Waterworld: firm musical foundations in Pelléas et Mélisande

By Hugo Shirley, 03 June 2019

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“the rush of drama as jealousy and suspicion increasingly infect Golaud was visceral”

Reviewed at Finnish National Opera: Main Hall (Suomen Kansallisoopera: päänäyttämö), Helsinki on 31 May 2019

Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande

Finnish National Opera

Esa-Pekka Salonen, Conductor

Marco Arturo Marelli, Director, Set Designer

Dagmar Niefind, Costume Designer

Ville Rusanen, Pelléas

Camilla Tilling, Mélisande

Laurent Naouri, Golaud

Jyrki Korhonen, Arkel

Lilli Paasikivi, Geneviève

Mia Heikkinen, Yniold

Jussi Merikanto, A Doctor

Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera

Iolanta paired with Luonnotar in dramatic Helsinki double bill

No’a L. bat Miri, 15th May

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

*****

Fagerlund’s interpretation of Morning Star dawns over Helsinki

No’a L. bat Miri, 30th January

Finnish National Opera premieres an emotionally diffuse interpretation of the Karl Ove Knausgård’s novel The Morning Star, with Swedish libretto by Gunilla Hemming and direction by Thomas de Mallet Burgess.

**111

Elisabet Strid renders Tosca an Everywoman in Helsinki

No’a L. bat Miri, 19th November

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

****1

Salonen's Helsinki Rheingold celebrates Finnish vocal talent

Nahoko Gotoh, 14th September

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.

*****

Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Rheingold: a Finnish tour de force

Aksel Tollåli, 25th August

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

*****

An emotional new Tosca from Christof Loy in Helsinki

Laura Servidei, 21st September

Carè, Stundytė and Pursio all shine as singers and actors in an intense, exciting production at the Finnish National Opera.

****1

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Waterworld: firm musical foundations in Finnish National Opera's Pelléas et Mélisande