Posted on Facebook 2/5
Today Pamela Espeland wrote a very informative and inspiring review of this weekend’s concert for MinnPost. She says, “ ’Kullervo’ is horrifying, devastating and magnificent. The music lifts you up and slams you down and stabs you through the heart. It overflows with imagination, with long and short passages you want to hear again immediately. It’s so much to listen to and absorb that it’s exhausting. Imagine how the musicians must feel after playing it.” Read her whole report here: https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/02/six-reasons-hear-minnesota-orchestra-play-kullervo
VERY FEW tickets remain for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s performances of “Kullervo,” “Finlandia,” and Kortekangas’ “Migrations.” If you can’t get to Orchestra Hall, be sure to listen in tonight @ 8:00 on MN Public Radio (broadcast and streamed). More info here: http://www.classicalmpr.org/program/minnesota-orchestra
If you have tickets that you can’t use, please exchange or bank them. It’s easy to do here: https://boxoffice.minnesotaorchestra.org/cart/forms/change.aspx
If you want to try to grab one of the remaining seats, call the box office at 612.371.5656 or click here: https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/503/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrUN-_krLIU
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall wearing the Finnish blue and white this weekend!
Today Pamela Espeland wrote a very informative and inspiring review of this weekend’s concert for MinnPost. She says, “ ’Kullervo’ is horrifying, devastating and magnificent. The music lifts you up and slams you down and stabs you through the heart. It overflows with imagination, with long and short passages you want to hear again immediately. It’s so much to listen to and absorb that it’s exhausting. Imagine how the musicians must feel after playing it.” Read her whole report here: https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2016/02/six-reasons-hear-minnesota-orchestra-play-kullervo
VERY FEW tickets remain for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s performances of “Kullervo,” “Finlandia,” and Kortekangas’ “Migrations.” If you can’t get to Orchestra Hall, be sure to listen in tonight @ 8:00 on MN Public Radio (broadcast and streamed). More info here: http://www.classicalmpr.org/program/minnesota-orchestra
If you have tickets that you can’t use, please exchange or bank them. It’s easy to do here: https://boxoffice.minnesotaorchestra.org/cart/forms/change.aspx
If you want to try to grab one of the remaining seats, call the box office at 612.371.5656 or click here: https://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/503/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrUN-_krLIU
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall wearing the Finnish blue and white this weekend!

Posted on Facebook 2/3
SOSMN has donated special COUGH DROPS for patrons attending LIVE RECORDINGS of this weekend’s concerts!
You have probably heard that all three of this weekend’s performances will be recorded live by BIS for a future CD. Food and beverages will be prohibited from the Hall just for this weekend, and of course cellphones must be turned off.
We at SOSMN wanted to help minimize any coughing in the audience, so we purchased a large supply of cough drops with non-crinkly wrappers for the ushers to give you as you enter. So PLEASE ask for one if you feel any throat scratchiness at all! Thank you, and enjoy this unique concert experience!
If you don’t have your tickets yet, just click here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/502/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrFA7bIrLIV
SOSMN has donated special COUGH DROPS for patrons attending LIVE RECORDINGS of this weekend’s concerts!
You have probably heard that all three of this weekend’s performances will be recorded live by BIS for a future CD. Food and beverages will be prohibited from the Hall just for this weekend, and of course cellphones must be turned off.
We at SOSMN wanted to help minimize any coughing in the audience, so we purchased a large supply of cough drops with non-crinkly wrappers for the ushers to give you as you enter. So PLEASE ask for one if you feel any throat scratchiness at all! Thank you, and enjoy this unique concert experience!
If you don’t have your tickets yet, just click here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/502/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrFA7bIrLIV
Posted on Facebook 2/2
Are you a bit mystified by Finnish mythology and “Kullervo” in particular? Wondering about Sibelius’ interpretation of this legend in an orchestral-choral work? Well, our friend Scott Chamberlain comes to the rescue!
Read Scott’s fascinating article on the legend, Sibelius’ composition, its reception, and why attending one of this weekend’s performances by The Minnesota Orchestra, mezzo Lilli Paasikivi, baritone Tommi Hakala, and the Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat (Finland’s YL Male Voice Choir) under the direction of Osmo Vänskä is mandatory! Here’s the link: https://maskoftheflowerprince.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/sibeliuss-kullervo/
Some tidbits:
“It is the work that created Sibelius’s reputation.”
“The tale is a grim one, but it had great resonance in Finland during the 19th and 20th centuries, while the country was still under the heel of Imperial Russia. Finns saw Kullervo as a metaphor for their own fate—born under an unlucky star, and constantly thrown into hard situations by outside powers.”
“YL Chorus’s singing…male singing at its finest, with rich tone, vocal power, and flawless delivery… at the key moments, their combined sound was like a force of nature…a performance for the ages.“
This weekend’s program also includes Kortekangas’ “Migrations” and Sibelius’ “Finlandia.”
If you don’t have your tickets yet for the Thursday morning or Friday or Saturday evening performance, there’s still a little time! More info and ticketing here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/502/-/vaenskae-conducts-kullervo#.VrFA7bIrLIV
Thanks, Scott!
(Image: “Kullervo Speaks to His Sword,” 1868, by sculptor Carl Eneas Sjöstrand)