General Director Erkki Korhonen resigns from Finnish National Opera

Jan Hultin strong successor candidate

Erkki Korhonen

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The Finnish National Opera General Director Erkki Korhonen resigned on Thursday. He leaves his post with immediate effect.
      Korhonen's departure immediately prompted speculations of the identity of the next general director. At the moment, the likeliest candidate appears to be the Savonlinna Opera Festival director, Jan Hultin, who is already a board member of the National Opera.
      Erkki Korhonen acted as the Finnish National Opera general director from August 2001.
      Under Korhonen's direction the National Opera has reaped artistic acclaim, but financially the situation has not been equally rosy.
     
The staff have criticised the management culture of the opera. In the spring, the General Music Director Mikko Franck resigned. He said he would leave the house at the end of the period of notice because he had lost his faith in Korhonen and the Administrative Director Pekka Kauranen. Franck’s decision led to demonstrations by the entire staff on his behalf.
      "This matter is between the opera government and Korhonen. They are the ones to comment on it. I will continue my conducting duties with the opera until February 14th, 2008, as agreed, and I will perform all the tasks appointed to me by the administration"”, Franck commented from Brussels.
      Of the soloists, bass baritone Juha Uusitalo, who recently received excellent reviews in Valencia in Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Die Walküre conducted by Zubin Mehta, has been one of the most fervent critics of Korhonen’s leadership style.
      "I hope this will enliven the opera’s activities, and that trust can be restored in the new leadership. In Finland this may seem like a major event, but in the world the changes of opera directors are a commonplace and barely noticed", Uusitalo remarked from Florence.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish National Opera posts positive result for 2006 (21.3.2007)
  Former Governor of Bank of Finland to head new Finnish National Opera Board (8.3.2007)
  General Music Director resigns from Finnish National Opera (15.2.2007)

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