Ville Rusanen and Riikka Rantanen in Aleksis Kivi, one of four Finnish operas on offer this autumn.

A wealth of classic and contemporary opera is on show in Helsinki this autumn.

The Finnish National Opera comes back from the summer break with a new season packed with classics, international artists and new Finnish productions.

Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Eugene Onegin opens the autumn season at the Finnish National Opera with a line-up of top-quality soloists, including the brilliant Tommi Hakala and Soile Isokoski, who star as the main couple.

Merging compelling music with the high emotions of Pushkin’s drama has made Eugene Onegin one of the best loved classics of the opera repertoire, and this production, which sees the FNO join forces with London’s Covent Garden Royal Opera House, looks set to win over Helsinki audiences with its stylish and colourful interpretation.

September sees the premiere of a striking new production of Verdi’s Aida. Combining all of the spectacle of a grand opera with the sensitive and intimate tale of the forbidden love of an Egyptian military commander and an Ethiopian slave, Aida is one of the best known works in the opera repertoire.

While Aida’s director Georg Rootering and his team have retained the original story, this production also tries to highlight the universal nature of the narrative, and transforms the tale from its usual historical setting into the twentieth century. A charming 1920s Art Deco-style hotel provides the framework for the production, combining public and private spaces – and Egypt is in the visual details.

In November, the programme takes a darker turn with the premiere of the psychologically charged, dream-like opera Die tote Stadt (The City of the Dead), which explores guilt, grief and desire through the story of a man grieving for his dead wife, who develops a passionate obsession for another woman – who looks exactly like her. This contemporary opera is a joint production by the FNO and the Royal Danish Opera, starring the acclaimed Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund.

It is the purpose of the FNO to maintain and promote Finnish opera, and this season brings no fewer than four Finnish operas to the stage, including another chance to see the fascinating portrait of Finland’s national literary hero, Aleksis Kivi, by Finland’s greatest living composer, Einojuhani Rautavaara.

LOUISA GAIRN - HT
Heikki Tuuli