Finnish bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo goes up in the world

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By Vesa Sirén
     
      The Metropolitan Opera in New York has announced its 2009-2010 season, and as expected next autumn’s season will kick off on September 21st with an opening night gala and the première of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca.
      The acclaimed soprano Karita Mattila will be singing the title role in Luc Bondy’s new staging of Puccini’s opera.
      Conducted by James Levine, the performances of Tosca will feature Marcelo Álvarez in the role of Cavaradossi, while Juha Uusitalo will sing Scarpia for the initial run, with later performances set to feature Bryn Terfel due to his tight schedule.
      The news implies that Uusitalo, the 44-year-old Finnish bass-baritone, is no longer a soloist at the Finnish National Opera.
     
Uusitalo received an offer to perform in Tosca last autumn in connection with his Met début and was excited. It is fine to get an opportunity to work under Music Director James Levine in such impressive circumstances.
      Uusitalo decided to cancel all his previous contracts in order that he could perform in this production, removing from his website the news that he would be singing the role of Falstaff in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera of the same name at the Opera House in Helsinki next autumn as well.
      Uusitalo also cancelled his performance as a soloist in Jouni Kaipainen’s Symphony No. 3 in Tampere. Baritone Jaakko Kortekangas will replace Uusitalo there.
     
The Finnish National Opera did not approve of his letting down the Falstaff production. The Opera’s General Music Director Mikko Franck initially said to Uusitalo that he would not like to let him go to New York.
      However, the contract was cancelled in seemingly perfect harmony, and Franck said that Uusitalo would be welcome to the National Opera as a visiting artist.
     
History repeats itself, as it has frequently been difficult for the Finnish National Opera to hold on to its best singers enjoying a monthly salary, when international demand for them is growing.
      An awkward intermediate stage has sometimes preceded the final departure, when the management has felt that a singer only sings at the Finnish opera when there is no ”better stint” available, while the singer has regarded the management as inflexible in not providing advance notice on which days the singer could perform elsewhere, and when the opera would need his or her physical presence at the Opera House in Helsinki.
     
Apparently, a similar intermediate stage has also been experienced at the Opera House for the past few years.
      Nevertheless, should Uusitalo have been loyal and met his contractual obligations and resigned only after taking care of them?
      That is a good question, but the temptation in the world of opera is the greatest possible - both artistically and financially.
      The Metropolitan is likely to pay USD 15,000 (EUR 12,000) per night on stage to stars, and some opera houses can pay even more.
      The Finnish National Opera finds it hard to fight against such offers.
     
It is true that everything could have been handled more smoothly. For example the famous Finnish bass Jaakko Ryhänen was able to organise his career so that he managed to take care of his obligations, for which the National Opera paid him a monthly salary, while at the same time having signed up to top contracts worldwide.
      However, to be perfectly honest, he had an unsalaried leave of four years from the National Opera, and in the end a contract to perform on the Finnish stage on 15 nights annually.
      Ryhänen even managed to say no to the Metropolitan, when he had already agreed on a charity concert with the Finnish soprano Ritva Auvinen.
      However, he had to pay quite dearly for his integrity, as the Metropolitan never called him again.
      But during his career Ryhänen has sung in a large number of other opera houses for all the money’s worth.
     
”A Finnish man usually keeps his word”, says Ryhänen, and goes on: ”But I understand Juha very well, and I have never been in his situation. Juha is an excellent singer and I really hope that he will come to Finland frequently.”
      Other Finnish National Opera singers, including Lilli Paasikivi, Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, and Jorma Silvasti, also often get impressive assignments across the world, but they have still managed to take care of their obligations at the National Opera, regardless of the fact that the employer’s planning has often been shortsighted.
      On the other hand, Mikko Franck would seem to manage long-term planning, but Uusitalo left all the same.
     
Uusitalo has now chosen the lonely path of a freelance singer, while the Metropolitan has invited him to perform in Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman as well. The future is his, provided that he keeps well.
      Not all big stars are freelance singers. Even the acclaimed Finnish bass singer Matti Salminen preferred the basic security that only a permanent job can give, after he had hurt his foot. His contract with Opernhaus Zürich - the Zurich Opera House allows him to visit other top opera houses as well.
     
A similar arrangement should also be possible in Finland, but it would require individual contracts as well as loyalty, and some organising ability from both sides - the singer and the opera.
      Otherwise it could all end like this: Finland trains a top singer, but the artistic fruits are enjoyed elsewhere.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.2.2009


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Mattila and Uusitalo´s Salome great success at Metropolitan Opera (25.9.2008)
  The Metropolitan Opera news 10.2.2009: Met´s 2009-10 Season to Feature New Tosca, Hoffmann, Carmen & Hamlet
  National Opera to offer severance pay to seven soloists (8.1.2009)

Links:
  Juha Uusitalo official site

VESA SIRÉN / Helsingin Sanomat
vesa.siren@hs.fi