Jorma Kalervo Hynninen (born 3 April 1941) is a Finnish

baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...

who performs regularly with the world's major opera companies. He has also worked in opera administration.

Life and career

Hynninen was born on 3 April 1941 in Leppävirta, Finland.Forbes, Elizabeth. Jorma Hynninen in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1997) p778. He studied from 1966 to 1970 at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and also took lessons from Luigi Ricci in Rome and Kurt Overhoff in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. In 1969 he won first prize the Lappeenranta Solo Voice Competition and made his opera debut with the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...

as Silvio in Leoncavallo's ''

Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

''. Hynninen sang his first public concert in 1970 in Helsinki and was a permanent member of the Finnish National Opera, where he 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: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, ) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. ''Onegin'' is considered a classic of ...

'', and Pelléas in Debussy's ''

Pelléas and Mélisande ''Pelléas and Mélisande'' () is a Symbolism (movement), Symbolist play by the Belgian playwright and author Maurice Maeterlinck. The play is about the forbidden, doomed love of the title characters and was first performed in 1893 in literature, ...

'', the role in which he made his debut at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, and which he sang frequently at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

. 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 Savonlinna Opera Festival () is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle), built in 1475. The castle is located amid spectacular lake scenery. Origin The birth ...

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 conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

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 Aleksis Kivi (; born Alexis Stenvall; 10 October 1834 – 31 December 1872) was a Finnish writer who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, '' Seitsemän veljestä'' (''Seven Brothers''), published in 1870. He is also known ...

'' by Einojuhani Rautavaara 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 (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'' (''The Prisoner'') (title role), with

and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Sony) *Mozart: ''Le nozze di Figaro'' (Count Almaviva), with

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

(EMI) *Beethoven / Mozart / Wagner / Mussorgsky: Opera Scenes (Naxos) *Nummi: Kevätteiltä (From Spring Roads, song cycle) with Ralf Gothóni (BIS) *Sallinen: Elaman ja kuoleman lauluja (Songs of Life and Death), Op. 69 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Okko Kamu (Ondine) *Schubert: ''Winterreise'', Op. 89, (Fuga) and Die schöne Müllerin D.795 (Ondine) *Sibelius: '' The Maiden in the Tower'' (Bailiff) (1983, BIS) *Sibelius: ''Orchestral Songs'' (Naxos) *Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major 'Symphony of a Thousand', with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt *Sibelius: ''Kullervo, Op. 7'', with the Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by

Paavo Berglund Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (14 April 192925 January 2012) was a Finnish Conducting, conductor and violinist. Career Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he ha ...

(1985, EMI); Göteborgs Symfoniker conducted by

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

(1985, BIS), Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen (1992, Sony), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1996, Finlandia) *Sibelius: ''Sibelius Edition'', Vol. 3 – Voice and Orchestra (Naxos) *Rautavaara: ''

Vincent Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer." People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...

'' (title role), with Fuat Mansurov and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ondine) *Sallinen: '' Kullervo'' (title role), with Ulf Söderblom and the Finnish National Opera and Chorus (Ondine) *Sallinen: '' The Red Line'' (Topi), with Okko Kamu and the Finnish National Opera and Chorus (Finlandia) plus DVD of 2008 Helsinki production conducted by Mikko Franck (Ondine) *Strauss, R: Elektra (Orest), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa

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 staff of Sibelius Academy category:Finnish baritones Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class 21st-century Finnish male opera singers