FMQ - opera Articles

Interfacing with children’s culture: Views by a composer and an author

Composer Anna Nora and author Timo Parvela discuss culture meant for children and the interfaces between music and literature. Both have had to come to terms with the field in which they work, its practicalities and its public perception. What does it take to create music and literature for children – and why does this field of culture gain so little media attention compared with many others?

Anna Nora

March 28, 2024

Features

A room of one’s own for many women - Outi Tarkiainen dramatises Virginia Woolf’s classic essay in her new opera

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction,” is the key sentence in the essay A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (1882–1941). Published in 1929, it is a discussion of why women have remained so overwhelmingly in the shadow of men as writers and more generally in society at large. The world premiere of Outi Tarkiainen’s new opera in Hagen, Germany on 14 May 2022 asks the same question – but how does this translate from essay to opera?

Kimmo Korhonen

May 11, 2022

Columns

On my music and beyond: About the anatomy of an artwork

"Art of time requires dramaturgical precision from its creator, and because of this a key tool for the creator is a stopwatch. If a particular section of a composition is too short, it is unable to effectively convey its narrative; if it is too long, it will bore the listener. The aim is always to get the texture to breathe at the appropriate pace, to give it natural motion and clarity," writes composer Aulis Sallinen. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

Aulis Sallinen

December 8, 2021

Columns

On my music and beyond: Composing must be rooted in integrity

"For me, the most important function of music is to convey and catalyse emotions. This is why rich textures and powerful melodies play such a central role in my music," writes Mari Sainio. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

Mari Sainio

December 8, 2021

Reviews

Alma! - The fantastic tapestry of a woman’s life

"Minna Leinonen manages to pull off the most important requirement in writing an opera: to write music that perfectly merges with the other elements surrounding it but nevertheless retains its own voice. [- -] I would not hesitate to describe Alma! as a major breakthrough for Leinonen."

Harri Kuusisaari

February 24, 2021

Features

The freelancer musicians' pandemic - Culture corona crisis continues

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a boom time for freelancers, according to Forbes. But not for freelance musicians.

Andrew Mellor

February 12, 2021

Features

Pandemic proves to be mother of invention

For all the grief that the coronavirus pandemic has caused, it has also brought out a great many strengths in the music sector. People in the arts are no strangers to creative, solution-oriented thinking and reactiveness, and the exceptional circumstances we are experiencing have bred novel concepts, operating models, content and applications.

Hanna Isolammi

October 30, 2020

Reviews

Electronic fantasy of an artificial intelligence – Laila is an interactive, co-created opera with music by Esa-Pekka Salonen

How does artificial intelligence sing? Art made using AI has emerged as a genre unto itself in the arts in recent years. Laila is a new production of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet that brings AI into real-time interaction with audience members.

Sini Mononen

September 3, 2020

Features

Singing for a changed world

As the Mirjam Helin Competition in Helsinki names its winners, what awaits the next generation of singers who are hoping to repeat the success of their forbears – or simply earn a living? We assess their options and opportunities with the help of two established professionals.

Andrew Mellor

May 28, 2019

Features

Andy Warhol in an opera focus

“My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.” Flash Flash ‒ Two Holograms and An Intermission, a chamber opera created by composer Juhani Nuorvala and librettist Juha Siltanen, fulfils the requirements set by Andy Warhol for his art, as presented in the above quote. This Finnish opera is an unusual depiction of Warhol’s various existences, a portrait of a famous lonely man surrounded by the masses.

Pekka Hako

February 8, 2019

Features

Payback time: Mirjam Helin and the art of singing

Mirjam Helin faced the sort of injustices that the world is at last trying to banish forever, but the Finnish singer’s sacrifice has proved priceless for the generations that have followed her.

Andrew Mellor

February 1, 2019

Features

An opera about natural forces pushed Jaakko Kuusisto into a new period

Violinist, conductor, composer, arranger and music administrator Jaakko Kuusisto has been seeking to find more time for composing. His opera Jää [Ice], based on the novel by Ulla-Lena Lundberg, will be premiered at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet on 25 January.

