A century after its premiere, Carl Nielsen's Maskarade remains one of Denmark's little secrets. Not an actual secret, mind you: the opera has had numerous international productions, and the very nationalistic Danes would love for it to have a wider audience. But, largely because it isn't in one of the "big four" operatic languages (Italian, French, German, and Russian), Maskarade has never found its way into the theatrical batting order on a regular basis, and most non-Danes have no idea just how popular the work is in its ...
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A century after its premiere, Carl Nielsen's Maskarade remains one of Denmark's little secrets. Not an actual secret, mind you: the opera has had numerous international productions, and the very nationalistic Danes would love for it to have a wider audience. But, largely because it isn't in one of the "big four" operatic languages (Italian, French, German, and Russian), Maskarade has never found its way into the theatrical batting order on a regular basis, and most non-Danes have no idea just how popular the work is in its native country. In fact, it is beloved, and for good reason: it has all the easygoing charm of Viennese operetta combined with a fluid and appealing lyricism that rarely shows signs of Nielsen's sometimes heady modernism. It has plenty of moments to please lovers of great singing, as well of lovers of great comedy and musical characterization, and its unassuming plot, which could be snipped "as is" from nearly any operetta, won't intimidate even the most opera-shy of listeners. Like...
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