Starring Saariaho, Lindberg, Penderecki, Gubaidulina and Kremer

This year Kuhmo Chamber Music presents 70 concerts spread over two weeks. In addition to classics, it focuses particularly on the 20th century and many works that have never before been performed in Finland. Audiences may also meet in person four of our most celebrated contemporary composers. As well as chamber music, the programme includes opera, and the festival in fact begins with a performance of Mozart’s Zaide on July 14. The last concert is on Saturday July 27.

“The best musical minds of the world will meet and witness the performances of the more than 160 top artists from all corners of the planet,” says Artistic Director Vladimir Mendelssohn of this year’s programme. “The timeless voices of God (Vox dei), of the people (Vox populi), which lit with their beauty the whole  history of the arts, will have their place of honour among the voices of our time.”

One of the greatest musicians of the century is, in Vladimir Mendelssohn’s opinion, Gidon Kremer, for he has also singled out works that have passed unnoticed. Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica are indeed among the most eagerly-awaited guests at this year’s Kuhmo. Another firm favourite with Kuhmo audiences is the renowned Eric Ericson Chamber Choir.

Visitors to Kuhmo may spot numerous familiar artists, among them Yuval Gotlibovich (viola), Andreas Brantelid (cello), Janne Thomsen (flute), Nicholas Daniel (oboe and conductor),   Michel Lethiec (clarinet), Marcelo Nisinman (bandoneon) and the Meta4 String Quartet. There will be no fewer than 25 violinists – Pekka Kuusisto, for example, and the superb Norwegian Vilde Frang, who made her Kuhmo debut last year.

Four guest composers

Kuhmo Chamber Music begins on July 14 with a Mozart concert in which the main item is his seldom-heard, unfinished opera Zaide. The Monday concerts will gaze into a magic mirror, meet Kaija Saariaho, see a lady of a lake, and a rainbow.

Tuesday is opera day – chamber music arrangements of operas and a real rarity, the unfinished operetta The Great Lightning (1933) by Dmitri Shostakovich. The evening ends with a marathon for 20th century opera haters. The second of the festival’s four guest composers, Krzysztof Penderecki, will be present on Wednesday July 17, and the day will end with a great concert of serenades.

Thursday looks backwards and forwards, with music by composers ranging from Arvo Pärt to Offenbach, and includes an introduction to Orpheus. Magnus Lindberg is the guest composer on Friday July 19 – a day of shadows that roams from north to south. The theme for Saturday, rounding off the first week, is words without sound and culminates in a concert entitled “All (you wanted to know) about Gidon Kremer”

The theme for Sunday is Vox Dei – the voice of God – complete with angels, prayers, and The Seven Deadly Sins in Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht style. The theme composer for Monday July 22 is Arvo Pärt. East meets West in the evening concert. Vox populi – the voice of the people – is the theme for Tuesday, and some of the chamber music is accordingly seasoned with folk. The night ends with a tango extravaganza in which Finnish tango joins with that of Argentina.

Wednesday’s guest is Sofia Gubaidulina, keeping concert company with both Strauss and Schubert. Members of the audience may ask her questions last thing at night. Thursday July 25 is Noah’s Ark day, as illustrated by Saint-Saëns’s Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Shostakovich’s music for the animated cartoon The Silly Little Mouse is something else to look forward to. The theme composer for Friday July 26 is György Kurtág, and the evening ends with a giant Hungarian musical marathon. The closing day of the festival, July 27, begins with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and two other concertos by him not previously performed in Finland, continues with a Bach-Gubaidulina-Beethoven get-together and ends with Mozart.

Concerts outside Kuhmo, too

Once again, chamber music will be travelling out and about. In addition to the popular Lentiira concert, Kuhmo artists will be visiting Vuokatti and Iisalmi. Mozart’s Zaide can be heard in Iisalmi on July 13, before the start of the festival proper. And Kuhmo Chamber Music artists will be appearing in the spring in Hämeenlinna, Kuusamo, Helsinki and Paris, and at the Man and the Cosmos event in Kuhmo.

Concurrent with the festival will be the traditional Kuhmo music courses under their Artistic Director Junio Kimanen. These courses, intended primarily for future music professionals, are taught by festival artists. Students on the courses will appear in concerts of their own. During the festival there will also be poetry and music at the Live Poets’ Club sessions.

Held since 1970, Kuhmo Chamber Music has long been Finland’s biggest chamber-music festival in terms of attendance figures. Its concerts are held in the acoustically excellent Kuhmo Arts Centre opened in 1993, the traditional Kontio School, Kuhmo Church, Lentiira Church, and the Petola Visitor Centre. Outside Kuhmo there will be concerts in Vuokatti and Iisalmi. The Sokos Hotel Vuokatti is offering Kuhmo packages comprising transport, concert tickets and accommodation.

Kainuun Sanomat newspaper and Kuhmo Chamber Music are once again seeking new writers to report about the festival and supplementary events. The closing date for applications is March 30.

Kuhmo Chamber Music’s partner for 2013 is the OP-Pohjola Group. Its Friends are Canorama Oy, the magazine Eeva, E.ON, F-Musiikki Oy, Kainuun Sanomat, Kaisanet Oy, the Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Kuhmo Oy, Metsähallitus, No-Pan Auto Oy, Osuuskauppa Maakunta and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Grants have also been received from the Ministry of Education and Culture and the City of Kuhmo. The Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of Finland also supports the Festival. The festival budget for 2013 is €1.1 million.

Further info:

Kuhmo Chamber Music, tel. +358-8-652 0936