Under the ground – The Potato’s Stories in Music

Music in Its Proper Context

Spend the whole afternoon immersed in opera and potatoes! Begin at the Birgit Nilsson Museum, set among fields with some of Sweden’s richest soil. Conclude at RAVINEN with a concert and a tasting of potato dishes.

The afternoon is divided into three parts:

First, you can visit the Birgit Nilsson Museum and its stable café. Afterwards, you are welcomed to RAVINEN for a concert and culinary experiences.

We encounter music by the farmer Giuseppe Verdi, connected to Birgit Nilsson’s repertoire, and after the intermission, the newly written work Under the Ground—a musical narrative about potatoes, soil, and biodiversity. During the break, we are invited to sample various potato dishes from RAVINEN Café and Bistro.

The concert is presented in collaboration with the Birgit Nilsson Museum.

Performers:

Soprano: Marieke Wikesjö

Pianist: Jesper Olsson

PROGRAM for the Day

13:00 – Birgit Nilsson Museum

(Admission and guided tour is included in the ticket price.)

The exhibition and café are open from 13:00 to 14:30.

15:00 – RAVINEN

Concert and tasting (included in the ticket price)

Overture: Birgit Nilsson Museum

We are welcomed to visit the farm where our great star Birgit Nilsson grew up, just a stone’s throw from RAVINEN. Here, we can explore stage costumes, stories, and much more from her life. You are also welcome to visit the stable café before continuing on to RAVINEN.

Act 1: The Opera Heritage – Birgit Nilsson, Verdi, and the Voice from the Countryside

In the first part of the concert, we continue the journey from Birgit Nilsson’s life—from her childhood on a farm to music belonging on the opera stage. Selected arias from her repertoire are performed, with particular focus on Giuseppe Verdi—the farmer and composer with a deep connection to rural life and strong social engagement.

This part of the concert places Bjäre in dialogue with the international opera scene and highlights how working the land and opera can be intertwined experiences—both in the lives of Birgit Nilsson and Verdi.

Intermission: Potatoes Take Center Stage – Part of the Concert Experience

As an integrated part of the concert experience, we are invited during the intermission to RAVINEN Café & Bistro for a tasting that deepens the concert’s theme.

Here, we have the opportunity to sample different ways of preparing potatoes—perhaps even different varieties—and experience how soil, cultivar, season, and cooking methods interact. Taste, aroma, and texture become a continuation of the musical narrative, where the potato speaks through more senses than just hearing.

Act 2: Under the Ground – The Potato’s Stories in Music

The second part of the concert, Under the Ground, is a newly written work for soprano and piano. The song cycle consists of eight interconnected songs, each based on a specific potato variety with a long and often overlooked history. Here, the potato is portrayed as more than food—as a carrier of culture, labor, migration, and survival.

The work is inspired by artist Åsa Sonjasdotter’s project Potato Order, which examines the role of the potato in industrial agriculture and the regulations that affect biological and cultural diversity. In the Bjäre region, where potato cultivation has been central for generations, the work gains particular local resonance.

The music is composed by Johan-Magnus Sjöberg with text by Åsa Sonjasdotter. Concept and dramaturgy: Marieke Wikesjö.

Read more about the work below in the artists’ own words!

Through the collaboration between RAVINEN’s artistic program, its Café and Bistro, and the Birgit Nilsson Museum—along with connections to both musical history and local agriculture—the event is closely tied to the identity of the Bjäre Peninsula as a potato region, and to the start of the potato season, in connection with the potato premiere and Potato Day.

The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a species in the genus Solanum and the family Solanaceae. “Potato” is also the common name for the plant’s tuber, which is a staple food in large parts of the world. The plant occurs naturally in South America, where several closely related species are also cultivated. Within the Solanaceae family, there are several other species grown for food, including tomatoes and peppers. The three largest potato-producing countries in 2020 were China (79 million tonnes), India (51 million tonnes), and Ukraine (21 million tonnes). The top three countries in per capita consumption in 2005 were Belarus (181 kg per capita), Kyrgyzstan (143 kg per capita), and Ukraine (136 kg per capita).

Giuseppe Verdi, born 9 or 10 October 1813 in Le Roncole (now Roncole Verdi), near Busseto in Emilia-Romagna, and died 27 January 1901 in Milan, was an Italian composer best known for his operas. His works include Aida, La traviata, Otello, Rigoletto, and Falstaff.

Märta Birgit Nilsson, born 17 May 1918 in Västra Karup parish in Skåne and died 25 December 2005 in Bjärlöv, was a Swedish opera singer (dramatic soprano). She was appointed Royal Court Singer in 1954 and received the equivalent title Kammersängerin in Austria in 1968 and later in Bavaria in 1970. She became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1960 and was awarded the title of Professor in 1998.