You have directed about 200 operas.
Yes, something like that. I lost count after one hundred…
Quite a lot of modern music.
Yes, quite a lot. I really enjoy directing contemporary operas.
What is you background? How did you get interested in opera?
After drama school I worked two years as an assistant director at the Helsinki City Theatre, which also involved a musical composed by Jorma Panula, the guru to the world-famous conductors. Then a strange thing happened. One day, the conductor did not show up. It was a matinee, and he was ploughing his field seventy miles away, thinking to show up in the evening. No cell phones those days, so I had to jump in. Afterwards, Panula said to the Head of the opera house, “There´s a guy who understands music, he also knows how to do theatre, so he could be of some use at the opera house.”
I didn’t know that, when I went to talk about my career at the City Theatre. There were two new bosses, both active stage directors, so they told me they could not offer me anything. They said I should do shows around the country for about 10 years first and then come back to them. When I went back to my room, the telephonist had a message for me from the opera house. I have been with them for over 30 years now.
Excellent!
I mean, it does not happen… I couldn’t believe it. But it’s true.
Did you study opera?
Yes, in 1972 I had a scholarship to study at the Munich University with August Everding, who was teaching opera dramaturgy and directing there. But by the time I got there, Everding had left for Hamburg. I was not too interested in the other guy, so I ended up studying other things, drama history, commedia dell’arte… I also went to film school. Before that I did television. I have done quite a few TV opera broadcasts. There have been a lot of different things in my life and they combine really well.
I also played the piano, but as my sister was so much better than me, there was no point… (laughing) My father was a chorister, he sang bass in various male choirs. We always sang at home, my two sisters and I, we performed for our parents’ guests… Later on, as an Assistant Director in the Helsinki City Theatre, I sang Christopher Robin in the Winnie the Poohproduction, but that was 30 kilos and 30 years ago… (laughing)
What was the first opera that you saw on stage?
It wasCarmen. I must have been 10 or 11. We came to Helsinki to see the prima donna, who was a friend of my parents. I also saw Nabucco and Orpheus in the Underworld, which I am by the way going to produce next year in Vaasa.
It was my sister who lured me into opera. She worked as a dancer and an extra in the Hameenlinna City Theatre where we lived at the time, so I saw all the operettas and musicals there. The Csardas Princess, The Merry Widow, Countess Maritza… They did two shows a year.
My sister did not get into the drama school after all, and my father told her to go to business school instead. She went to work abroad and then she became the head of Marimekko Germany. I used to visit her and I saw a lot of opera around Europe.
Did you go to Bayreuth, too?
No, I did not. Wagner is not my cup of tea. I admire him and his works, Gotterdammerung is great. But I don’t think I will ever do any of his operas, I’m afraid. It’s strange, though: I’ve done Richard Strauss and Hindemith. Hindemith. Mathis der Mahler is one of my favourite works.
What was the first production you did at the opera house?
My first productions at the opera house were a revival of Tosca in Finnish and Rigoletto in Italian. The productions were 5 – 7 years old. In 1975-76 there were no video recordings to use and the scores have not been marked as carefully as my assistant now does, so it was quite difficult to figure out what the original production was like… Jaakko Ryhanen sang his first Sparafucile with me. After one year as an assistant, I was asked by Juhani Raiskinen to start preparing Manon Lescaut for the premiere. Manon Lescaut was my first own production at the Finnish National Opera.
Who are your favourite composers?
I was a conscientious student so I started from early operas and I very much like Monteverdi and Gluck. Then Purcell. Then there is big gap. It took me a very long time to start liking Romantic opera at all. Aside form early opera, modern music is my big favourite. Menotti, Hindemith. Although many say that Hindemith is music that’s played in hell. (laughing) Many singers think that… It’s very dramatic and very intuitive, very right for different situations. Also Stravinsky – The Rake’s Progress is a great work.
Then there is a Finnish composer, Rautavaara. I thought of him highly even before he composed his operas. When he emerged from the mist of the dodecaphonic system he was free to compose in his own style, which is very interesting. I was lucky to produce his first operas and his first cantatas, the almost-operas based on the Finnish national epos Kalevala. His first opera was Thomas, about the Englishman in 1200 who came to Finland as a bishop. He helped to put together a joint army of Finns, Lithuanians and Latvians to fight Alexander Nevski. They lost. But it’s a very interesting opera.
Rautavaara liked themes with people who pursued their dreams in life and failed. He focused on the finer aspects of failure, how one emerges from failure with a clearer vision. Thomas was the first man in the history of this part of the world – much bigger than present Finland – who tried to form a sovereign state.
