Kullervo (Sallinen)

Kullervo
Opera by Aulis Sallinen
Carl Sjöstrand's statue of Kullervo, a Finnish mythological figure and the opera's protagonist
Librettist	Aulis Sallinen
Premiere	25 February 1992 (1992-02-25) Los Angeles Music Center

Kullervo is an opera in two acts, Op. 61 composed by Aulis Sallinen to his own libretto based on the story of Kullervo in the Finnish epic, Kalevala. The opera premiered on 25 February 1992 at the Los Angeles Music Center.

The opera was commissioned by the Finnish National Opera and composed between 1986 and 1988. It was intended for the opening of a new national opera house in Helsinki but building construction delays meant that the work was presented in Los Angeles as part of the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Finnish independence.

Kullervo was first performed on 25 February 1992 at the Los Angeles Music Center with the soloists, chorus and stage production from Finnish National Opera and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. It was recorded by the original cast and issued on CD by Ondine Records.

The work did open the new Helsinki opera house in 1993, and from its premiere to 2014 had been seen in six countries, in three languages, and had over 70 performances.

The scenario of Sallinen's fifth opera, between The King Goes Forth to France (Savonlinna, 1984) and The Palace (Savonlinna, 1995) is based on the Kalevala epic and from the 1864 play by Aleksis Kivi. In a later interview, the composer, reflecting on King Lear (on which he was then working) and Kullervo stated that the earlier opera "is a very black story – it's the most Shakespearean story ever to exist in Finland". One reviewer has commented "To call Kullervo dark and brutal does not do full justice to the opera", citing the love of Kullervo's mother, friendship with Kimmo, even humour from the hunter. However, another, describing the premiere, wrote "not every new opera packs so immediate a punch, or leaves one feeling - as with the works of Janáček – at once depressed at so bleak a view of the world [...] yet inspired and even elated by the dispassionate passion with which that view has been expressed".