About the work
Nils Holgerssons wundersame Abenteuer (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils) is a children's opera by the composer Elena Kats-Chernin, after the famous novel "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils" (1906/07) by the Swedish Nobel laureate Selma Lagerlöf. The work tells the journey of an enchanted boy across Sweden in an accessible, colourful musical language for a young audience.
Plot
The naughty farm boy Nils Holgersson torments animals and causes his parents grief. As a punishment, a brownie shrinks him to the size of a thumb. In this form Nils joins, on the back of the farm gander, a flock of wild geese that travel under the old lead goose Akka right across Sweden to the north. On the long journey Nils has adventures with foxes, storks and eagles, comes to know the landscapes and stories of his country, and gradually develops compassion and a sense of responsibility. Purified and matured, he finally returns home and regains his original form.
Cultural significance
Selma Lagerlöf's original was conceived as a school reader on Swedish geography and became a classic of children's literature. Elena Kats-Chernin's operatic version transfers the material to music theatre and makes Lagerlöf's story of transformation and maturing vividly accessible to a young audience. Works of this kind play an important role in introducing children to opera.