Have you produced any British operas?
Britten is one of my very favourite composers. I listen to his music a lot, The War Requiem, his chamber music. Beautiful. I have done The Rape of Lucretia. I would love to do Albert Herring – I was asked once, but my schedule did not allow it. I love Walton’s music. Shame he did not compose more operas than The Bear. He was quite a character.
Your latest production, The Magic Flute for the Finnish National Opera looks absolutely gorgeous.
Yes, it is selling very well. It needed to look beautiful as the previous one we had did not get much attention at all. The previous one was a raincoat version. It did not attract audiences.
This is my fourth Flute. The first one was for the Sibelius Academy’s centenary. We did it with a great cast: Karita Mattila was the Queen of Night, Petteri Salomaa was the Speaker, Monica Groop was Third Lady. I also did Karita’s first production at the opera house, where she played the Countess in Figaro.
Good singers in this one, too?
Not too bad. At the moment, the Finnish National Opera is facing financial difficulties, so we have to cast within the house. Which is a pity, because there are so many fantastic Finnish singers working abroad, who would love to sing here.
Your Magic Flute is set in Finland. How does that work?
There is this old legend about Finland – Kvenland – Kvinnor Land – Ladies’ Land - in Kainuu, Northern Finland. It also features in Kalevala, with the lady named Louhi. Historians have some doubts about it, so let’s call it a legend. It’s very close to the concept of the Queen of Night and her all-female kingdom. There were also all-male sects, separate from the church which they regarded too unholy and too close-to-earth. They went up North and established their own religious organisations and their own way of life. It was the 18th century and Finland was part of Sweden then. Some of them got expelled, so they tried to survive in Germany, Denmark, Norway, but they were expelled form everywhere. They had their own religion and their relationship with God. It’s very interesting. One of the distinguished Finnish writers, Antti Tuuri, has written about them in his book Eric’s Sons. They were also an inspiration for Rudolf Steiner later on.
It’s very interesting because The Magic Flute is equally mysterious. You can say it’s about the Freemasons – but it isn’t. In my opinion, it’s about old beliefs. There are the Masonic trials and degrees, but it all goes further back.
The Magic Flute makes me think of death. The old beliefs tried to ease the fear of death by understanding death - not through the consolation of being reborn or meeting again in heaven. Just through understanding that life is short, one tried to live one’s life better. It’s very mystical. It’s great to conquer the fear of death They promise that one will understand everything, but understand it only at the moment of death. I have done so much research for this production! I am happy I got acquainted with all this material. Most of it actually had already been on my bookshelf…
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Is there an opera you’ve always wanted to direct but never had a chance?
I came to opera the same way that opera was created in the end of the 16th century. I started with Greek drama. My first production was Hyppolitos by Euripides at the National Theatre on the small stage. I also have done a couple of Greek plays in amateur productions. Actually, the people who created opera wanted to revive Greek drama and they used Greek mythology at first. The Coronation of Poppea I have done, I would like to do Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. I’d like that very much. Baroque opera is something I would like to do. Cherubini’s Medea would be in the same genre, although maybe it is too classical. Euripides’ Medea is actually a Romantic play, a very strong and realistic play, very emotional. It would be a nice thing to do with the right singers. I once almost did it. I don’t think it has ever been done in Finland.
I thought I would like to do Aida but I don’t. It’s nice music, but the opera is not good enough. I mean, it’s not really interesting. There is so much explaining in the text, but there are not enough interesting situations. Everything is just told by someone else. Trovatore is a little bit like that, too. I have done it and it is very difficult. I don’t like it very much.
Any Verdi operas that are interesting to do then?
Stiffelio is very interesting. It could even take place in Finland. It has never been popular in the Catholic countries, but it suits Finland as the preacher is Lutheran. Beautiful music and a coherent story. Ballo I have done many times and I like it very much. I’ve even translated it into Finnish. I‘ve done quite a few translations, like Traviata and The Merry Widow.
But Finnish National Opera performs in the original, doesn’t it?
Yes, now we do. The only opera in translation is The Magic Flute. I did it together with our house dramaturg.
Let’s talk about singers. You have a huge photo of Maria Callas on your wall…
That’s the only photo of a singer, yes. I admire her. She dared to be ugly in performance, both the voice and the facial expressions. Bel canto – of course, but not all the time! I read a book compiled of her master classes at Julliard in New York. What annoys me with singers is that they drag endings where the composer did not intend it. They sing at the cost of the words. They disturb the meaning. Callas couldn’t stand that either and she shouted at her students not to do it, to keep the words as sharp as the composer wanted, as it carries the flavour and the meaning much better than floating the note in a pretty way.
