“The Norns project” is an Opera in concert form for female trio voices, percussion, piano, and violin written by Domenico Mannelli. It is inspired by the figure of the three women who draw and decide the fate of humans, present in Nordic mythology as the Norns, in ancient Rome as the Parcae, and in ancient Greece as the Moirai.
The lyrics of the work are a montage of texts in Latin, ancient Greek, and ancient Icelandic. Fragments from the Poetic Edda, from Homer’s Odyssey, and poems by the ancient Roman poet Catullo are intertwined to tell a story. The Norns talk the hero’s journey through incomprehensible signs in search of his adequacy, of his place in the world, like an emigrant looking for his home by crossing geographical boundaries.
The concert is indeed the synthesis of various sources of inspiration: ancient Greek music, medieval sacred music, popular music from different countries, and alternative rock.
Credits
Domenico Mannelli: Concept and composing
Conductor: Gunnar Sigfússon
Musicians
Singers: Johanne Baadsgaard Lange, Elisabeth Klein, Helene Tungelund
Violin: Anna Sakham Jalving
Percussion: Domiziana Del Mastro
Piano: Mads-Christian Paulsen