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In Helsinki, Antony McDonald pairs Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with a staged version of Sibelius’ tone poem Luonnotar, brilliantly voiced by soprano Silja Aalto.

Christof Loy’s psychological staging returns to the stage of Finnish National Opera, with Swedish soprano Elisabet Strid compelling in the title role. 

For any opera house, the production of a new Wagner Ring cycle is a huge undertaking and becomes a mission statement. For Finnish National Opera, its mission is to stage an all-Finnish Ring.

In an unusually convincing concert performance, Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Finnish National Opera emphasised the lyrical aspects of Wagner's Das Rheingold.

This was more stadium rock than stuffy opera house, lighting as ‘metaphor made real’ as the lovers were – literally – star-struck, blinded by love.

Christof Loy ist eine glaubhafte psychologische Durchdringung der Handlung und ihrer Protagonisten gelungen, die in jeder Sekunde aus der Musik heraus empfunden ist.