Simon Boccanegra
Watch Verdi’s fateful opera Simon Boccanegra as a recording on Stage24! The impressive creative team includes director Pierre Audi and sculptor Anish Kapoor.
Beyond the surface: Simon Boccanegra
Watch the video and hear what the team behind Simon Boccanegra have to say about the opera.
The Horseman
What happens to love in the face of oppression? Seen for the first time at the Finnish National Opera, Aulis Sallinen’s The Horseman takes audiences on a journey to a dystopian future. Jussi Nikkilä’s direction featuring Finland’s top singers promises a compelling interpretation of one of the country’s landmark operatic works.
Salome
Salome is one of the most intense and powerful operas ever created. In his electrifying revision, the masterful director Christof Loy now presents the classic work from a fresh perspective. This one-act opera captivates its audience with its unexpected elements and profound insights.
Salome returns to the Finnish National Opera’s repertoire in the autumn of 2024.
The Merry Widow
As the curtain rises, it feels as if you’re stepping into a grand, splendid celebration. Franz Lehár’s effervescent operetta The Merry Widow offers a taste of genuine old world glamour, aristocratic reverie, catchy melodies, and can-can. In spring 2025, it will be performed in Finnish.
Animal Farm
In an uprising on a farm, a group of animals overthrow their farmer’s tyrannical reign. Little by little, their new society begins to mirror human civilisation, and their original principles of equality are cast aside.
Animal Farm, based on George Orwell’s famous novel, was first performed in Amsterdam in the spring of 2023, quickly earning acclaim from audiences and critics alike. This impactful opera is an experience unlike anything seen before at the Finnish National Opera.
Isfåglarna
Isfåglarna is the most recent opera composed by Olli Kortekangas and it tells the myth of the demigod Alkyone and king Keyx, their love and trials.
Earthrise
Earthrise depicts a world where political and religious forces struggle for influence, while the scientific process reveals uncomfortable truths. The piece is based on Johannes Kepler’s science fiction novel The Dream (posthumously published in 1634) and the astronomer’s life. Directed by librettist Aleksi Barrière, the musical theater production combines 17th-century repertoire with genre-bending new music created by composer Juha T. Koskinen and vocal artist Anni Elif Egecioglu.
Don Carlos
Political scheming, a harrowing love triangle, and magnificent music. In Don Carlos, Elisabeth is married to King Philip of Spain, but her heart belongs to his son, Don Carlos. Yet, the political machinations of the state prove more powerful than their profound emotions.
In this opera classic, love and politics give rise to Verdi’s affecting melodies. Merging the themes of unattainable love and the desire for freedom, Don Carlos emerges as one of Verdi’s most intricately woven operas. The stunning new production premieres at the Finnish National Opera in spring 2025.
The Ostrobothnians
Leevi Madetoja’s The Ostrobothnians (”Pohjalaisia”) is often called Finland’s national opera, and rightly so. It’s a story about persistence, human rights, and freedom. Pohjalaisia was first performed in 1924. A century later, it reminds us of the timeless nature of stories that stir the human soul.
Now, The Ostrobothnians has been reinterpreted by some of Finland’s leading creatives. In his first opera, director Paavo Westerberg moves the story forward with cinematic impact. The set design is reminiscent of classic Westerns, in the style of the Coen brothers.