Leevi Madetoja: The OstrobothniansFinnish National Opera Helsinki

The Ostrobothnians (in Finnish Pohjalaisia) by Leevi Madetojas (1887–1947) is regarded as Finland's national opera. A work about perseverance, human rights and freedom, it premiered in 1924, six years after the Finnish civil war in which the composer's brother was killed. Finland had only just gained its independence from Tsarist Russia when it was swept up in the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

The Ostrobothnians shows Leevi Madetoja succeeding where his teacher, Jean Sibelius, had failed: that is, creating a quintessentially Finnish opera for a country without any operatic tradition of its own. No sooner had it premiered than The Ostrobothnians became a fixture of the Finnish oper-atic repertoire (where it has remained to this day) and was performed in Germany, Sweden and Denmark even during Madetoja's own lifetime.

The work owes its success to a combination of factors: the lush beauty of the composer's tonal, if sombre score, the use of folk melodies that the audience knew well (intermingled with Madetoja's own musical idiom), a libretto (likewise by Madetoja) based on a popular stage play about the struggle for freedom and self-determination, whose allegorical qualities were bound to resonate with a people that had just recently had to fight for their independence, and, finally, its intelligent balance of comedic and tragic elements.

This modern staging of The Ostrobothnians involved some of Finland’s leading artists, most notably Paavo Westerberg, a director best known for his film and TV productions here making his debut in the world of opera. The potato field where the action is set is the work of the scenographer Erlend Birkeland. The orchestra of the Finnish National Opera is conducted by Kaapo Iljas.

Madetoja's Ostrobothnians is a verismo opera that tells the story of a farming community that rises up in protest against an oppressive sheriff. It is set on Finland's west coast, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The modern province of Pohjanmaa occupies only a fraction of historical Ostrobothnia, whose name is a reminder of the other major language spoken there: Swedish.

Most of the opera’s cast of characters belong to the estate of the freeholder Erkki Harri. They in-clude his daughter Maija, his son, various milkmaids and farmhands, and, of course, Harri himself, who is also in charge of transporting prisoners. When Maija's betrothed, Antti Hanka, is charged with murder, he is taken to prison by her own father, thus setting in motion a tale of murder, jeal-ousy, abuse of power and the struggle for freedom.

Westerberg has made a name for himself in Finland both as an actor and as a scriptwriter and director. His television productions have won many awards and he also writes plays as well as directing the work of other dramatists.

Erlend Birkeland, who comes from Norway and studied in Denmark and Oslo, represented Norway at the 1999 International Quadriennale in Prague, where he created a stage set for Fuglane. Since then, he has produced stage sets for nearly a hundred opera productions both in Scandinavia and on the Continent.

Kaapo Ijas was born in 1988 and has risen to prominence at the rostrum of several world-class orchestras, including the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Turku Philharmonic and the Polish National Radio SO (NOSPR). Ijas has a particular fondness for opera's dramatic range, its almost seamless combination of music and drama and the sense of community and solidarity that arises when working on such large productions. He conducts at opera houses all over Europe, from Helsinki to Oslo and Vienna.

Recorded at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki on 12 December 2024.