National Opera to offer severance pay to seven soloists

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Music magazine Rondo has published a list of five Finnish National Opera singers enjoying a monthly salary that Artistic Director of the Opera Mikko Franck is not planning to use in future productions, at least for the next three seasons starting from the autumn of 2009.
      According to information received by Helsingin Sanomat, however, at least seven soloists have been offered a chance to part company with the opera.
      The Rondo list contains the names of the singers Ritva-Liisa Korhonen, Tove Åman, Kaisa Hannula, Satu Vihavainen and Ari Grönthal.
     
Rondo also incorrectly wrote that the soloists would have been offered a chance to “retire”. In reality, of the aforementioned singers only Vihavainen, who has been with the National Opera since 1980, is about to retire in accordance with the retirement process that was set in motion already in 2006.
      Otherwise the ensemble will be renewed this year anyway through normal retirement.
      For the remaining soloists on the Rondo list, a severance pay worth six months’ salary has been offered on top of the normal period of notice pay, if they opt to resign. No-one has been threatened with sacking.
      According to the information received by Helsingin Sanomat, for example the prominent tenor Jyrki Anttila would also have been given the offer to resign.
      And the number of the singers that will be offered a severance package may ultimately be even greater than seven, for not every soloist has had the feared meeting with Franck yet. The offer to resign has been universally turned down - at least for the time being.
     
The rejection percentage is high, for the National Opera only has 25 soloists enjoying monthly salaries.
      Now it seems that at least for seven of them Franck cannot find suitable work. Of the ensemble, 16 singers are on permanent contracts and nine on fixed term agreements.
      Most of these terminable contracts will expire in 2012. Nevertheless, those urged to resign now also include people on fixed-term agreements with the company.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  General Music Director resigns from Finnish National Opera (15.2.2007)
  National Opera appoints a GD with a sharp eye for money matters (28.9.2007)

See also:
  National Opera: Mikko Franck to be nominated for dual post of Artistic Director and General Music Director (22.11.2007)

Links:
  Finnish National Opera

Helsingin Sanomat