Presscuts

“This is not an opera that one is enjoying; rather, it is a work of musical drama which impacts on anyone who has ever become involved in helping fellow human beings in psychological need. [...] Tokfursten is an important contribution to the debate about the care of the mentally ill.

“To this story Carl Unander-Scharin has written remarkably luminous music which lies close to the words, voices, and spoken dialogue and which simultaneously succeeds in conveying something of the isolation and denial of life which are part of the existence of the young psychotic patient.

“The opera is undoubtedly a masterpiece and leaves no one unmoved. The music and action enrich the forms of expression and I have seldom listened to new music which so perfectly masters sudden shifts and does not let the musical lines be dissolved. The large melodic intervals in the vocal parts are mastered to perfection by the singers.