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

January 24, 2019

Reviews

The unspoken issues between mother and daughter

"It's more about words than action, and, musically, more about continuity than sharp contrasts. Fagerlund's music is charged with eruptive energy, and provides a dark and sorrowful autumnal setting for the characters' emotional struggles."

Anna Pulkkis

December 5, 2018

Features

Finnish local opera appeals to thousands

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.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

September 6, 2018

Features

Gene technology, local heroes and pipe and drain renovations – Finland is producing new operas like never before

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.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

June 22, 2018

Features

A quest for new perspectives – the possible worlds of composer Mikko Heiniö

The third symphony by Mikko Heiniö is premiered in Turku in May 18. While celebrating his 70th birthday, it nevertheless looks to the future. His work as a composer continues, and he has just finished writing a new opera, his fourth.

Kimmo Korhonen

May 17, 2018

Columns

Meditations of a librettist

Author and musician Maritza Núñez has written the librettos for 42 operas to date. In 2018, operas based on her libretti will be performed in Finland, Estonia, Russia and Peru. Here she discusses the art of writing a libretto.

Maritza Núñez

March 22, 2018

Reviews

Too many words, too little music

Olli Kortekangas excels at sensitive ensemble writing in his opera My Brother’s Keeper about the Finnish Civil War, but the work is hamstrung by its amateurish libretto.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

March 22, 2018

Features

FMQ Playlist: Death at the opera, or 20 musical ways to kill a woman

FMQ put together a playlist of opera scenes in which or as a consequence of which a woman dies.

Sini Mononen

February 15, 2018

Features

My Brother’s Keeper – an opera about the difficulty of coexistence

This year marks the centenary of the Finnish Civil War. My Brother’s Keeper, a new opera by Olli Kortekangas, focuses on the tragic wartime events in Tampere.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

February 15, 2018

Columns

Talking of stalking

What is the societal function of music – and art in general – in addressing violence? Should art depict violence, and if so, how?

Sini Mononen

February 15, 2018

Features

Autumn Sonata - between the real and the unreal

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.

Merja Hottinen

September 4, 2017

Reviews

Princess Cecilia - Charmingly eclectic

Väinö Raitio (1891–1945) was one of Finland’s musical modernists in the 1920s – praised but unperformed until the last couple of decades. Nowadays, his colorful orchestral works have become the focus of growing interest. This year, the Helsinki Festival started its concert programme with a one-of-a-kind performance of Raitio’s first full-length opera, Princess Cecilia (1933) – previously performed 81 years ago.

Hanna Isolammi

August 24, 2017

Reviews

Terrorist threats and wry humour

The drama emerges from the everyday conversations of the Judge’s family but expands in the viewer’s mind – thanks in no small part to Talvitie’s powerful music, reflecting horrors in its shrieking noises, dissonances and nightmarish repetitions.

Harri Kuusisaari

April 6, 2017

Columns

Free the Kalevala from Finnishness!

"The Kalevala myth was a genuine source of inspiration for the fledgling Finnish nation in search of an identity. But has it been such a thing any more, really, since the Second World War?," asks Kimmo Hakola in his Kalevala day column.

Kimmo Hakola

February 28, 2017

Features

Sounds of shadow and light

Kaija Saariaho has composed a new opera, Only the Sound Remains, to be premiered in March. One of the significant roles is assigned to the kantele, an instrument never before used by Saariaho in her music. Playing kanteles of various sizes at the premiere will be Eija Kankaanranta, an artist known especially for her performances of contemporary music.

Hanna Isolammi

November 3, 2016

Features

Deep in sound, deep in soul

Kaija Saariaho has been a frequent visitor to the USA in recent years, and her music has been widely performed in various concert series and at festivals there. The premiere of a new production of her first opera, L’amour de loin, at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2016 will be an operatic event such as has not been seen for decades, and it will be broadcast to cinemas around the world. Not only that, but she is also working on a new opera.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

July 10, 2016

Reviews

Finnish opera is alive and well

Lauri Kilpiö

January 10, 2016

Features

Librettists in tune with the times

Themes in Finnish opera gradually became more diverse and international after the first opera boom in the early 20th century, when topics were primarily national. Opera became the scene of national aspirations in the 19th century. In many countries, not least its homeland, Italy, it was a means of expressing national ideals and of stressing unity. It was as much an item in political debate as drama and literature, and sometimes even more so.

