BRIAN BYRNEtalks about an odd, but excellent, bar in Oslo...
IT’S NOT a place you’ll find by accident. The Underwater Pub is a locals’ bar in Oslo, about 20 minutes’ walk from the centre of town. It works on a theme: underwater.
Surprise? Well, yes, as it’s on one of the higher streets in Norway’s capital. The decor reflects its name: undersea pictures, undersea gear that includes old diving stuff, and beer taps hidden in scuba tanks.
It gets special on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Whereas in an Irish pub you might get some trad or rock, those two nights are devoted to opera. The musical fare is high classical, with local operatic singers doing their thing.
The deal is simple. The place packs out. Beer is ordered, as are pizzas if you want soakage for the alcohol. The punters are mainly young, not the kind you’d figure as opera buffs. But when the guy who described himself as the “opera DJ” for the evening stood on the stairs and introduced the programme, all went quiet.
There was a fellow on a piano to one side, and a couple of lads sitting in the corner reserved for the singers. They took turns coming out on the stairs and performing pieces from the better-known operas. No bow ties, no period dress. Just guys out for the night in the pub. But they sang as if they were at La Scala, and the drinkers applauded as if they were there, too.
Underwater Pub, Dalsbergstien 4, Oslo, Norway, 00-47-22460526