Jonas Brunvoll (3 August 1920 – 6 April 1982) was a Norwegian

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

singer and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Personal life

Brunvoll was born in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

; the son of Jonas Brunvoll and Kirsten Sørsdal, and was a brother of

Gunnar Brunvoll Gunnar Brunvoll (6 June 1924 – 27 April 1999) was a Norwegian impresario and opera administrator. He was co-founder of the Norwegian Opera Company, and was manager at Norwegian National Opera and Ballet for more than twenty years. Person ...

. During the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

he was involved in

civil resistance Civil resistance is a form of political action that relies on the use of nonviolent resistance by ordinary people to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and co ...

. He was first arrested in October 1941, and held at

Bredtveit Prison Bredtveit Prison (formally Bredtveit Prison Service, Custody and Supervision Unit, ) is a prison located in the neighborhood of Bredtvet in Oslo, Norway. During World War II it was a concentration camp. Pre-World War II It originated at Bredtv ...

for a short period. He was then arrested in January 1942 and held at

Møllergata 19 Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway, where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here. This ...

until 4 March, when he was incarcerated at

Grini Grini is a district in northeastern Bærum, Norway. Concentration camp The name Grini is best known from the concentration camp of the same name, but this camp lay further west and had no actual connection to the Grini area. History The name ...

until 20 March, and then transferred to the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

in Germany. In the memoir book ''3 fra Sachsenhausen'' fellow prisoner and newspaper editor

Olav Larssen Olav Larssen (10 July 1894 – 5 July 1981) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party (Norway), Labour and Communist Party of Norway, Communist parties. Personal life Olav Larssen was born in Furnes, Norway, Furnes as ...

recalls cultural activities in the camp, and mentions that Brunvoll would sing in such a way that prisoners forgot their surroundings, both at

and Sachsenhausen. His parents were also sent to German concentration camps, his mother to Ravensbrück and

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, and his father to Sachsenhausen.

Career

Brunvoll made his debut as opera singer in 1941 as Colline in ''

La Boheme LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

'' at

Trøndelag Teater Trøndelag Teater is a large theater in the city of Trondheim, in Trøndelag county, Norway. Trøndelag Teater stages large-scale dance and musical performances. History Originally built in 1816, the theater is the oldest stage in Scandinavia ...

. His debut concert in 1949 was attended by the

Prime Minister of Norway The prime minister of Norway (, which directly translates to "minister of state") is the head of government and chief executive of Norway. The prime minister and Cabinet of Norway, Cabinet (consisting of all the most senior government departme ...

Einar Gerhardsen Einar Henry Gerhardsen (; 10 May 1897 – 19 September 1987) was a Norwegian politician who served as the prime minister of Norway from 1945 to 1951, 1955 to 1963 and 1963 to 1965. With a total of 16 years in office, he is the longest serving Pri ...

(and his wife) and the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Halvard Lange Halvard Manthey Lange (16 September 1902 – 19 May 1970) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1946-1963 and again from 1963-1965. He was also the longest serving Foreign Minister to date, h ...

. Both Gerhardsen and Lange were fellow prisoners from Sachsenhausen. From 1950 to 1958, he was artistic director at the

Norwegian Opera Company The Norwegian Opera Company () was an opera company in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian Opera Company was established in 1950 by the Brunvoll brothers with the aim of having a fixed location as well as operating as a traveling company. The artistic dir ...

, which he had co-founded together with his brother in 1950. He was assigned at

Den Norske Opera The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet () is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisation in the country, it is currently resi ...

from 1958. Some of his major opera roles were Colline "La Boheme" (Puccini), Mefisto "Faust" (Gounod), Zuniga "Carmen" (Bizet), Figaro "Figaros Bryllup" (Mozart), Jeppe "Jeppe" (G. Tveitt), Leporello "Don Juan" (Mozart), Papageno "Tryllefløyten" (Mozart), Don Basilio "Barbereren i Sevilla" (Rossini), Nick Shadow "The Rake’s Progress" (Stravinsky). He worked as actor at

Riksteatret Riksteatret (English: National Traveling Theater) is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play ''En reise i natten''. The theatre plays on about ...

from 1972. He participated in several films, including ''

Døden i gatene ''Døden i gatene'' () is a 1970 Norwegian drama film directed by Arnljot Berg, starring Grynet Molvig Ann-Kristin "Grynet" Molvig (born 23 December 1942 in Rygge) is a Norwegian actress and singer. She made her name as a singer in the 1960 ...

'' from 1970, ''

Rallarblod ''Blood of the Railroad Workers'' () is a 1979 Norwegian drama film directed by Erik Solbakken, starring Nils Ole Oftebro Nils Ole Oftebro (born 1 December 1944) is a Norwegian actor and illustrator. He was born in Sarpsborg. He worked for Fj ...

'' from 1979 and '' Arven'' from 1979, where he played "The Priest". He also participated in the 1972 TV production ''Fjeldeventyret'' for

Fjernsynsteatret Fjernsynsteatret () was a department of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that produced plays for television broadcasting. It opened in 1960 (after about a year of experimental operation) and operated until a major reorganisation of NRK o ...

, where he played the role of a district sheriff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunvoll, Jonas 1920 births 1982 deaths Musicians from Bærum 20th-century Norwegian male opera singers Norwegian bass-baritones Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male film actors Norwegian resistance members Bredtveit concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors Norwegian male television actors 20th-century Norwegian male actors