If you're wondering how it happened

Bildung journey

A visit to Crete set off a chain reaction that led to studying Latin and Greek, an interest in literary history, theater, eventually opera, classical music etc.

the experiences in order, with dates · how it actually happened, for anyone who wants to start themselves · the Rabbit Holes pieces last

Bookshelf sorted into Greek and Latin: Athenaze, Lingua Latina, Harry Potter in Latin, Sophie's World in Greek — The shelf, January 2024. Photo: private.

Read these first, in this order

1One thing led to anotherFrom a poster on Crete to Greek, Latin, Shakespeare, Racine and opera. It snowballed, one thing led to another.
2It all started with Kirsten FlagstadThe Flagstad festival, a book from the library, a recording from Stockholm on Youtube, and a year later Copenhagen with my son.
3Fjernsynsteater until 2 a.m.Me, who can't last more than 20 minutes of a Netflix series before I start checking my phone.
4Still an atheistMatthew in Greek at Easter, Bondestudentar with no background knowledge, Wergeland's "Mennesket", and the plan for the Old Testament. The Bible as literature, for someone who quit the church at sixteen.
5Everything that doesn't surviveOne of the plays is on my bookshelf, reprinted again and again. The other was only performed once, and has never been republished.

Everything on this

18 more pieces, in the order they belong together

Reading list

books, recordings and places · the sentences are mine, from The List, the catalog and what I've written elsewhere

Fjernsynsteateret: Antigone, then Peer GyntrecordingThen my wife was away traveling for two months, and there was this one evening I sat down and pulled up the Fjernsynsteater archive at NRK... First I watched Antigone with Hålogaland Teater. But next was Peer Gynt, by Bentein Baardson, a four-hour broadcast. The opening scene is totally fantastic, and worth watching again!
The Barber of Seville, Kungliga Operan, StockholmrecordingThe opera that got me interested originally. I've also watched this one with my 10-year-old son, who thought the plot and the clowning were enough to follow along with interest for three hours!
Kirsten Flagstad museum, HamarplaceThe funny thing is that I can trace it pretty exactly, to the Kirsten Flagstad museum, a recording of The Barber of Seville, a book…
Ingeborg Solbrekken: StemmenbookI did grow up in Hamar of course, and had heard about Kirsten Flagstad, but never really knew much about it. Through the book I also got to know a lot of opera history, Wagner specifically, and many exciting Norwegian composers that I want to look at more closely.
Simon Goldhill: Who Needs Greek?bookA series of vignettes about how Greek culture interacts with different time periods and countries — incl. a really fascinating section on Wagner!
Pollestad's Odyssey, read alongside Daniel Mendelsohn: An OdysseybookA really good combo that I can recommend if you want to introduce friends to this "world"...
Lynn: A Handbook for the Study of DramabookLater I found a fantastic short book on "how to read plays", the most important message was to be a little patient, it's often hard to understand the context, the setting, the characters etc from the beginning of the play. Just trust that it comes together, and keep reading ;)
Oehlenschläger, from the stacksbookI love reading in physically old books, so I got some books up from the stacks at the library by Oehlenschläger, who I had never heard of. He wrote very romantic "naive" theater, but I thought it was charming to read, and I liked the musicality of the language.
Phaedra, four times: Euripides, Seneca, Racine, Simon StonerecordingThere you can really talk about Western culture being a dialogue — you can see Phaedra by Euripides, Phaedra by Seneca, Phèdre by Racine, and modern interpretations.
Emperor and Galilean, NRK Radioteatretrecording
Athens: the Theater of Dionysus, the King's Stoa, Herodes AtticusplaceI read all of Euthyphro right next to the King's Stoa where it «happened». I read Ion right next to the Dionysian theatre in Acropolis. Classical concerts in Athens hit differently!
Fredheim, TangenplaceToday I was lucky enough to join a group reading of all of Brand (and epic Brand) at Fredheim — old Ingeborg Refling Hagen's farm that housed the Suttung movement, where Brand was often read in earlier years. We were a group of 9 who sat from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., interrupted only by a bit of waffles and soup.