LocalOpera

Opera is not necessarily the elitist pursuit of only a small city set. Pentti Tynkkynen, a church musician living at idyllic little Punkaharju in Eastern Finland, composes opera on the community’s terms.

Reports of the death of opera have been frequent since the Second World War, but as far as Finland is concerned they have been greatly exaggerated. Finnish opera is now doing better than ever, with some 20 new additions to the repertoire every year.

Beyond the great pillars of Finnish opera, the Finnish National Opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, there are regional operas, small professional companies and festivals that thrive despite a chronic shortage of money.

A superficial reason for the opera boom may be the composers' wish to celebrate the new millennium with a work of opera, the king of music genres. However, the boom also speaks of the current good financial situation, for operas are expensive, as is well known. Opera has also spread beyond the stages of the established institutions such as the Finnish National Opera, and small ensembles are trying their wings.