The premise: Finnish star conductors exchange thoughts and feelings about their profession and openly discuss challenges they have faced, sipping coffee from a Moomin mug. Despite the cosy and earnest atmosphere, each of the five episodes of the series, produced by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle, is introduced with a mysterious image of conductors as “ships in the night” who “don’t often get to see each other.” The documentary series Conductors (2024), directed by Laura Joutsi, presents a handful of celebrated Finnish musicians as completely ordinary people. At the same time, it cannot help but reinforce the very myth it seeks to dismantle: the extraordinary individual on the podium.
The image persists, then, but it also starts to crack, in the most welcome way. The creators make a sincere effort to tear down the veil of celebrity, status, and ivory-tower exclusivity. Interviewed – or rather, met – by Nicholas Collon, the British chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pekka Kuusisto, Hannu Lintu, Susanna Mälkki, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Dalia Stasevska emerge as human beings, each with their own personality, in a way that would not be possible in a studio interview with a journalist. Each episode conveys a sense of peer support and genuine sharing, which lends a likeable warmth to the entire series. Collon is an ideal host in this sense, posing insightful questions and responding with contrasting opinions.
As top professionals discuss the thing they know best, everything naturally revolves around music. Yet the script successfully avoids getting bogged down in technical jargon or career milestones. The conversations focus on the personal and psychological aspects of the job – its energies and social dynamics. Topics of power, identity, and personal growth expand the discussion onto a more universal scale, making it relevant to anyone in positions of influence and under intense public pressure, such as politicians, leaders, and other prominent figures. Rather than simply telling polished career stories, the well-structured discussions explore leadership, self-management, making mistakes, and achieving sustainable success.
Many of the conductors emphasise the vital connection with musicians and the audience, consciously countering the old image of the aloof genius. And yet, most of the concert excerpts flashing by still depict conductors in precisely this light. The orchestra appears as a collection of faces reacting to the leader. A few extended scenes showing rehearsal dynamics and interaction would have been a welcome addition.
Twisting paths
Naturally, the legendary Finnish “conductor factory” receives its share of attention. All the participants offer their views on why this tiny country has produced such an extraordinary number of internationally successful conductors. (The conducting class of the Sibelius Academy was the subject of the atmospheric feature-length documentary film Conductivity, released in 2020.)
However, none of these conductors are “export products” in the conventional sense, and their unique, meandering career paths challenge the trope of innate talent and inevitable success.
Hannu Lintu and his dog Shurik discussing conducting with Nicholas Collon in Episode 2. Photo: Yle
Hannu Lintu is the only one who aspired to become a conductor from an early age. Esa-Pekka Salonen, a composer, found himself on the podium almost by accident, while Pekka Kuusisto, a remarkable violinist, developed an interest in conducting only gradually. Susanna Mälkki and Dalia Stasevska, as young musicians, did not initially see themselves as potential conductors – largely because of the difficulties women conductors faced in the profession until quite recently. Stasevska points out the timescale: progress is often taken for granted, but women conductors have only been accepted as more than extreme exceptions for the past ten years or so.
It is therefore a bit of a misstep that, in a visual collage of Finnish conductors across generations, women conductors are cropped out and presented separately.
No simple success stories
Pekka Kuusisto’s presence is vital to the series. As an idiosyncratic musician, he brings a completely different perspective to conducting. A prime example of a musician-turned-conductor and an essentially forward-thinking artist, he takes a profoundly collective approach to the orchestra. He is also the most openly candid character in the series, in keeping with his general personality. Kuusisto is seen showing Collon his favourite swimming spot and wandering through the forests around his home. He also speaks directly about the need to demystify conducting.
Hannu Lintu, accompanied by his rescue dog Shurik, is equally forthright about the tough times and even failures of his early career. Esa-Pekka Salonen, arguably the most famous of the participants, faced similar struggles: a career that took off too quickly, a young conductor unable to keep up with the success and extreme demands of the job. Both Salonen and Lintu, accomplished as they are, willingly share their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Old video clips of their younger, rather arrogant selves add a touch of wry humour and a refreshingly down-to-earth feel to several scenes—a remarkable feature in the often-polished world of classical music stars.
With the other conductors, too, fears and challenges are discussed openly, without sensationalism or oversimplified success narratives. Susanna Mälkki is only shown in the Sibelius Academy concert hall, though it would have been nice to see her, for instance, strolling through Töölönlahti park, which connects all of Helsinki’s major classical music institutions.
The series does not conclude with an assessment of “the Finnish miracle” or a summary of the participants’ career highlights. Instead, the closing scene shows Esa-Pekka Salonen in a billiard hall, speaking candidly about his past struggles with alcohol and the toll his career has taken on his family. It is a striking and even bold way to end a series about Finnish classical music celebrities – a reminder that people in positions of power are, above all, human.
The documentary can be streamed for free on Yle Areena (note: availability may vary by country)
