Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Energetic, melancholic and mystical – Helsinki is all that. It is international, it swims upstream, it is a classic. The city’s diversity resonates with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s concert on the Night of the Arts. The concert format also supports the diversity: it is performed at Musiikkitalo and broadcast in three parks in Helsinki.

The concert features works from three composers, all born in or residents of Helsinki. Lotta Wennäkoski’s five-minute Flounce was premiered at the 2017 BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, ensuring the composer’s international breakthrough.

This modern hit is followed by Einojuhani Rautavaara’s early work A Requiem in Our Time, which he dedicated to his mother. Composed for brass instruments and percussion, it made Rautavaara famous in the United States, as well.

The concert ends with Uuno Klami’s impressive Kalevala Suite, which the composer worked on for nearly two decades. The work left behind the national romantic heaviness and brought Kalevala into the modern world.

The Kalevala Suite premiered in 1943, and was performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra back then as well.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste.