DANIEL BÖRTZ Medea (2012-14) Dur: 130’
Libretto: Daniel Börtz after Euripides (Sw/Ger) 7 sol, speaking part, women’s choir and orch: 3333-4331-05-1-str
The opera is based on the myth of Medea from Colchis, who carries out a bloody revenge after being abandoned by her husband Jason, and finally even takes the life of her two children. The music ranges from intensive suggestion and restless strings, over vibrating emotions, marked rhythmical percussion accents and violent outbursts, to endless tranquillity in chaos. It delves deep into the human psyche, especially Medea’s, a demanding role for a dramatic soprano who is on stage the whole time. The choir of women follows Medea’s fate, they comment and react.
KIMMO HAKOLA Akseli (2012) Dur: 70’
Libretto: Pekka Hako (Fin) baritone and chamber ensemble (8 players)
A monologue opera originally composed for Jorma Hynninen, Akseli tells of the great Finnish painter Akseli Gallén-Kallela (1865–1931) in a metaphorical portrait of his mindscapes and creative passion. The libretto traces the young artist to Paris, and from there to Berlin and light-filled Africa. Hakola’s music is at times bursting with National-Romantic melody, waltz rhythms and elements of folk and electronic music, with an intensity that never flags.
MIKKO HEINIÖ Johanna (2016-18) Dur: 105’
Libretto: Pirkko Saisio (Fin) 7 sol, chorus and orch: 2222-2210-10-str
Due to cancelled performance plans the opera Johanna is now available for a premiere – an opportunity worth grabbing! The powerful libretto weaves together the stories of 15th-century Joan of Arc and Johanna, a 21st-century drama-queen entertainer. On the surface, it is about two provocative, charismatic women – but also their abuse and exploitation. Joan/Johanna is a dual role, one for each historical context, and the same applies for other singers. Heiniö’s music has his strong signature rhythmic and sensual charge and there are some mighty choral scenes.
FREDRIK HÖGBERG/NICOLAI DUNGER Stilla min eld (Appease My Fire) (2016) Dur: 120’ Libretto: Kerstin Gezelius/Alexander Onofri (Sw/Eng) 5 sol, fl-cl-pf- perc-string trio
The plot is set in a luxurious flat in central London. Hans K. Rausing, heir to the TetraPak conglomerate, locks himself in with his dead wife Eva for two months. The two had vowed eternal love to one another, not even death could separate them. A poignant and deeply tragic story about love and drug abuse, based on true events. The music is kept close to the feelings described in the text. It is very direct and melodious with a dark, melancholy tone.
FREDRIK HÖGBERG The Woman of Cain (2009-13) Dur: 135’
Libretto: Tove Alsterdal (Eng) 8 sol, speaking part, choir, dancers and orch: 3333-4231-13-1-str
This is the story about the woman of Cain, whose origin and identity until now have remained unknown. It is a story about the people who believed they were the first people on earth; a drama about truth and lies, forbidden love, the everlasting dream of a paradise and human struggle to control life itself. With irresistible post-modern music and optional spectacular multimedia scenographics noted in the score.
OLLI KORTEKANGAS Elämänkuvat (Pictures of Life) (2018) Dur: 55’ Libretto: Pia Perkiö (Fin) 2 sol (soprano, baritone), chorus and orch: 2121-2110-11-cemb-str
This church opera is a recent gem: music of both bubbling joy and resignation tinged with melancholy, along with mystical allusions to the other world. The vocal parts are skilfully written, Kortekangas being thoroughly familiar with the human voice. Included is an impressive orchestral intermezzo, which according to the critics is possibly the finest music by Kortekangas
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HIGHLIGHTS
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REVIEWS
Topical operas ever heard. The libretto lets the different time perspectives meet in an emotionally touching way with two main characters in dialogue: Maalari (a Painter) and Mariia.
JYRKI LINJAMA Kolme kirjettä Laestadiukselle (Three Letters to Laestadius) (2015-17)
Photo: Tomas Terekas
REPER TOIR E TIPS
Dur: 110’ Libretto: Michael Baran (Fin) 2 sol (baritone, mezzo-soprano), hn-perc-cembvl-vla-vc
This significant polemic church opera has aroused a wealth of emotions and speaks to listeners regardless of religious background. Laestadius encounters an angel, sees flashbacks from his own life and receives letters from women contemporaries abused by the religious community. It is to these women that he speaks; his questions are addressed to God. The result is an impressive drama acted out in intense and subtle music.
