Oulu Sinfonia’s January programme features two season concerts and the concert finale of the XIII Leevi Madetoja Piano Competition. The spring season also introduces a new concert start time, since the concerts will begin at 6.30 PM (with only a few exceptions).
On Thursday, 16 January, Madetoja Hall will resonate with soaring melodies as the winners of last summer’s International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition take the stage. Highlights of Mirjam Helin Competition concert presents mezzosoprano Jingjing Xu, the competition’s winner, tenor Junho Hwang, who placed third, and soprano Hedvig Haugerud, the media jury’s favourite.
The evening’s programme includes some of the most beloved arias and overtures from the operatic canon of the Classical and Romantic eras, featuring highlights from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Chief Conductor Rumon Gamba will conduct Oulu Sinfonia, and audiences can enrich their experience by attending the Head start discussion event at Restaurant Preludi at 6:00 pm, prior to the concert.
The admission-free chamber concerts by Oulu Sinfonia Chamber Musicians also begin in January. On Saturday, 18 January, the programme The Dawn of Delusion will be performed at the St. Luke’s Chapel in Linnanmaa, starting at 3:00 pm.
The traditional Leevi Madetoja Piano Competition culminates in the orchestral final at Madetoja Hall on Friday, 24 January. Held every three years since 1988, this competition is both a significant stepping stone and a valuable learning experience for young professional piano students residing in Finland. Previous winners include Mikael Loponen (2022), Tarmo Peltokoski (2018), Ossi Tanner (2015), and Hannu Alasaarela (2012). Oulu-born Alasaarela will appear later in January as a soloist in an Oulu Sinfonia season concert and perform with Oulu Sinfonia Chamber Musicians in February.
The finalists will perform movements selected from piano concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg, and Sergei Prokofiev. The competition is organised by Oulu University of Applied Sciences, and the orchestra will be conducted by Esa Heikkilä.
On Thursday, 30 January, Oulu Sinfonia explores the legacy of Ludwig van Beethoven in the concert Beethoven’s Heirs, conducted by Italian maestra Daniela Musca. This evening begins with Mats Larsson Gothe’s dynamic piece The Apotheosis of the Dance, a kaleidoscopic collage inspired by the finale of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
The concert concludes with another Beethoven-inspired masterpiece: Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, often referred to as “Tchaikovsky’s Fate Symphony” due to its emotive portrayal of the composer’s personal struggles and destiny.
The evening’s solo performance will feature pianist Hannu Alasaarela interpreting Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor. Known for its dramatic intensity and virtuosic depth, the work is often considered a cornerstone of the Romantic era. Alasaarela will also appear in Backwards and Forwards, chamber concerts by Oulu Sinfonia Chamber Musicians, on 1 February at Tulindberg Hall in Oulu Music Centre and on 2 February at Heikki Sarvela Hall in Liminka.
Text: Oulu Sinfonia
Image: Jingjing Xu