Nordfjordeid

Here I am in a small town called Nordfjoreid (pronounced: nor-fyor-ide) It's best to sing when you say the name.
The population is 5000 people and it takes about 5 hours of driving and two ferries to get here from Bergen. I hear it has a nice art gallery and jewelry store so I am hoping to check those out tomorrow.

A funny thing about this town is that last year they opened a huge opera house, which is strange considering the small population. It's cool though because people are bussed in from other small towns near by to see the performances. There are apparently some very passionate opera lovers here that requested funding from the state to build the Operahuset. From what I can see it seems to be a very good thing for the community. The high school students participate in the chorus and creating of sets and costumes and it brings new people to the area. If people don't recognize you they ask if you are with the opera and are very excited when you say yes :)

I am playing with a group called Opera NordFjord and we are performing Verdi's Requiem all this weekend. It calls for orchestra, choir and four soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). When the conductor introduced the soloists, he informed us that the tenor was named Iceland's "Sexiest Man of the Year". You can tell he knows it too. It's a real honor to be in the presence of such a celebrity :)

My favorite thing that has happened so far is on the first day of rehearsal, when it was just orchestra rehearsing alone, the conductor sang every single aria along with us, full out and in the right range. It's hard to describe what it was like...something between a castrato (a man who was castrated in order to preserve his soprano singing voice before he went through puberty)* and Dame Edna if that's any clue.
In case you aren't familiar with Dame Edna here is a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV6Q4Q9u1pU


*This was a practice that discontinued in the 19th century