News
6.6.2024
Tickets for the Early Music concert series are now on sale
Tickets for the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s Early Music concert series are now on sale. There are two discounted ticket packages for the concert series: for the concerts in the Old Church and the Music Centre.
Two concerts in the Old Church will kick off the autumn. On 21 September at 19:00, the enthusiastic Cornelius Uhle will return with his most original repertoire. Under the title “Mare nostrum – Musica Baltica & Mediterranea”, the programme includes North German, Baltic church music and stylus fantasticus. On 26 October at 19:00, there will be 18th century Concertos for several solo instruments and Sibelius’ beloved Rakastava series on period instruments.
Concerts at the Old Church:
The second October concert on 29 October at 19:00 will take place in collaboration with the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts in the legendary concert hall of the R-house. Our guest at both October concerts will be violinist Erich Höbarth. The programme includes two great Viennese gems of the 19th century: Schubert’s last chamber music work, the String Quintet in C major, and Schoenberg’s early string sextet Verklärte Nacht. Tickets for the concert are on sale from 14.6.2024 on uniarts.fi.
In November, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra is pleased to present the opera event of the year! Mozart’s unsurpassed masterpiece Idomeneo contains everything you could wish for in an opera: the widest possible range of styles and situations, a rich collection of exquisite performances unique in the composer’s oeuvre, a thoroughly virtuosic and colourful orchestral suite with captivating ballet and chamber music gems, a spectacular choral part…
The themes of the clash of cultures, old and new, war and peace, love and duty will appeal to the contemporary listener. Idomeneo will be heard in Finland for the first time since the 1980s; the original version of the work is still unpublished. Performances at Helsinki Music Centre 10 November at 16:00 and 12 November at 19:00. Performances also on 16 November 14:15 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and on 17 November at the Herne in Germany.
The traditional Christmas concert will take place in the Helsinki Music Centre on 22 December at 19:00. Haydn’s Eszterháza season of operas will feature the masterpiece L’Infedeltà delusa to a libretto by Coltellini, in which evil gets its reward and all good and warm spirits. Ella Smith stars in the lead role of this 18th century romantic comedy in her first visit to Finland. The orchestra is the Orfeo Orchestra conducted by György Vashegyi.
Concerts at the Music Centre:
29.2.2024
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra Joins EU project for Sustainable Development in Early Music
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra is participating in the Sustainable Development – EEEmerging (S-EEE) project, supported by the Creative Europe Programme 2024-2027.
The project is part of an initiative to support the careers of young early music ensembles, supported by a European network of more than 17 organisations from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Spain and Finland.
Sustainable-EEEMERGING drives forward common goals and makes sustainability one of the core values of the project, while aiming to influence the early music ecosystem and selected emerging bands.
The project will take action to ensure the stability of artists’ careers, but also to increase the opportunities for the dissemination and reception of early music repertoire across Europe by adopting more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable practices.
Read more at https://eeemerging.eu/
10.7.2023
Kristian Saarinen will start as the General Manager
Bachelor of Music, Kristian Saarinen, will start as the General Manager of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra on August 1, 2023. Previously, he worked as a project planner for tourism at Helsinki Cathedral Parish. Additionally, Saarinen has experience as a producer and entrepreneur in the field of classical music.
“Our former General Manager, Mikko Missi, has already transitioned to new roles within the music industry. I would like to express my gratitude to Mikko for his excellent work for HeBO,” says Kirsi Hokka, Chair of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s board.”
25.4.2023
Tickets for next season’s Early Music Series now available
The upcoming season of Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s Early Music Series in the Helsinki Musiikkitalo will see great vocal works of the Baroque era from both France and Italy. The season kicks off with a tour production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Boréades, as the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra from Hungary bring a concertante version of this opera to the Finnish audience for the very first time. Meanwhile the Christmas concert will feature the masterpiece Caduta di Adamo by the Venetian Baldassare Galuppi (1706–1785).
Violinist Cecilia Bernardini makes a long-awaited return to HeBo with a full romantic repertoire. Pauliina Fred and Aapo Häkkinen’s duo concert brings beautiful chamber music to the shortening days of October.
Tickets available from Ticketmaster.
17.1.2023
Concert performance of Pergolesi’s Lo Frate ‘nnamorato for the first time in Finland
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra performs Giovanni Battista Pergolesi‘s (1710-1736) opera Lo Frate ‘nnamorato (1732) as a concert performance. The comic opera composed to Gennario Antonio Federico’s libretto written in the Neapolitan dialect, is one of the most important works of Neapolitan opera.
During his short life, Pergolesi managed to leave his name permanently in the history of Western art music. He was a central figure in the birth of Neapolitan opera – a phenomenon that in the 18th century had a wide influence on the art of opera throughout Europe. Pergolesi’s influence on later composers from Mozart to Stravinsky was notable.
The work has a particularly strong relationship with the culture of the Naples region in terms of subject matter, language and music. Conductor Marcos Magalhães: “Music plays a significant role in Neapolitan life, but at the center of the cultural richness is the Neapolitan dialect, which I consider one of the most musical languages in itself. It seems as if the phrasing and pronunciation of that speech is already melodic and rhythmic like the music itself. So it’s not surprising that Naples and its surroundings have always had not only a diverse and profound folk culture tradition but also a sophisticated and impressive art music tradition, specifically in the field of opera and especially in the 18th century.”
The concert continues the well-established cooperation between Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Os Músicos do Tejo, and is made possible by financial support from Dgartes, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa and the Government of Portugal.
2.9.2022
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra 25 Years
The upcoming concert season marks the 25th anniversary of Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Highlights of the season include an anniversary concert featuring music from Bernhard Crusell, as well as a touring opera production of Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella. Read more about these and other concerts here.
31.3.2022
Pasticcio Passion in Tallinn and Helsinki
Graun/Bach: Passions-Oratorium, sometimes referred to as “the fifth passion”, was performed by the Purcell Choir and Helsinki Baroque Orchestra in Budapest last year. Now it is coming to Tallinn (Estonia Kontserdisaal, April 9) and Helsinki (Musiikkitalo, April 10).
The production brings together Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Purcell Choir Budapest, one of the foremost choirs in Europe. The soloists are Ágnes Kovács, Eszter Balogh, Zoltán Megyesi and Lóránt Najbauer, with Aapo Häkkinen conducting.
23.12.2021
New Year’s concerts cancelled
The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland has today given an order that closes public indoor spaces and forbids events from 28 Dec – 17 Jan. Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s traditional New Year’s concerts in Musiikkitalo on 31 Dec and 1 Jan have therefore been cancelled.
3.12.2021
EU COVID Certificate required for concerts in Finland
EU Covid Certificate will be required for Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s upcoming concerts in Rauma and Helsinki. Covid passports will be inspected upon entering the concert venue. Children under the age of 16 are exempt from this requirement.
26.9.2021
Tickets for New Year’s concerts now available
Joseph Haydn’s opera L’isola disabitata (The Desert Island) will be performed in Helsinki Baroque Orchestra’s traditional New Year’s concert in Musiikkitalo on Dec 31 & Jan 1. The soloists include Giuseppina Bridelli, Kajsa Dahlbäck, Hugo Hymas and Arttu Kataja, with Aapo Häkkinen conducting.
Tickets are now available from Ticketmaster service points and website.