She has already interpreted the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in both Monteverdi's and Gluck's version, in Germany – where Josefine Mindus has mainly worked since she graduated from opera school.
Now she is happy to once again delve into the myth of Orpheus who tries to lure back his beloved from the kingdom of death. In Telemann's version, a new character is introduced into the plot: Orasia, who is unhappily in love with Orpheus and takes a gruesome revenge.
She sends the venomous snakes on Eurydice, and causes her death, so here Orpheus has a concrete person to blame. It gives an edge to the work, that there is a person he can direct his anger towards, says Josefine Mindus, who has had time to receive both the Jenny Lind scholarship and employment at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden after graduation.
More questions
The notes to George Philipp Telemann's "Orpheus" were not found until the end of the 20th century, and then parts were missing, so the theater's music director Francesco Corti has added music by Telemann and contemporary composers from Hamburg.
The character that Josefine Mindus plays, Cephisa, is also an addition by Telemann – she brings news of Eurydice's death with an aria directly after the tragedy.
It is quite cheerful, it feels like a stylistic break. Cephisa sings that she does not want to know of any love that does not lead to freedom, she does not want to bind herself. So she is a very modern woman.
Josefine Mindus has a strong relationship to the myth after all the productions about it.
One wonders, when he gets this chance to take home his fiancée, why he messes it up? Why does he turn around? But that makes the myth and Orpheus very human, he is one who fails, she says.
Despite new approaches in the production, the questions in the myth remain, which Josefine Mindus thinks is as it should be.
I think you should leave an opera with more questions than answers.
Completely blissful
On August 17, there will also be a concert with additional Orpheus interpretations at Drottningholmsteatern. For Josefine Mindus, it is a dream to sing at the preserved 18th-century theater.
It was forgotten and closed for over 100 years and has not been altered as much as others, everything is still there as it was. I became completely blissful, it was like a religious experience.
"Orpheus" premieres on August 2 at Drottningholmsteatern outside Stockholm.
Elin Swedenmark/TT
Facts: Josefine Mindus
TT
Born: 1994 in Stockholm.
Background: Educated at Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover, where she graduated in 2021. By then, she had already started working at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where she is now part of the ensemble. Has also performed at, among other places, Komische Oper in Berlin.
Played the lead role as Bess in Missy Mazzoli's opera based on Lars von Trier's film "Breaking the waves" in Vadstena.
In 2023, she received the Jenny Lind scholarship, where the jury described her as "a great artist in the making".
Current: In "Orpheus" at Drottningholmsteatern.
