Raimo Sirkiä (born February 7, 1951, in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a Finnish

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

whose repertoire ranges from spinto to dramatic. The musical education or Raimo Sirkiä began at the age of four. He was the Finnish Champion in

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

four times, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1964. He studied music pedagogics and voice at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

in Helsinki, and in Rome with Gavarrini and Morelli. He won the prestigious Timo Mustakallio award for young opera singers in 1981. Raimo Sirkiä performed mainly in Germany from 1983 to 2001. He was the principal tenor at 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 1990 to 2006. Sirkiä's most noted roles are in

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...

, Calaf, Tannhäuser (opera), Tannhäuser, Sigmund, Siegmund, and Lohengrin (opera), Lohengrin. Mr. Sirkiä has recorded several complete operas, symphonies, as well as many solo CDs of opera arias, Italian songs, film music, Christmas music, and tangos. In 1993 he was awarded with Beniamino Gigli Prize. Raimo Sirkiä was the Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival from 2002 to 2007, where his new productions included Turandot and Lucia di Lammermoor, and the commissioned Isän tyttö composed by Olli Kortekangas, which subsequently has been played also at the Finnish National Opera. Raimo Sirkiä began the popular children's opera series at the festival and commissioned works from several Finnish composers. Sirkiä was the Artist of the Year of the Festival in 1996, a recognition of his contribution as a singer at the Festival since 1981. Sirkiä was awarded the Pro Finlandia medal by the president of Finland in 2003, and the Savonlinna City award 2007. Sirkiä has acted as a vocal coach, training young tenors. He retired from the Finnish National Opera in 2006 and now primarily gives concerts worldwide.

Discography

*Jää mun lähellein/Serenadeja (Fazer/Warner -84/-97) *Opera Arias (Ondine -92) *Amado Mio (Ondine -94) *Mahler 8th Symphony (Chandos -94) *Valkea joulu (Ondine -96) *Lemmen Virtaa (Tonus Art -97) *''Juha (Merikanto), Juha'' (Ondine -95) *Pohjalaisia (Finlandia -98) *Die Feen (Dynamic -98) *Oskar Merikanto-Elämälle (Taidekeskus Salmela -99) *Loreley (Bis -03) *Mare and Her Son (Ondine -05) *Der fliegende Holländer Video (Amaya -89/DVD -04)

External links

Artist's home page
1951 births Living people Finnish operatic tenors 20th-century Finnish male opera singers 21st-century Finnish male opera singers Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland {{Finland-opera-singer-stub