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Finnish National Opera  and Ballet 2008/9: The company's first season under its new artistic management is announced (BK)


Conductor Mikko Franck took up the post of Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera in January, and the new Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet, Kenneth Greve from Denmark, will officially be taking up his post in August. At the press conference on 17th April where they announced the programme for the coming season, they each outlined their plans for the coming years.

In surveying the repertoire of the Finnish National Opera, Mikko Franck has found gaps which he intends to fill during his tenure. There will be more works by Giuseppe Verdi, French opera, and works by 20thcentury composers. “Verdi is one of my focus areas. This will open with the new production of Rigoletto premiering in November, directed by Georg Rootering and featuring two wonderful guest artists, Paolo Gavanelli and Charles Castronovo,” Franck says.

Before Rigoletto,  in September the classic Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber will be premiered in a new Finnish translation and in a production set in Hollywood. The main roles will be taken by Kirsi Tiihonen, Päivi Nisula and Jorma Silvasti.

Mikko Franck considers it essential for the Finnish National Opera to continue promoting and upholding Finnish opera. “We are a country internationally known for opera, and it is important to keep contact with the history of Finnish opera. In the 2008–2009 season, there will be not one but two new productions of Finnish operas, our national opera Pohjalaisia (The Ostrobothnians) and Isän tyttö (Daddy’s girl), the most recent and by many accounts the best opera of Olli Kortekangas.”

Two further Finnish works will be returning to the repertoire: the first Finnish opera of all time, Kung Karls jakt (The Hunt of King Charles, in Swedish), and Gabriel, tule takaisin (Come back, Gabriel) by Ilkka Kuusisto, which will be staged in Almi Hall.

The autumn will also feature La fanciulla del West and Tosca by Puccini and also the operetta The Merry Widow, which is  premiered this spring. After a break of ten years, Matti Salminen will be appearing in the title role of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, and Eugene Onegin will also be returning in the autumn, with Tommi Hakala and Gabriel Suovanen alternating in the title role. The spring programme will feature The Magic Flute, a production in Finnish for the whole family, Così fan tutte and the returning production of Die Frau ohne Schatten directed by Michael Hampe.

Kenneth Greve reshapes the repertoire of the Finnish National Ballet

“I have reshaped the repertoire quite a bit,” says Kenneth Greve. He will be taking up the post of Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet in August. Naturally, the programme for the 2008–2009 season also shows the hand of retiring Ballet Director Dinna Bjørn but Greve envisions “a wide selection of dance”, both grand classical ballet and contemporary dance.

The first new production under Greve will be a Nordic one, Nordic Dimension, a triple bill featuring the world premiere of a new work by Jorma Elo, a Finnish choreographer enjoying a rapidly rising international career; 91° N, an exploration of communality by young Finnish choreographer Jouka Valkama; and Walking Mad by Johan Inger from Sweden.

In February, Finnish choreographer Kenneth Kvarnström will be making a return to the Finnish National Ballet. He recently finished his term as director of Dansens Hus in Stockholm. His new, as yet untitled, work will be featured on the triple bill The Lost Symphony together with Seventh Symphony by Uwe Scholz and Le tableau perdu by Christian Spuck. In May, the popular classic The Taming of the Shrew, an interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy by John Cranko, will be premiered.

Two works based on Russian classic literature will return to the repertoire: Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina as choreographed by Alexey Ratmansky, and John Neumeier’s The Seagull, based on the play by Chekhov. Sleeping Beauty as modernized by Javier Torres, a former member of the Finnish National Ballet, was hugely popular in spring 2008 and will return to open the Christmas season in December. In April, contemporary masterpieces will return to the programme on the double bill Kylián – Ek, featuring Stepping Stones by Jiří Kylián and FLUKE by Mats Ek.

There will also be two premieres in Almi Hall. Patients by Thomas Rydberg explores how we face ageing, illness and death in our time — spiced with dark humour. In March, members of the Finnish National Ballet will have the opportunity to try their hand at choreography in Second Step, a joint production with students of costume and lighting design at Finnish arts universities. The repertoire performed in Almi Hall is also intended for touring.

Guest appearances abroad are planned

Kenneth Greve intends to introduce regular foreign tours during his term. “I want to make the Finnish National Ballet into a top international ensemble. We are not yet as known worldwide as I would like, but that is something I want to change,” he says. “The Finnish National Ballet has an international and positive attitude, and the people are open to new inputs and new challenges,” he continues.

Mikko Franck would also like to see the Finnish National Opera tour abroad, and also to perform opera and ballet elsewhere in Finland

Bill Kenny

The Finnish National Opera and Ballet Web Site is Here

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