THE HELSINKI SKAALA OPERA (OOPPERA SKAALA)

- contemporary opera for contemporary people-

Founded in 1996, the Helsinki Skaala Opera is a pioneer in contemporary Finnish opera. It has premiered or mounted the first performances of twenty new operatic works in Europe. Besides being a recognized and awarded company in Finland, the Helsinki Skaala Opera is also a sought-after collaborating partner for some of the country’s most renowned artists and organizations.

Skaala’s guiding principle is the search for new forms of operatic expression and perspectives for the making of art. The company reinterprets the conventions of opera in many ways: performance venues change, casts and crews vary, and singers, musicians, composers and directors break out of their traditional roles.

Based in Helsinki, Finland, the Helsinki Skaala Opera also tours and makes guest appearances; most recently the company performed at the Soundstreams Canada festival in Toronto in May of 2003. For its purposeful work the Helsinki Skaala Opera received the Finnish Award for Young Artists in 1998.

COMING UP IN AUGUST 2010

YUKIO MISHIMA - JUHA T. KOSKINEN
MADAME DE SADE

Opera in three acts, based on Yukio Mishima's play
Composed by Juha T. Koskinen
Libretto by the composer and Janne Lehmusvuo, based on Yukio Mishima’s play
Director: Janne Lehmusvuo

Love and sadism, passion and hate

"If your husband tells you to turn into a dog, will you turn into a dog?
Where is your female pride?"

France, 1772. Faithful Madame de Sade is waiting for her husband's long prison sentence to end, only to abandon him the very moment he is free at last. In this story seen through the eyes of a woman, the principal character is, after all, a man. The licentious Marquis de Sade, who remains off-stage throughout the opera, pervades the thoughts and actions of six women of his life. The women undergo transformations, at times coming into painful contact with each other, at times breaking away.

Although the Revolution nears and finally erupts, it seems to have little effect on the lives of the noblewomen isolated in their salon. In the end it nevertheless turns all their relationships upside down, just like the Marquis shattered his prison from within, using the power of his writings.

According to the composer, the opera is an endless labyrinth of metamorphoses, colours, scents and mental images. Extremely delicate and erotically charged, it embraces the characters' psychological complexity and suppressed emotions.

Juha T. Koskinen on his work:
I have aimed at Rossini-like lightness and quick tempo, in particular in the ensemble parts, though stylistically opting for more contemporary means of expression.

In the music, the emphasis is on vocal lines, much in the same way as in the Italian operas of the bel canto period. The orchestra will however have its moments in the foreground whenever necessary.

The musical identity of Renée, or Madame de Sade, develops in the course of the work, and it is not until the end of the third act that it reaches its full maturity. By contrast, Renée's mother, Madame de Montreuil, will find her musical identity gradually cracking and peeling off, and dissolving at the very end into Renée's ecstatic vision.

Performed in Finnish, text in English

Performance dates:
11.8.2010 19.00 (premiere)
13.8.2010 19.00
14.8.2010 19.00
15.8.2010 19.00

Tickets 15/25 euros from Lippupiste.fi
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Will be performed in
Korjaamo Culture Factory
Streetcar Hall (Vaunuhalli)
Töölönkatu 51 A-B, Helsinki, Finland

Will be performed in Korjaamo Culture Factory Streetcar Hall (Vaunuhalli)
Töölönkatu 51 A-B, Helsinki, Finland

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THE PREMIERES OF THE HELSINKI SKAALA OPERA:

2009 internationally touring production
"A Madrigal Opera", composed by Philip Glass, texts by Lauri Otonkoski

2008 internationally touring production
”Turing Machine”, composed by Eeppi Ursin and Visa Oscar, libretto by Taina Seitovirta based on the play by Miko Jaakkola and Jussi Lehtonen

2007internationally touring production
”Fitness Light Opera”, composed by Kirmo Lintinen, libretto by Veli-Pekka Hänninen, libretto translated in English by Taina Seitovirta

2006
“The Manson Family – An Opera”, composed by John Moran, libretto by John Moran

2006
"In The Penal Colony ", composed by Philip Glass, libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer, libretto translated in Finnish by Taina Seitovirta

2005
"TUMPS! Stand up -opera", composed by Juha T. Koskinen, Pasi Lyytikäinen and Adam Vilagi, libretto by Markku Toikka

2005
"Les Enfants Terribles", composed by Philip Glass, libretto by Philip Glass and Susan Marshall

2004
"Kaappi" ("Closet"), composed by Seppo Pohjola, libretto by Janne Suutarinen and Seppo Pohjola

2004
"Hetkinen" ("Little while"), composed by Atso Almila, Kirmo Lintinen and Pasi Lyytikäinen, libretto by Liselott Frosman

2004
"Rantapalloja ja Rintakarvoja" ("Beach Balls and Hairy Chests"), composed by Lauri Kilpiö, libretto by Christian Lindblad

2003
"Solity:d", composed by Perttu Haapanen, libretto by Christian Lindblad

2002
"Brunelda – Amerikan sydän" ("Brunelda – the Heart of America"), composed by Juha T. Koskinen, libretto by Juha T. Koskinen and Karla Loppi based on Franz Kafka’s novel "America"

2001
"Voi vietävä!" (Nuts about Nosh"), composed by Kirmo Lintinen, libretto by Päivi Loponen and Karla Loppi

2000
"Marsin mestarilaulajat" ("The Mastersingers of Mars"), composed by Kimmo Hakola, libretto by Matti Hagelberg and Karla Loppi

2000
"Eukko - pidättekö vainajista" ("Old Woman – Are You Fond of Dead People?"), composed by Juha T. Koskinen, libretto by Juha T. Koskinen and Janne Lehmusvuo based on the short story by Daniil Harms

1999
"Blod - en vampyropera i vår tid" ("Blood"), composed by Mats Larsson-Gothe, libretto by Lucia Cajchanova

1998
"Fahrenheit 451", based on Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel of the same name, composed by Brenton Broadstock, libretto translated into Finnish by Karla Loppi

1997
"Unelmatehdas" ("A Game of Chance"), composed by Seymor Barab, libretto translated and freely edited into Finnish by Jaana Rinne

1996
"Hospital – Saippuaooppera" ("A Soap Opera"), composed by Douglas Moore, libretto translated into Finnish by Erkki Pullinen

1996
"Velhosiskot" ("Witch Sisters"), score and libretto by Juha T. Koskinen