Nils Karlsson Däumling

In the organizer's words:

The opera "Nils Karlsson Thumbelina", based on the children's book by Astrid Lindgren, tells the story of a little boy called Bertil who has to spend a lot of time alone at home. In his loneliness, he tries to pass the time. Suddenly he hears a soft knocking. Right next to him, in a mouse hole, lives a little thumbelina who is as old as Bertil but only as big as a thumb. Nisse, as the Thumbelina is called, tells Bertil a secret: if he sings a magic spell, he will become as small as he is. No sooner said than done. Bertil and Nisse become friends, and as Nisse is hungry and cold, Bertil has wonderful ideas about how he can help him find a cozy home in the mouse hole...

This little opera for ages 3 and up translates the two different spheres - the world of humans and the miniature world of the Thumbelina - into a composition for soprano and violin. The violin embodies the magical creature. The finely crafted mini-opera allows the audience to actively participate in the plot through singing and playing. For the first time, the Cologne Children's Opera is using this mobile opera to visit inclusive and fully inpatient facilities for people with and without disabilities, people with special social difficulties and intergenerational groups of children and people with dementia. An accompanying workshop program, in which the participants themselves become musically and playfully active, expands the offer for all young and older people who cannot attend a children's opera performance in the opera house.