Jean Sibelius (1913)
The Finnish National Opera and the Finnish National Ballet will be contributing to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius with the world premiere of the expansive ‘Kullervo’ by Tero Saarinen, alternately conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Pietari Inkinen (February 2015) and with a concert themed around the work of author Roald Dahl, to which 4,000 schoolchildren of Helsinki will be invited next May. There will also be a new school opera featuring Sibelius, Jannen salaisuus (Janne’s secret), by Olli Kortekangas to a libretto by Minna Lindgren. The opera will be performed by pupils of Jousenkaari School in Espoo along with professional singers. The main character is Janne, or Jean Sibelius as a schoolchild in Hämeenlinna in the 1870s.
