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World video travel guide
Savonlinna Opera Festival begins with the season’s big event:
sensational Kullervo
The Opera Festival begins on July 4 with the devastating story of Kullervo. Also
contributing to the first week’s festival fever are the concert by the winners of last
year’s Timo Mustakallio Competition and the premieres of Madama Butterfly and
Carmen.
The Festival is giving five performances of Aulis Sallinen’s opera Kullervo featuring
a magnificent cast of Finnish ‘premier-league’ singers. The opera is based on the
play of the same name by Aleksis Kivi and the Finnish national epic The Kalevala.
The stage director is Kari Heiskanen and the conductor is Hannu Lintu, Chief
Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. “Control and inspiration,
orchestral timbres and intensity are what matter most,” says Hannu Lintu. “The
conductor doesn’t need a philosophers’ stone.”
Singing the title role is baritone Tommi Hakala, while baritone Ville Rusanen,
Artist of the Year, is cast as Kimmo. Tuija Knihtilä, mezzo-soprano, is Kullervo’s
mother, and singer-actress Maria Ylipää is the blind singer. With these Finnish
soloists are the Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra and Choir.
On July 5, adding to the excitement of the first week will be the joint concert by
the winners of last year’s Timo Mustakallio Competition – Tuuli Takala (soprano)
and Pihla Terttunen (mezzo-soprano) – and the premiere of Madama Butterfly
stage-directed by Henry Akina and conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig. The stage
designs are by Dean Shibuya. Alternating in the leading role of Cio-Cio San are
sopranos Ausrine Stundyte and Helena Juntunen, and as Pinkerton tenors Andrea
Caré and Giorgio Berrugi.
The July 7 premiere of Carmen, now back in the Savonlinna repertoire, will be
conducted by a Festival first-timer, Frédéric Chaslin. Mezzo-sopranos Nadia
Krasteva and Katharina Goeldner will alternate as Carmen and sopranos Mari Palo
and Emily Dorn as Micaëla. Starring as Don José will be Canadian tenor Luc Robert
and as Escamillo baritones Randall Jakobsh and Aris Argiris.
The big family attraction, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, returns to Olavinlinna Castle
on July 14 under the baton of Okko Kamu. The stage direction by Anselmi
Hirvonen is based on the original one by August Everding. The stage designs and
costumes are the work of Tom Businger. Mika Kares (bass) sings Sarastro and
sopranos Klára Kolonits and Tuuli Takala make their Savonlinna debut as the
Queen of the Night. This year, for the first time, the Festival is offering children’s
tickets for performances of The Magic Flute and particularly recommends the
matinée on July 26.
The visiting opera house at the end of the season is Welsh National Opera, bringing along two works not often heard: Verdi’s Nabucco and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. Nabucco is sold out.
Amorphis, ambassador for Finnish mythology, takes over Olavinlinna Castle on July 13. The world fame of this heavy-metal band has its roots in lyrics drawing on the Finnish national epic The Kalevala and its sister lyrical-poetry work The Kanteletar.
Sunday July 20 is the date for a Ballet Gala produced in collaboration with Open Dance – a rare opportunity for audiences to see some of the world’s finest dancers from European and Russian ballet houses. These will include Anastasia and Denis Matvienko from the Mariinsky Theatre, Irina Perren and Marat Shemiunov from the Mikhailovsky Theatre, Remi Wortmeyer from the Dutch National Ballet and Oxana Kucheruk from the Grand Theatre of Bordeaux. The strains of Mozart’s Requiem will fill the sold-out Kerimäki Church in a performance the same evening conducted by Dalia Stasevska.
Further info: Artistic Director Jorma Silvasti, tel. +358 44 743 3631, jorma.silvasti@operafestival.fi
General Director Jan Strandholm, tel. +358 41 513 2456, jan.strandholm@operafestival.fi
Savonlinna Opera Festival Press Office, tel. +358 15 476 7529
Olavinkatu 27, 57100 Savonlinna, www.operafestival.fi
Communications manager Päivi Nikkilä, tel. +358 40 746 0062, media@operafestival.fi
Representatives of the media are asked to seek accreditation
in good time: www.operafestival.fi/en/footer/Media/Accreditation
Accreditation and picture gallery at www.operafestival.fi/en/footer/Media
User ID: press, password: press
Tickets: Savonlinna Opera Festival Ticket Office, tel. +358 15 476 750, sales@operafestival.fi Lippupiste, tel. 358 600 900 900 (€1.98 /min+lnc/mpc, open daily 7–22), www.lippu.fi
The Savonlinna Opera Festival
The Savonlinna Opera Festival is the Finnish cultural event best known internationally and a leading Finnish tourist attraction. Over the years it has grown into an international festival lasting one month. It attracts an annual total audience of around 60,000, a good 10 per cent from abroad. A visit to the opera in Savonlinna is an all-round experience made up of first-class opera performances and concerts, the unique atmosphere of a medieval castle and the beautiful town of Savonlinna in summer, set amid lakes, islands and forests. Savonlinna has become a concept among opera-lovers the world over.
The budget for the 2014 Festival is €8.3m, of which about 80% is self-financed and 20% grants (the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Town of Savonlinna).
