Tero-Pekka Henell
SUOMEN JOUTSEN AND
THE TURKU PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
The shipyard workers in the French town of Nantes could hardly have suspected on August 7, 1902 that they were launching the pride and joy of a little land far away, the three-masted frigate Laënnec that would later be renamed the Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland) and would plough the oceans as the flagship of a northern nation. At its new home at the Turku Forum Marinum, alongside the Castle and the city's harbour, this gallant ship has now become a splendid stage and venue for music events.
Four years ago, in 2001, as the recently-appointed General Manager of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, I suggested to Seppo Sarelius, CEO of the Forum Marinum, that the Orchestra hold a concert the following year in honour of the Swan's centenary. The problem was, however, the ship's location, alongside the Martinsilta bridge, because there would be room on deck for only a handful of listeners. Following lengthy negotiations, the Turku City Board decided to move the ship to its present Forum Marinum mooring. A concert then became possible. As the theme for its entire 2002 repertoire the Philharmonic immediately chose "Drop - Stream - River - Sea!" as a tribute to the city's maritime traditions. This meant that the Orchestra performed over 40 works on a watery theme at concerts in that year.
Suomen Joutsen - Turku's Hollywood Bowl
The seeds of the Flying Dutchman project had already been four years ago, when I placed before Turku-born, world-famous bass singer Matti Salminen the idea of staging an opera about the sea in the Swan's new home port; he would captain the frigate and a certain Dutchman the barque Sigyn. For the opera the ships would be anchored bow-to-bow. Matti Salminen fell for the idea at once, appreciating the unique potential of the venue. The Project acquired an Artistic Director and the Swan a new Captain.
The Swan sailed to its new berth as thousands of townsfolk lined the banks of the River Aura. The Turku Philharmonic now found itself in possession of a summer concert venue every bit as fine as the Central Park of the New York Philharmonic, the Waldbühne of our colleagues in Berlin, or the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. At the Swan's centenary concert on August 18, 2002 an audience of two thousand listened at a temperature of +27 degrees to a programme of music by Wagner, Sibelius, Malmsten and Turku composer Pentti Viherluoto from ports visited by the frigate as it sailed the seven seas. The front rows of the audience were occupied by the dozens-strong crew of the Italian Navy's training ship in gleaming white uniforms.
As Matti Salminen exclaimed after the jubilee concert: That was a good start! The Flying Dutchman was initially pencilled in for summer 2004, but the City of Turku was busy preparing for its 775th anniversary, money was short, and the producers were anxious to test the venue first with a large-scale work late at night. It was therefore decided to postpone the Dutchman. This also solved the problem of the title role. Matti Salminen, as Artistic Director, would not consider anyone but Juha Uusitalo as the Dutchman, but the great baritone was already fully booked up for August 2004. He did, however, have a suitable slot in his diary a year hence in which to write: The Flying Dutchman / Turku.
For the "test performance" in 2004 we chose Verdi's magnificent Requiem.
In December 2003 we established a Flying Dutchman Shipping Company, or production team, chaired by Ms Kaija Hartiala, Deputy Mayor of the City of Turku and Chairman of the Board of the Forum Marinum Foundation.
Unique challenge by any standards
The artistic planning team - the stage director, costume & stage designer, lighting designer and sound master - set to work on their vast assignment with three-dimensional computer models provided by the architect, first of the concert and then of the placing of the ships and the quay stage. In the early days they were also assisted by a marine engineer and an acoustic designer, and they were joined after the Requiem by a full-time producer Minttu Lavemäki and the conductor, Pertti Pekkanen. The entire Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and the Forum Marinum administration had taken on an interesting and inspiring challenge the sheer magnitude of which was only gradually revealed.
The performance of the Verdi Requiem on August 20, 2004 was a great success and the audience was ecstatic. Both the rehearsals and the performance provided invaluable experience both of handling an audience of 2,200 and of changes in the weather. The plans for The Flying Dutchman were modified with regard to the quay stage at a Shipping Company meeting at Matti Salminen's home in Helsinki in the week immediately after the concert. "The Flying Dutchman is on," proclaimed the Artistic Director.
Preparing an opera production unique the world over has been demanding in the extreme for the entire crew of 400. Bringing together two authentic, historical ships - in accordance with Wagner's score, the first time ever in the world - and constructing an "opera house" on the bank of the River Aura have necessitated dozens and dozens and yet more planning meetings over a period virtually equivalent to an Olympiad.
As the first notes of the overture to the opera by Richard Wagner inspired by a dramatic adventure at sea in the Skagerrak take to the air on an evening in late August, appealing to all the senses of an audience of sixteen thousand, it will be time to plot a new course on the nautical chart of music: the year 2011.
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