World premiere:
The Temptations of Veslemøy by Kjell Habbestad
November 2, 2025
At Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Tickets: egsmn.org
Melissa Holm-Johansen, soprano
Justin Anthony Spenner, baritone
Judith Melander, mezzo-soprano
Bryon Wilson, piano
Marilee Klemp, oboe
Rolf Erdahl, double bass
The world premiere of The Temptations of Veslemøy by Norwegian composer Kjell Habbestad will be performed on November 2, 2025 in Minneapolis, at Mindekirken, the Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church, as part of the 2025-2026 season of the Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota.
The piece features texts based on poems from Norwegian poet Arne Garborg’s verse novel Haugtussa, in new English translations by Dr. William Halverson.
Dr. Halverson has also recently published his translation of the entire Garborg work, originally written in Nynorsk (“New Norwegian”), under the title Haugtussa: The Clairvoyant Mountain Maid.
Asked recently why he undertook this monumental task, he replied: “Most people familiar with Haugtussa know it from the Edvard Grieg song cycle, in which a young shepherdess named Veslemøy herds cattle and goats in the mountains, falls in love, is jilted by her lover, and is last seen weeping beside a mountain stream.
“But there is so much more to her story. The most important fact about Veslemøy is that she is clairvoyant. She is cursed with the ability to see things that other people cannot see, to know things that other people do not know, to converse with ghosts and goblins and trolls. She is tempted to use her unusual powers to wreak revenge on the woman who stole her lover, to lure him back to her—or, if all else fails, to escape the unrelenting pain of life in this world by becoming a troll herself.”
Melissa Holm-Johansen 