The tenor, who also led the Savonlinna Opera Festival, hopes that Finnish opera singers will have the opportunity to get a monthly salary in their home country.
“One a generation of singers has already been lost. When Mika Pohjonen sometimes stops, hardly anyone in Finland can sing my tenor roles. ”
That’s what the 70-year-old says Raimo Sirkiä, remembered as the tenor of the heaviest dramatic opera roles Verdin Otello Wagnerin To Lohengrin.
According to Sirkia, the culprit is the National Opera, which drives the monthly-paid soloists down to the pace of retirements. Roles are increasingly being filled with freelance singers.
“Young singers do not even go to school when it is not possible to get a monthly paid job in Finland.”
The world takes individual peaks. Are they still rising?
“Sometimes it can be found in dramatic potential, and some I have also taught. Johannes Vatjus is one of them. ”
That tango king?
“He just.”
Also Sirkiä started with entertainment music.
“Father was an entertainer, a multiple Finnish master of harmonica playing and, if necessary, a magician. My mother was a step artist. ”
Thus, the pre-dances section of the program was filled during a time when dances alone without the program were not allowed.
Little Raimo started playing the accordion at the age of four and performed as a child Pekka and Pätkä as master painters in the movie. He also won four Finnish championships in the youth series with his instrument.
“Lasse Pihlajamaan in the lessons we wondered what the composition could tone, and I learned Rossin Barber of Seville opera overture. It was a good competition track. ”
Young Sirkiä performed every Saturday for seven years as a musician at Hämeentie’s restaurant Canjon and toured all over Southern Finland on other days.
“Around 1977, I wondered if life would be easier if I studied.”
He applied to the Sibelius Academy to study to be a music teacher. The training also included singing, and she had an aha experience.
“I found myself getting as high as the tenors!”
Sirkia’s father had bought clay wafers from the bankruptcy of Westerlund’s music store Carusosta since. Sirkiä learned the right style from the recordings of old Italian singers. Progress accelerated Matti Tuloiselan in the doctrine.
“In the fall of 1980, it was not yet known where this would lead. And in the summer of 1981, I won the Timo Mustakallio competition. ”
Sirkiä went to study in Rome.
“Then audition songs came to Germany, and in 1983 the Kiel Opera offered the first permanent job.”
Sirkiä was still a light lyrical tenor at the time and sang for example Mozartia.
“In Dortmund from 1985 onwards came jugendlich-dramatic roles. In Düsseldorf, a time of dramatic roles began at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein soloist. ”
At the National Opera Sirkiä made his debut in 1989. He got a job at the soloist the following year.
“There was a difference in the houses. The acoustics of the Alexander Theater were lousy. Everything changed when a new opera house was brought to Helsinki. ”
Another difference was in the competitive situation.
“In Germany every day there are jumbo singers who want your job. The work must be done accordingly. ”
There was little time left for visits on the payrolls of the two houses. However, Sirki had time to perform them at the Stockholm Opera and the big German houses from the Deutsche Oper to the Hamburg State Opera and at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth.
Transitional There was a small surprise for the artistic management of the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2002–2007.
“It was nice to implement the plans I had dreamed of. At the same time, the Opera Houses felt that yes, that is now the artistic director, so he no longer sings. International demand declined. ”
In Finland, Sirkiä sang even more. The National Opera used its dramatic tenor in several premieres. When he also sang the lead roles in Savonlinna, HS Auli Räsänen made in 2005 under the heading of a column One tenor’s Finland and reprimanded the software for an overdose of one singer.
When Sirki then retired and left the main stages of our country, many noticed what was lost. Sirkiaki had hoarse evenings as a parent, but often also so warmly appealing piano tones that they were missed.
“The song still tastes good, even though a few of the highest notes are behind the harder work than during the active years. We did my spouse Cynthia Makrisin concerts in the spirit of light classics and fun, until the pandemic caused cancellations in our case as well. ”
So Sirkiä has had time to close the circle and do entertainment again. He turned the arrangements and sang much of the music in the opera as well Petrus Schroderus I sing the sun in the evening to the stars to the disc.
“But these weather is already missing our second home in Florida. And a game of golf Eino Grönin with!”
Raimo Sirkiä
■ Born in Helsinki on February 7, 1951.
■ He appeared as a child star in the film Pekka and a piece as master painters and became the accordion champion of Finnish youth four times.
■ Mortgages as a tenor in the soloists of Kiel, Dortmund, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and the National Opera. Visits e.g. At the Stockholm Opera and the largest opera houses in Germany.
■ Artistic director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival 2002–2007.
■ Married to soprano Cynthia Makris. Two children and two grandchildren.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/70-years-old-one-generation-of-singers-has-already-been-lost-and-that-is-the-fault-of-the-national-opera-says-tenor-raimo-sirkia/
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