Lilli Paasikivi

"The book is above all a profuse and expert love letter to music and life in the Nordic countries. Mellor’s expertise in and enthusiasm for his subject comes clearly across in the text."

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet has launched an extensive project to integrate cutting-edge technology into the world of art in multiple ways, seeking synergies and tools for new kinds of cooperation and communality in both planning and audience relations. However, the FNOB like most of Finnish society is currently shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All rehearsals and performances have been cancelled for the time being, including the ‘Opera Beyond’ conference and premiere this spring. Obviously the world will change as a result of this crisis, and the art of opera will change too.

Composer Sebastian Fagerlund’s new opera Höstsonaten (Autumn Sonata) is approaching its premiere at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. Based on the eponymous film by Ingmar Bergman and with a star-studded production team, the opera is poised to take the themes of the story to a new level.

This double album is the issue of three concerts given in Minnesota in February 2016, and Olli Kortekangas’ Migrations was a commission for that occasion. Migrations must have caused many in its initial audiences to reflect upon their own origins, and it retains its ability to touch the heart in this recording.