1 Open-minded Sweden had seemed the right place for the first opera based on Vladimir Nabokov's ground-breaking novel about a man's lust for a girl.
2 But 40 years after 'Lolita' was published, the dubious love affair still is provoking indignation, this time over Rodion Shchedrin's world premier production at Stockholm's Royal Opera.
3 Child protection groups claim the story promotes indecent assault of minors, and some want the opera stopped. On top of that, critics say the four-hour production is tedious and leaves the audience cold.
4 Like the book, however, the opera 'Lolita' may survive the criticism. The opera finished its run this weekend, but more performances are planned for next year.
5 'Lolita' is the story about a man, Humbert Humbert, who is a slave to his lust for pubescent girls. He marries a widow solely to get near her 12-year-old daughter. When the mother dies, he starts a love affair with the 'nymphet.'
6 As in the book, the setting is the United States in the 1950s. The story is told by Humbert Humbert while he is in prison awaiting execution for murdering a rival for the girl.
7 The book was greeted by a storm of protests when it first appeared, even though many hailed it as a newborn classic. At the time even the Swedish Academy -- the body that awards the Nobel literature prize -- reportedly deleted Nabokov's name from its list of possible laureates.
8 Nonetheless, attempts were made to bring Nabokov's characters to life.
9 In 1962, 'Lolita' was made into a film by Stanley Kubrick, with James Mason playing the lead. The approach was cautious, and critics deemed the movie mediocre.
10 Shchedrin also was drawn to the book. The Russian-born composer, best known for 'Carmen Suite' and ballet scores, says in the opera's program notes that he decided to write a libretto after thinking about the story for years.
11 'Everything happens in `Lolita': death, jealousy, revenge, punishment,' Shchedrin writes.
12 The problem was that the Nabokov estate had given Hollywood the option for dramatic adaptation in English, French or any other major language.
13 Shchedrin's contacts in Stockholm gave birth to the idea of staging it in Swedish -- hardly a major language. The Stockholm opera had few qualms about the controversial subject nor about the libretto's explicit scenes.
14 'We do not back off from anything on the opera stage,' said Staffan Carlweitz, a spokesman for the Royal Opera.
15 In one scene at center-stage the singing Humbert Humbert simulates making love to the mother from behind.
16 At another point, Humbert Humbert is lying on his back in a hotel bed, straddled by Lolita. Their moans are accompanied by the singing of a boys' choir standing at the bedside.
17 The nymphet Lolita was played convincingly by soprano Lisa Gustafsson, a petit 25-year-old student at Stockholm's Royal Opera school.
18 Her portrayal was made even more believable by the fact that Humbert was played by the towering baritone Per-Arne Wahlgren, a bear of man who makes Gustafsson tiny in comparison.
19 Their interplay was cleverly complemented by innovative, modernistic stage design, including oversized beds, chairs and other items that make Lolita appear smaller.
20 For the opening performance in December, the state-subsidized Royal Opera pulled out the stops and brought in guest conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, the Russian-born cellist and former conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.
21 Carlweitz said he was surprised by the angry reactions from women's and children's rights groups. After all, opera for centuries has been a showcase for moral depravity -- from murder and incest to betrayal and deception.
22 Those issues, however, are not the worst sins for critics. Swedish reviewers complained that the production was too long and the music whining and monotonous.
23 Carl-Hakan Larsen, writing in the Malmo-based Sydsvenska Dagbladet, said the music in 'Lolita' was like chewing gum: repetitive and grinding.
24 Another critic, Carl-Gunnar Ahlen, called the opera a 'a slow punishing sermon.'
25 The opera had 15 performances. Most performances had many unsold seats, rare in Stockholm. Carlweitz said it would play next season as well, but only six times.
26 Carlweitz said some of the best reviews came from Eastern Europeans. Nabokov's son Dmitri, who owns the copyright, liked the opera so much that he agreed to let it be performed in any language, despite the options held in Hollywood.
27 However, there are no firm plans yet to take Lolita on the road, Carlweitz said.

Open - minded Sweden had seemed the right place for the first opera based on Vladimir Nabokov ' s ground - breaking novel about a man ' s lust for a girl .
Open - minded
What aspects of Swedish culture make it \"open-minded\"?