Release of "Kurlervo Symphony," a culmination of Inkinen and the Japan Philharmonic

Welcome back, Inkinen!
To commemorate the reunion of former Principal Conductor Pietari Inkinen with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra,
We will be releasing the culmination of Inkinen and the Japan Philharmonic's work, "Clervo Symphony."

Sales begin on Sunday, December 1st (Pre-sales and an Inkinen autograph session will be held at the Japan Philharmonic Hall on November 23rd and 24th)

The talented Finnish conductor, Inkinen, has shared numerous stages with the Japan Philharmonic since their first collaboration in 2008, and was appointed Principal Conductor in 2016. The two have shed new light on the tradition of Sibelius performances woven by founding conductor Watanabe Akio and the orchestra. In 2023, with Inkinen set to retire from his post, the Japan Philharmonic took on Sibelius's epic work Kullervo for the first time in 37 years, depicting a meticulous and magnificent story from the mythical world based on the lyric poem Kalevala. This compilation, featuring soloists invited from Finland and the Japanese-Finnish Mixed Choir, is now being released.

[About JPO Recordings]
The Japan Philharmonic Orchestra's original label, "JAPAN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA RECORDING," offers a wide variety of recordings available for download and on CD, from precious original recordings from the orchestra's early days, including works by Charles Munch and Benny Goodman, to the commissioned "Japan Philharmonic Series," and even the latest recordings from the Japan Philharmonic, including Alexander Lazarev and Pietari Inkinen.

[Performer profile]
◆Pietari Inkinen
Inkinen has been gaining attention worldwide for his wide range of activities, including serving as Principal Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and Music Director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra in South Korea.
He will serve as the Principal Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra from 2016 to 2023, a relationship that dates back to 2009. In April 2019, he embarked on his first European tour in 13 years with the Japan Philharmonic, visiting Finland, Germany, Austria, and the UK. During this tour, he visited Helsinki and Inkinen's hometown of Kouvola to commemorate the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Finland.
Wagner's music remains at the heart of Inkinen's activities. He was invited to conduct a new production of the complete Ring Cycle, directed by Valentin Schwarz, in Bayreuth in the summer of 2020, but the project was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He will conduct Die Walküre in 2021 and the complete Ring Cycle in 2023. As a guest conductor, he has performed with orchestras including the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia National Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. His operatic credits include appearances at the Finnish National Opera, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Berlin State Opera, and Bavarian State Opera. He enjoyed a successful new production of Eugene Onegin at the Dresden State Opera, and will make his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Wagner's Tannhäuser in the 2023 season. He previously served as Principal Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra from 2015 to 2020, and Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2016, and currently holds the title of Conductor Emeritus. A violinist, he studied under Zakhar Bron at the University of Music in Cologne and has won numerous awards for his solo work before embarking on further conducting studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He currently enjoys playing and conducting, as well as performing chamber music with his regular musical colleagues.

◆ Johanna Rusanen (soprano)
A Finnish soprano, she studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and then spent two years in the training program at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1998.
With her exceptional vocal flexibility and technique, she has been active in opera, concerts and song, and since her debut in 1997, she has sung the title role in Puccini's Turandot at the Finnish National Opera for the first time in 2013, Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the same opera house in 2016, and Brünnhilde in Wagner's Ring Der Nibelungen in 2022. She is also a regular soloist at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and has recently received rave reviews for her strong female roles in Finnish operas, including Rita in Kokkonen's The Last Temptation of Christ, Anna in Saarinen's The Rider, and Riika in The Red Line.
She has also performed a wide range of roles, including Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Marie in Berg's Wozzeck, Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, and Chrysothemis in R. Strauss's Elektra.
Sibelius's Kullervo Symphony is one of her specialties and she has performed it all over the world.
In 2021, he was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland. (Reprinted from the performance program)

◆Ville Rusanen (baritone)
A Finnish baritone, he studied at the Helsinki Academy of Music and won the male voice category at the 2004 Lappeenranta International Vocal Competition.
In 2014 he was named Artist of the Year at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and has since performed regularly on the Savonlinna stage, appearing in the title role in Sallinen's Kullervo and Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and will return to Savonlinna in 2023.
He has appeared at La Scala (Italy), Opéra National de Lyon (France), and the Scottish Opera House, among others, and has also performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Orchestre Royal Philharmonic de Liège, and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.
A regular at the Finnish National Opera, he has performed many roles, including Pelléas in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Petter Kummer in Kuusisto's Ice, Forrester in Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, and the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Most recently, in 2022, he performed the title role in Britten's Billy Budd.
She has sung Sibelius's "Kurllervo Symphony" with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Ashkenazy) and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, among others. (Reprinted from the concert program)

◆ University of Helsinki Male Choir (Male Choir) (Chorus Director: Pasi Hijokki)
Founded in 1883, when Swedish was the official language, the Finnish Vocal Ensemble is the oldest vocal ensemble in Finland, and has received dedications from numerous composers, including Sibelius. Since the 1930s, the ensemble has toured Europe, North America, and Asia as a musical ambassador, winning the BBC Vocal Competition in 78 and the 1st Schubert International Competition in 84. Their CD album with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra won the Gramophone Award in 2001 and the Prix Classical de Cannes in 02. Since its founding, Hannikainen, the ensemble's conductors have included such luminaries of Finnish music as Klemetti, Palmgren, Turunen, Pohjola, and Pärtola. With a wide repertoire ranging from tango to Christmas songs, the ensemble has recorded over 230 Finnish works, making a significant contribution to elevating Finland to one of the world's leading choral powerhouses. During his 2003 Japan tour, his performance of the Kullervo Symphony with the Finnish Lahti Symphony Orchestra was met with rave reviews and was selected as the Best Concert of the Year by Ongaku no Tomo (Friends of Music). (Reprinted from the concert program)

◆Tokyo College of Music (Male Choir)
The Tokyo College of Music Choir is a mixed choir composed mainly of undergraduate students and graduate students majoring in vocal music selected from those taking the "chorus" course, and has performed numerous times with renowned orchestras both in Japan and abroad.
The choir's collaboration with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra dates back over 40 years, beginning with the Ninth Symphony in 1979. Since 2020, despite significant restrictions on the number of choir members due to infection control measures, the choir has been able to express the joy of the Ninth Symphony like never before. Other appearances include the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra's Ivan the Terrible in November 2018, the NHK Music Festival's Symphonic Gamers 4 in November 2019, the Meguro Ninth 2020+1 in June 2021, and Festa Summer Musa Kawasaki 2022 in August 2022. Starting in 2022, the choir has welcomed Junichi Hirokami as friendly advisor, in addition to Fumihiko Shimura, Masamitsu Fujimaki, and Takahito Asai, as choral directors. (Reprinted from the performance program)