Kimmo Korhonen

January 6, 2008

Features

Grassroots opera is all shook up

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.

Harri Kuusisaari

January 6, 2008

Features

Juha Uusitalo’s rapid rise to the top - From piccolo to bass baritone

Bass baritone Juha Uusitalo's ascent from flautist with the Finnish National Opera first onto the stage there and then that of the world's largest opera venue compares to the heroic tales of a number of Finnish conductors. Sometimes, it seems, there is no great difference between a player in the pit and an international star.

Matti Tuomisto

January 12, 2007

Features

Olli Kortekangas composes a celebratory opera

“Opera comes into its own when it presents the big emotions of ordinary people,” says composer Olli Kortekangas. “In opera you can say a lot about a certain time and the events that took place during it.” His opera Daddy’s Girl, which is to be premiered at Savonlinna in July, traces the history of Finnish independence.

Samuli Tiikkaja

January 6, 2007

Features

The New Finnish Opera Boom

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.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

January 3, 2000

Reviews

Two bites at three cherries

"The Émilie Suite is a half-hour condensation, to a 2011 commission, of Saariaho’s monologue opera Émilie of 2007–8, reduced to three vocal numbers separated by two orchestral interludes – a dramatic cantata in all but name, alternately formal and beguiling, intimate and angry, almost from gesture to gesture."

Martin Anderson

January 8, 1985

Features

Reality opera for Generation Y

Young adults + mobile phones = constant readiness for picture updates, anytime and anywhere. Conductor Ville Matvejeff spotted an opportunity in today’s world of relentless image overload and set up the New Generation Opera for photogenic young singers and, of course, for young audiences.

Jaani Länsiö

January 8, 1985

Features

Tales on stage

Operas and other stage works to be performed by and for children have been written in Finland since the 1940s. A new boom began in the 1980s and is still going strong.

Antti Häyrynen

January 8, 1985

Reviews

Booze and politics

"Whether this is an opera, a form of music theatre, a happening or an extravaganza does not matter."

Juha Torvinen

January 8, 1985

Features

Tauno Marttinen - Composer of intuition and inspiration

"Tauno Marttinen's (1912-2008) image as a composer is a colourful one. His work has relied on instinct and inspiration and is rooted in mysticism. For the 'shaman of Hämeenlinna', as he has become known, music and composition are a form of meditation, a key to the mysteries of the universe," writes Juha Torvinen in his article from 2003.

Juha Torvinen

January 8, 1985

Features

Paavo Heininen — Composer, cosmopolitan, controversialist

Paavo Heininen got down to a serious composing career, geared from the outset towards large works, at a relatively early age. This beginning came in the late 1950s, when both dodecaphony and its historical offspring serialism were making their entry into the Finnish musical arena. The newcomers encountered stern resistance: the fact that a couple of composers had determined to use the new method in no sense meant that musical life in general was ready to welcome the fresh ideas with open arms.

Jouni Kaipainen

January 8, 1985

Features

Selim Palmgren – A Finnish cosmopolite

The composer Selim Palmgren walked a tightrope between national and international trends in music. He was part of the Finnish national music movement but tried to combine this with a more international outlook.

Kimmo Korhonen

January 8, 1985

Features

The poet of the opera

The most prolific and most popular opera librettist in Finland today is a writer, poet and musician from Peru: Maritza Núñez. The opera Frida y Diego by Kalevi Aho, commissioned by the Sibelius Academy, is to be premiered at the Helsinki Musiikkitalo in October 2014.

Matti Tuomisto

January 8, 1985

Reviews

Taking the Finnish opera boom to the next level?

Kimmo Hakola writes about three opera performances at the Helsinki Festival 2015 and analyses the current state of the opera in Finland.

Kimmo Hakola

January 8, 1985

Features

Kalevi Aho: a composer of moods

"Art should be able to stir us, to wake us from our dreaming and our torpor, so that we should be forced to take a stand on the work and explain to ourselves what it means. If a composition is capable of this, then it has at the same time been able to activate the listener both emotionally and intellectually."

Kimmo Korhonen

January 8, 1985