What makes a good opera singer?
There are so many little things… I don’t think an opera singer has to be a good actor at all. But I think they need to be good performers, to understand that they are on stage and that they are doing the whole thing for the audience. All the psychology, everything that happens behind the lights is only there because it is helping to tell something to the audience. It has no importance of its own. That’s the first thing opera singers have to understand. They have to convey the words, the ideas behind the words, the sound and the ideas behind the sounds. It’s not only the music. That’s why they need a director. The director is also very greedy to know what is hiding behind the music. Why the tune is there. It is very intuitive and it can be different from person to person. But the singer must understand the idea behind the music.
Many times a composer makes the singer sing in the difficult area, in the gap between registers or too high for that voice type, just to make it sound alarming or tense. Singing is not only producing the optimal sound. Beautiful is good, but not always. It’s not you who is doing it. It is your character who is screaming at the lady. Nowadays, I think, there is less resistance and singers are willing to try it.
A singer should know elementary things about movement: what it means when your balance is on the heels or it is on the front of your feet. There are plenty of things like that which singers should know before they start working with a director – because there is not enough time to teach them the basics. In the eighties, I taught that at the Sibelius Academy, but they don’t have that kind of training anymore.
There are many ways to become a good opera singer. The understanding that you are an intermediary is the first thing you need.
Is there anything you would like to change in the world of opera?
I used to think I could change things… Well, in every production one can make little changes. One has to think of the production and not the system behind it. The kind of system that is behind the production is not important to the audience at all. They only see the production. They don’t care about the administration and how the Board was elected or how much money has been paid to get rid of certain people (laughing) .
What do you think about operetta?
We have to do it to raise money. Well… I treat it as a play, a proper drama that needs to be staged. It needs to be entertaining. We are now doing, The Merry Widow, is set at the beginning of the 20th century just before the first World War. It was composed in 1905 and we chose to keep it at that time. The Art Nouveau world, lots of nostalgia… It’s not a piece for our times, it has to be kept nostalgic.
So you are not a fan of putting the action in a different epoch?
No, that’s not true. I have done a lot of modern versions. I put Rigoletto in Mussolini’s Abyssinia – and it fitted very well there. There was a duke in Abyssinia who killed the monks in the monastery and did a lot of nasty things. They decided to replace him with a more amiable chap. The new one used to have a good time all round, fly, play sports with the English, have parties – just like the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s opera. I just happened to read a book on Abyssinian life in the thirties and I thought, ‘My God, this is Rigoletto!’
I also put Prokofiev’s Duenna in a different period. It is usually done as a 18th century costume drama, but it is so obviously commedia dell’arte from 1500 that I decided to do it that way. Prokofiev is one of my favourites. I've always wanted to do War and Peace.
What do you think about opera on film?
It’s very difficult. Both making a film out of opera and filming production at the opera house is very tricky. The rhythm of an opera production is different from the rhythm of a film. Filling the gaps, the sense of time passing… many times it can spoil the flow of music. You need to be quite clever.
I’m trying to think of a good opera film now. Francis Corotti did Carmen in 1970s, which was quite alright, though the gypsies and the village people still didn’t gel with the posing opera people…
Are productions of the Finnish National Opera available on DVD?
Some of them are. Actually, I did the first opera on DVD in Finland myself. It was Luther. I was also a co-librettist on that. I think we succeeded quite well. It was supposed to be on the small stage, but we transferred it to the Church in the Rock (Temppeliaukion kirkko) in Helsinki. We filmed it there, in two takes, with six cameras. It’s not too bad.
What do you do in your spare time, when you don’t deal with music at all?
I am a DIY man. I like building things, painting, decorating… We have a summer cottage near Tampere, a very important place to me. I always do something there. I work on amateur productions and I do all handyman jobs, I make the props, I make the scenery... Well, otherwise we might not have them (laughing) but I really enjoy doing it. My car is full of the props of Hansel and Gretel we did with and amateur company yesterday.
Before the opera fascination, I thought I would work in cinematography. I’ve done quite a lot of TV. I like classical films, although they are not better than the films today. I don’t go to see the modern productions as much. In the 60 and 70 I saw a lot of French and Italian films, also British. Now we can’t really see anything else British than James Bond -
- that’s not a lot...
James Bond? I love it! I used to take my wife with me to see every new Bond. The last one we saw together though was Moonraker, with Roger Moore, in 1979…
VIEW Jussi Tapola’s page here.
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