Top Finnish conductors for the 2014 Savonlinna Opera Festival

Kullervo arrives in Savonlinna

One of the new productions will be Aulis Sallinen’s Kullervo, premiered to great acclaim in Los Angeles in 1992. It was first seen and heard in Finland during the opening week of the new Helsinki opera house in 1993. “Kullervo is still topical in this day and age, telling as it does about a young man’s exclusion and what, in the worst case, this can lead to.”

Conducting the Olavinlinna Castle production of Kullervo will be FRSO Chief Conductor Hannu Lintu. The stage director is Kari Heiskanen, the stage designs are by Antti Mattila, the costumes by Riitta Anttonen-Palo and the lighting designer is Ilkka Paloniemi. Singing the title role will be Tommi Hakala. Tuija Knihtilä will be cast as Kullervo’s Mother, and Ville Rusanen will make his debut as Kimmo.

Georges Bizet’s Carmen – a lasting favourite – will be back in the Castle as the artistic legacy of Raimo Sirkiä’s term as Director. The conductor of this production directed by Marianne Mörck will be France’s Philippe Auguin, already familiar to Savonlinna audiences from Mefistofele (2009), Tosca (2010) and Lohengrin (2011). Alternating in the title role will be Bulgarian Nadja Krasteva and American Katharina Goeldner, as Escamillo Canadian Randall Jakobsh and Greek Aris Argiris, and Don José will be sung by Canadian tenor Luc Robert.

Also returning to the Castle stage will be Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, in Jorma Silvasti’s opinion definitely one of the most successful productions of the Jari Hämäläinen era. The production created by Henri Akina, Dean Shibuya and Anne Namba will be conducted by Mikko Franck, making his Savonlinna debut as an opera conductor. Alternating as Madama Butterfly will be Lithuanian Ausrine Stundyte and Helena Juntunen, while the part of F.B. Pinkerton will be sung by Andrea Carè, familiar from the same role in 2010.

Return of The Magic Flute

The third revival of the 2014 season is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s exquisite Magic Flute. This opera has been the most notable production in the Festival’s entire history: for many audience generations, the Festival itself and Finland’s whole opera culture. It is the Festival’s most significant outreach production and strongly associated with all the top Finnish soloists and conductors who have performed it over the years in Olavinlinna Castle. The performance based on the classic original direction by August Everding will use the most recent lighting designs and effects. “The opera well merits its place on the programme, speaking as it does to young people and first-timers. In 2014 the Festival is also putting on a matinee performance for the first time, so that families with children can more easily attend.”

The Magic Flute will be conducted by Okko Kamu with a cast that includes Mika Kares as Sarastro, Tuomas Katajala as Tamino and Marjukka Tepponen and Anna Immonen alternating as Pamina. Making her Savonlinna Opera Festival debut as the Queen of the Night will be Hungarian soprano Klára Kolonits.

Kerimäki Church back on the list of venues

Kerimäki Church will be used in 2014 for a performance of Mozart’s Requiem, with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra now making its Savonlinna debut. The Requiem will be conducted by Dalia Stasevska with soloists Soile Isokoski (soprano), Lilli Paasikivi (mezzo-soprano), Jorma Silvasti (tenor) and Nicholas Söderlund (bass). The Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir will be coached by Matti Hyökki. “The world’s biggest wooden church is an inspiring place for a concert. Its acoustics have been likened to “a big, resonant cello”, and whether we hold other concerts there in the future, too, will depend on the audience’s feedback,” says Silvasti.

Visitors from Wales

The visiting foreign opera company in 2014 is from the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Welsh National Opera will be bringing along the great choral opera Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini’s first major success, Manon Lescaut. The latter has never before been staged in Olavinlinna Castle.

“We are delighted that they have accepted our invitation at such short notice, despite the fact that their programming schedule is fixed for years ahead,” says Silvasti. “But both parties were very keen for the visit to take place in the 2014 season already.”

Further info:
Jorma Silvasti, Artistic Director
jorma.silvasti@operafestival.fi
tel. +358 400 446027