Tse.
Of course, the show that everyone is talking about right now is Nötknäpparen, ‘The Nutcracker’. Choreographer Pär Isberg’s version of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet is subtitled Petters och Lottas jul (Petter and Lotta’s Christmas), taking inspiration from the stories of ETA Hoffmann that inspired the Russian original. Orphaned children Petter and Lotta have been taken care of their aunts and for the first time, they get to celebrate a real Christmas, which turns out to be more eventful and magical than they can have ever imagined…
If all this has got you in the mood for Christmas, please fill in our survey for the chance to win two top tickets to The Nutcracker. We have mentioned one of the brilliant performers in the nutcracker, Gina Tse, who was an Extraordinary Expat for YLC. Once you have filled in the survey, you just need to tell us who was your favourite Extrordinary Expat in 2013 in the comments area; you must do both for the chance to win!
If you have already filled in the survey to win something earlier, all you need to do is tell us who was your favourite Extrordinary Expat in 2013 in the comments area* – easy-peasy!
This competition is now closed.
THE LUCKY WINNER OF A PAIR OF TOP TICKETS IS: MARIA
Didn’t win? Never fear, there’s still time to book your tickets to The Nutcracker today!
Fine print:Tickets are for 2 orchestra seats on January 11th at 18.30. These cannot be exchanged or refunded.
Entrants must complete the survey and fill in the comments box to win.Winners will be drawn at random by the YLC management
*Survey only needs to be completed once; then readers are entitled to enter all give-aways
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