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SATURDAY

You’ve heard at least parts of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite—at least you have if you’ve ever seen a Smurfs cartoon. You know: The sun rises, a little flute part plays, birds chirp, and the little blue fuckers dance. That, obviously, wasn’t at all what Grieg had in mind when he wrote the thing for “the founder of modern prose drama,” Henrik Ibsen. Indeed, Norway’s cultural golden age culminated with the 1876 performance of the piece, played, as it was, alongside a staging of Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. Today’s seminar, “Peer Gynt: Ibsen and Grieg’s Battle With the Trolls,” addresses the roots of that production and the working relationship of the two Norwegian cultural giants. It also looks at “[h]ow Peer Gynt was received in other countries and how 20th century composers tried to give the drama a less romantic, more realistic atmosphere in contrast to Ibsen’s wishes.” Gotta wonder how Ibsen would have felt about the Smurfs. Ask at 9:30 a.m. in the National Museum of American History’s Carmichael Auditorium, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. $131. (202) 357-3030. (Mike Kanin)