PASI LYYTIKÄINEN Der unveröffentlichte Film der Eva Braun (The unpublished tape of Eva Braun) (2019-20) Dur: 35’ Libretto: Maritza Núñez (Ger) soprano and chamber ensemble (9 players)
This brand-new monologue opera is an absurd, surreal description of the aging Eva Braun tracing her life, choices, emotions, regrets and forgotten dreams. It is a highly entertaining show which also has its dramatic, more serious turns. The music does not have any dull moments: it moves forward with a drive and includes catchy stylistic allusions: folk songs, marches and jazzy schlagers in cabaret style. This is a dream role for any soprano!
Žibuoklė Martinaitytė
Martinaityté – next trending Baltic composer
Libretto: Juha Siltanen (Eng) 5 sol, tap dancer, 2 keyboards-perc-elgtr-vla-vcl (amplified)
Having been based in the USA for some years, on the strength of this expansive first album of orchestral works it’s high time she received wider international recognition… Martinaitytė has written of her desire for beauty, and in Millefleur she seeks ‘acoustic pleasures, as though walking through a beautiful sonic garden.’ But this does not mean that her work lacks tension or challenge. BBC Music Magazine 18.3.
A pop-inflected, seductively melodious, absurd and thrilling opera which has enjoyed almost a cult status in Finland. Included is a stunning tap dance scene and many more surprises. The libretto draws a portrait of Andy Warhol as a lonely man surrounded by the masses. Nuorvala utilises an unusual microtonal tuning system to imbue the music with a fascinating sense of the unreal.
The music flows along in broad sweeps, melancholy and menacing, yet I have found it very consoling and stimulating. I therefore reckon that Martinaitytė will be the Baltic’s next great international name in contemporary music. Yle.fi 4.3.
SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM Föreställningen (The Performance) (2013) Dur: 60’
Finely recorded and annotated, this is an ideal way to explore Martinaitytė‘s singular musical vision. Gramophone April 2021
Three women find themselves at the mental hospital La Salpêtriére in Paris in the late 19th century, waiting for their turn to expose their states of mind before the world-renowned Dr. Charcot and an audience of celebrities. One can sense the women´s apprehension and anxiety in the music´s rapid fluctuations between the deeply painful and the joyful lovely melodies. An ingenious feature are the deep Balinese gongs that accentuate the darkness in the story.
Like Saariaho, Martinaitytė has great experience of instrumentation and her orchestral work shimmers, sparkles, vibrates and pulses in a fascinating play of colour... The music has a strong visual, at times cinematic streak – and a pronounced feel for drama, so that the listener’s interest seldom or never flags. Hufvudstadsbladet 26.5.
ALBERT SCHNELZER Norrmalmstorgsdramat (The Stockholm Syndrome) (2017)
Žibuoklė Martinaitytė: Saudade, Millefleur, Horizons, Chiaroscuro Trilogy CD: Lithuanian National SO, Lithuanian CO/ Giedrė Šlekytė, sol. Gabrielius Alekna, pf (Ondine ODE-1386-2)
JUHANI NUORVALA Flash Flash - The Two Deaths of Andy Warhol (2005) Dur: 120’
Libretto: Katarina Frostenson (Sw) 3 sol, cl-perc-pf-string quartet
Dur: 110’ Libretto: Patrik Sörling (Sw) 5 sol, dancer, orch: 1111-1110-01-pf/cel-str (11111)
A psychologically gripping chamber opera about the hostage drama in central Stockholm in 1973, when an armed man walked into a bank and took four bank employees hostage. The drama gave rise to the concept ”The Stockholm Syndrome”, meaning that the victim starts to sympathise with the perpetrator. Schnelzer’s music is fateful and full of tension, with urgent rhythms of ticking woodwinds and pulsating strings. Above this, the soloist parts are strikingly attractive with their melancholy melodies. Equally so are the ensemble parts, as in the concluding chorale where the entire hostage group and the robber, resigned to their fate, sing the words ”to die at one’s post – how sweet it will be”.
Wennäkoski’s piano trio the real jewel in the crown
Lotta Wennäkoski’s Päärme (Hem) for piano trio was the evening’s most powerful experience. We have here a work that does justice to its ‘extra-musical’ idea, sewing. The central element, rhythm, blends perfectly with the piano and string parts. Hufvudstadsbladet 3.7. Lotta Wennäkoski: Päärme for piano trio Trio Teos (Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, vl, Jaan Ots, pf, Jaani Helander, vlc), 1.7. 2021 Helsinki, Finland