The Turku Music Festival will be bringing the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra to Turku for a concert at the festival on Friday 14 August 2020 at 19.00. Conducted by the artistic director of the festival, conductor Klaus Mäkelä, the concert will feature Swedish baritone Peter Mattei, currently appearing in the title role in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The programme comprises Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, baritone arias by Mozart and Sibelius’s Symphonies nos. 6 and 7. The concert is jointly produced with the Baltic Sea Festival of the Swedish Radio.
“The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the finest in the Nordic countries, and it has been six years since their last visit. We are honoured to welcome the orchestra to Turku again, along with one of the world’s most sought-after singers, Peter Mattei. The evening will also be unique because of being conducted by our artistic director and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä,” says Liisa Ketomäki, managing director of the Turku Music Festival. “The cities of Turku and Stockholm work closely together, and this concert is one link in a centuries-old chain of interaction and cultural exchange that will only grow stronger in the years to come,” she continues.
The Turku Music Festival previously announced plans to expand its concert offering beyond the summer season. At Turku Concert Hall on Monday 7 December 2020 at 19.00, friends of Baroque music will be treated to a concert by American mezzosoprano Joyce DiDonato and the Baroque orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro. Titled ‘Joyce DiDonato: My Favourite Things’, the concert will include some of her favourite arias by composers such as Buonamente, Cesti, Dowland, Gluck, Handel, Hasse, Monteverdi, Merula and Rossi.
Joyce DiDinato is one of the brightest stars on the opera firmament. In February, she appears in the title role of Handel’s Agrippina at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Both Wozzeck and Agrippina will be shown in Finland by Finnkino as Met Live HD screenings.
“If audiences find us outside August, meaning that there is demand, the Turku Music Festival Foundation will seek to hold more concerts at other times of the year, in keeping with its strategy. Joyce DiDonato is a versatile performer who has no doubt attracted new audiences to opera. We are pleased to welcome her to Turku with a programme that is deeply meaningful for her. Il Pomo d’Oro are old friends, they have almost become a fixture at the festival,” says Liisa Ketomäki.
Tickets to both concerts (14 August 2020 and 7 December 2020) will go on sale at all Lippupiste points of sale on 9 January 2020 at 12.00.
The Turku Music Festival previously announced four other concerts in its programme for 2020. Baritone Aarne Pelkonen performs with some of Finland’s finest musicians in February. Tenor Juan Diego Flórez gives a recital with pianist Vincenzo Scalera on 28 July in a head start to the festival in August. Soprano Nadine Sierra appears with the Turku Philharmonic on 13 August, and countertenor Franco Fagioli appears in a Mozart programme with the Basel Chamber Orchestra on 4 October, coinciding with the Turku Book Fair.
“We are on a path of strong growth, and we are seeking more international awareness and wider audiences. We wish to promote cultural tourism to Turku and to Finland as a whole. We will be talking more about this before publishing the full festival programme in March,” says Liisa Ketomäki.
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The full programme of the Turku Music Festival will be released on Tuesday 10 March 2020. The artistic director of the festival is conductor Klaus Mäkelä.