Jussi Jalas (23 June 1908 – 11 October 1985) was a Finnish conductor and composer.

Biography

Jalas was born as Armas Jussi Veikko Blomstedt in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

in 1908.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. IV, p. 576 His father was Yrjö Blomstedt. He studied at the Helsingfors Conservatory 1923–30 (later renamed the Sibelius Academy), and then in Paris 1933–34, under Wladimir Pohl,

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...

and Rhené-Baton. He had further study in Germany, Austria and Italy before returning to Finland. He changed his surname to Jalas in 1943. He taught at the Sibelius Academy from 1945 to 1965, and was the music director of the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

from 1945. He conducted the Finnish premieres of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's operas ''

Peter Grimes ''Peter Grimes'', Op. 33, is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto by Montagu Slater based on the section "Peter Grimes", in George Crabbe's long narrative poem '' The Borough''. The "borough" of the opera is a fictional ...

'' and ''

The Rape of Lucretia ''The Rape of Lucretia'' (Op. 37) is an opera in two acts by Benjamin Britten, written for Kathleen Ferrier, who performed the title role. Ronald Duncan based his English libretto on André Obey's play '. Performance history The opera was fi ...

''. His wife Margareta ''née'' Sibelius was the daughter of

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

, and virtually every one of his concerts included a work by his father-in-law. His own works included orchestral works, piano music and songs. He died in Helsinki in 1985, aged 77.

Recordings

His discography includes a complete recording of

Leevi Madetoja Leevi Antti Madetoja (; 17 February 1887 – 6 October 1947) was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish ...

's opera, ''Juha'', with

Jorma Hynninen Jorma Kalervo Hynninen (born 3 April 1941) is a Finnish baritone who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration. Hynninen was born on 3 April 1941 in Leppävirta, Finland. He studied fro ...

, as well as, for Westminster,

Norman Treigle Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle (March 6, 1927February 16, 1975) was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror. Biograp ...

's two recital albums, "Arias from Italian, French and German Opera" (1967) and "Operatic Heroes and Villains" (1968). For the same label, he conducted

Beverly Sills Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet and Verdi, she was especially renowned for ...

' first recital album, "Bellini and Donizetti Heroines" (1968). Among his "pirated" recordings is that of a 1971 Helsinki concert featuring

Anja Silja Anja Silja Regina Langwagen (, born 17 April 1940) is a German soprano singer. Biography Born in Berlin, Silja began her operatic career at a very early age, with her grandfather, Egon Friedrich Maria Anders van Rijn, as her voice teacher. She ...

in excerpts from ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as p ...

'' and ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was compose ...

''. In stereo, The Sibelius Recordings with two Hungarian orchestras are available from Decca. They include ''The Tempest'' suites, ''

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian ...

'' and some rarely heard shorter pieces. Jalas conducted the premiere of the Saga Symphony by

Jón Leifs Jón Leifs (born Jón Þorleifsson on 1 May 1899 – 30 July 1968) was an Icelandic composer, pianist, and conductor. Life Jón Leifs was born ''Jón Þorleifsson,'' at the farm Sólheimar, then in the Húnavatnssýsla, northwestern Iceland. H ...

in Helsinki (1950), and also made the first commercial recording with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (1975).

References

External links

* , with Beverly Sills (1968, audio only). {{DEFAULTSORT:Jalas, Jussi 1908 births 1985 deaths Finnish conductors (music) Finnish male composers Finnish music educators 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Finnish composers

Biography

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links