The Royal Swedish Opera just annouced their next season's big world premiere, Britta Byström and Rawdna Carita Eira's new opera Eatnama Váibmu (Jordens Hjärta).
Eatnama Váibmu (Jordens Hjärta) is on the programme from November 15 to December 29, 2025.
Commissioned by the Royal Swedish Opera, Eatnama Váibmu (Jordens Hjärta) is a contemporary fairy-tale opera based on a Sámi creation myth about the struggle between good and evil.
The god Ipmil creates the sun, the moon, human beings, reindeer and the magnificent natural landscape. Deep inside the Earth Ipmil places a heart, which beats and marks the passage of time. The Sun has two sons, Njáveš and Háhčes. One falls in love with Sun Daughter and the other with Moon Daughter. The two brothers fall out when Háches discovers that he can no longer hear the beating of the Earth’s heart. He becomes jealous and bitter, and soon the fight is on. These dramatic events turn out to have disastrous consequences when Ipmil returns …
Britta Byström, about the opera:
The music in 'Eatnama Váibmu' has an almost ritualistic function; the heartbeat – the sound of the Earth’s beating heart – runs through the opera, giving the feeling that everything is connected, from beginning to end.
The opera will be directed by the Sami film director Elle-Márjá Eira, and I believe she will create a visually magnificent adventure, supporting the important questions of the opera, about the importance of listening to nature and about how we humans tend to get bored with what is too readily available.
