– The person who talks the worst about opera is often in reality a closet opera lover. They just don't know it themselves yet, says a jubilant Synne Skouen. Watch TONO's video report with the composer who has been an "unstoppable and forceful spokesperson for the narrow artistic expressions in the public sphere" for half a century.
/ 10/10/2020 / Kristian Dugstad– Pencil and eraser, that's what it's all about, says Synne Skouen.
We stand at the grand piano in the living room at Eiksmarka. From the music board, she finds her treasured analog tools: a gray pencil halfway through her life, an eraser and a square ruler.
Digital refusal is one of the few privileges one can allow oneself at the age of 70, she believes. The composer initially does not think that birthdays are a reason to be interviewed, but she has received attention. Not least because 2020 also marks 50 years as a journalist and opinion leader.
– The person who talks the worst about opera is often in reality a closet opera lover. They just don't know it yet.
The jubilant may hold on to old-fashioned writing instruments, but for half a century she has tried to give the public access to the modern.
Watch the full interview with Synne Skouen in the report. The story continues below the video.
– You have to be exposed to a lot of weird things. Also, as it has become a cliché to say, things you didn't know you wanted yet. My experience is that there is a fairly large audience that is curious. They would like to know more, and it doesn't take very much.
When there are no arenas where the audience can be exposed to expressions they are not used to, it also becomes difficult to find out what people like.
– I had a strange experience when I was music director at NRK. The person who talks the worst about opera is often in reality a closet opera lover. They just don't know it yet. It just takes you to see the right La Boheme or Tosca or Don Giovanni – But someone has to take you there!
Throughout her career, Synne Skouen has tried to be someone like that. Not only as a composer, but as a journalist, Head of Music and Culture at NRK and Chairman of the Board of the Norwegian Composers' Association.
– I really mean that the concert institutions themselves are largely to blame for falling out of the media's current affairs picture. They have focused heavily on old and repetitive repertoire.
A few weeks ago, the book "The Curious Listener" was published, a collection of Skouen's texts and conversations between her and author Bodil Maroni Jensen. On the cover, she is aptly described as an unstoppable and forceful spokesperson for the narrow artistic expressions in the public sphere.
– Considering all the millions that the official Norwegian public music scene is subsidized with, it is absolutely ridiculous that it is not obvious that part of it goes to paying for simultaneous repertoire.
Skouen points out that politicians should keep an arm's length distance from the repertoire, and avoid remotely controlling the institutions.
– But at the same time, it actually states in the allocation letters from the ministry that they are responsible for covering the art and culture of our time. That there will then not be a political discussion around the omission that has been in effect for many years….
– I am a little more optimistic today. I see how institutions are trying to renew themselves with regard to new repertoire and new ways of holding concerts.
Skouen herself has recently contributed to just this. When the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Ultima Festival organized Synne Skouen's anniversary concert earlier this fall, she had the opportunity to both choose the repertoire and give the audience an alternative approach to the music.
– What I had the opportunity to do, I wish became more common. Bringing in living composers and performers, also for a conversation. I think the audience is curious about what goes on in the artists' workshops.
In this way, Skouen believes that one can bring the music down to a level where both excitement and criticism can occur.
The story continues below the pictures.
Earlier this year, Skouen received the Music Publishers' Honorary Award for her work on the conditions for Norwegian music, and her voice in cultural and music politics. But despite being honored for her past in her seventieth year, she herself has turned her attention to the future. FORWARD
– I am writing an opera about an older woman – coincidentally, hardly – who fantasizes that she is on board the Fram, on her way to the North Pole, together with Nansen.
– Right now there has been a bit of a stir – Thank you very much for that. But then fortunately everyday life will return, and that's how it should be.
The opera FRAM has been commissioned by the Norwegian Opera and Ballet and will premiere in 2022. Five years after Skouen had great success in Bjørvika with the opera Ballerina.
For the past 50 years, she has dedicated much of her time to being an opinion leader in the service of music; today, the opportunity to devote her time to music is most important to the composer.
– The attention you get, you have to be grateful for. But there is nothing I would rather do than sit here and work on my music. Right now there has been a bit of a stir – Thank you very much for that. But then fortunately everyday life comes back, and that's how it should be.
