Innocence_kimppu

Innocence

Kaija Saariaho - Sofi Oksanen
Operas
Main Stage
Total duration 1 h 45 min
Total duration 1 h 45 min
no intermission
Operas
Main Stage
tickets
20-129 €

Innocence will be in repertoire in autumn 2022

Innocence, the new opera by Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen, will not be seen at the Finnish National Opera in the 2020/2021 season. The world premiere of this collaboration of five opera companies at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July 2020 was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, so Innocence was not performed in Helsinki in January 2021 as planned. However, Innocence will be part of the Finnish National Opera’s repertoire in the autumn 2022.

Innocence, composed by Kaija Saariaho and written by Sofi Oksanen is a ravishing opera that takes place in two parallel periods of time. It deals with the wounds of the past, the passing of time, and the act of letting go. A wedding party is underway in Helsinki, but the groom’s family has a dark secret. When the events from a decade ago begin to unravel, the guests face a moment of truth.

Innocence is a co-production of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Finnish National Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Dutch National Opera, and the San Francisco Opera. At the Finnish National Opera the opera will be conducted by Susanna Mälkki and Clément Mao-Takacs.

A collaboration between Kaija Saariaho and Sofi Oksanen

Saariaho’s fifth opera

Kaija Saariaho counts among the most internationally acclaimed Finnish composers of all time. In a recent vote on today’s most influential contemporary composers by the BBC, Saariaho came in 17th place, higher than any other composer alive today.

Saariaho is considered one of the world’s most original contemporary composers, and her work is continually performed around the globe. Saariaho is known for her sophisticated orchestration and dreamlike, slowly building soundscapes. Her operas have been true success stories – to date, the Finnish National Opera has performed L’Amour de loin, Adriana Mater, Émilie, and most recently Only the Sound Remains in 2016. Innocence is Saariaho’s fifth opera.

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Libretto by Sofi Oksanen

Sofi Oksanen is Finland’s most successful and internationally famed contemporary novelist. She has been awarded 20 literary prizes, including the Finlandia Prize and the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her work has been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

Oksanen made her breakthrough as a writer with the play The Purge (Finnish National Theatre 2007). A novel on the same subject quickly became one of Finland’s most popular novels ever, and the world premiere of Jüri Reinvere’s opera based on the novel took place at the Finnish National Opera in 2012. Innocence is Oksanen’s first opera libretto.

Synopsis

It is a typical wedding for a cosmopolitan city, in present-day Finland. The fiancé is Finnish, the bride Romanian, and the mother-in-law French. But suddenly, during the wedding banquet, the Czech waitress feels ill… Ten years earlier, these characters were struck by a tragic event. Ghosts revive their memories of the trauma, there is a guilty haze, a lost innocence.

The full synopsis can be found in the programme leaflet

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