Jorma Kalervo Hynninen (born 3 April 1941) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...

, Finland. He studied from 1966 to 1970 at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and also took lessons from Luigi Ricci in Rome and Kurt Overhoff in Salzburg. In 1969 he won first prize the Lappeenranta Solo Voice Competition and made his opera debut with the Finnish National Opera as Silvio in Leoncavallo's '' Pagliacci''. Hynninen sang his first public concert in 1970 in Helsinki and made his debut the same year with the Finnish National Opera, where he was a permanent member until 1990. In 1971 he took first prize in the Scandinavian Singing Competition in Helsinki and in 1996 won the

Cannes Classical Award The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

. On the opera stage, his notable roles have included Count Almaviva in Mozart's '' Le nozze de Figaro'', Tchaikovsky's ''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is ...

'', and Pelléas in Debussy's ''

Pelléas and Mélisande ''Pelléas and Mélisande'' (french: Pelléas et Mélisande) is a Symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck about the forbidden, doomed love of the title characters. It was first performed in 1893. The work never achieved great success on the stage, a ...

'', the role in which he made his debut at the Paris Opera, and which he sang frequently at the Hamburg State Opera. Hynninen first came to notice in the United States in 1980 with his debut at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall. In 1984 he made his Metropolitan debut as Rodrigo in '' Don Carlos''. In 1987 he was hailed as a "perfect Wolfram" in the Met's '' Tannhäuser''. His international career includes performances at the Vienna Opera, Milan's La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, as well as Hamburg, Barcelona, Geneva, and Berlin. He has also served as Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera from 1984 to 1990 and later became artistic director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. Since 1996, he has been Professor of Voice at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In addition, between 1980 and 1991 he was Artistic Director of the Joensuu Song Festival. His daughter Laura Hynninen was 2013 to 2015 the principal harpist of Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Hynninen has combined his operatic career with regular appearances in the concert hall with the world's leading orchestras and maestros such as Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, and

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

and in recital in the major cities of Europe and North America. He has supported the music of his native Finland as well. He performed the title role in the world premiere of '' Aleksis Kivi'' by

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. ...

at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. He participated in the world premiere of an operatic trilogy of ''Aika ja uni'' (''The Age of Dreams'') by three Finnish composers: Herman Rechberger (b. 1947), Olli Kortekangas (b. 1955), and

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

(b. 1949) on the stage of Olavinlinna Castle on 15 July 2000. He also sang in the premiere of Sallinen's '' Kuningas Lear'' in 2000 (Gloucester).Anderson, Martin. Strong and Simple. Interview with Aulis Sallinen. ''Finnish Music Quarterly'' magazine, 2/1999. Hynninen's discography includes more than a hundred titles. He has recorded Finnish opera extensively along with works from the international repertoire, lieder collections, and religious music.

Select discography

*Brahms: ''Ein Deutsches Requiem'', with Klaus Tennstedt (EMI) *Dallapiccola: ''

Il prigioniero ''Il prigioniero'' (''The Prisoner'') is an opera (originally a radio opera) in a prologue and one act, with music and libretto by Luigi Dallapiccola. The opera was first broadcast by the Italian radio station RAI on 1 December 1949. The work is ba ...

'' (''The Prisoner''), with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Sony) *Mozart: ''Le nozze di Figaro'', with Riccardo Muti (EMI) *Beethoven / Mozart / Wagner / Mussorgsky: Opera Scenes (Naxos) *Contemporary Finnish Music (Naxos) *Finnish Vocal Music (Naxos) *Nummi: 5 Song Cycles BIS-(Naxos) *Sallinen: Chamber Music (Naxos) *Schubert: ''Winterreise'', Op. 89, (Naxos) *Sibelius: ''The Essential'' (Naxos) *Sibelius: ''Kullervo, Op. 7'' (Naxos) *Sibelius: ''

The Maiden in the Tower ''The Maiden in the Tower'' (in Swedish: ; in Finnish: ; occasionally translated to English as ''The Maid in the Tower''), JS 101, is an opera ("dramatized Finnish ballad") in one act—comprising an overture and eight scenes—written in ...

'' and ''Karelia Suite'' (Naxos) *Sibelius: ''Orchestral Songs'' (Naxos) *Sibelius: ''Kullervo, Op. 7'', directed by Paavo Berglund in Helsinki (EMI) *Sibelius: ''Sibelius Edition'', Vol. 3 – Voice and Orchestra (Naxos) *Rautavaara: '' Vincent'', with Fuat Mansurov and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ondine) *Sallinen: ''

Kullervo Kullervo () is an ill-fated character in the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, t ...

'', with Ulf Söderblom and the Finnish National Opera and Chorus (Ondine) *Sallinen: ''

The Red Line ''The Red Line'' (''Punainen viiva'') is an opera in two acts with music by Aulis Sallinen to a libretto by the composer, which premiered on 30 November 1978 at the Finnish National Opera.Arni E. The Red Line. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Op ...

'', with Okko Kamu and the Finnish National Opera and Chorus *Sibelius: ''Kullervo'', with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra (Sony)

References

Sources

*''New York Times''
"Opera Festival Chiefs Who Can Sing, Too"
July 15, 1993, accessed Jan. 1, 2010 *''New York Times''

July 28, 2002, accessed Jan. 1, 2010 *''New York Times''

April 29, 1983, accessed Jan. 1, 2010 *''New York Times''

September 14, 2003, accessed Jan. 1, 2010 *''New York Times''

Sept. 30, 1984, accessed Jan. 1, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hynninen, Jorma 1941 births Living people 20th-century Finnish male opera singers Operatic baritones People from Leppävirta Academic personnel of the Sibelius Academy category:Finnish baritones Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class 21st-century Finnish male opera singers