MEDIATHEK

We all love small children, because they are honest. When children are unwrapping a present on Christmas Eve, then the look on their face is genuine excitement. Luckily, some people never grow up, thus they preserve this genuine honesty in their professional lives. When they receive a new toy, they will care for it with love and passion. And, oh boy, they have received a Powerful toy — the opera Frida y Diego.

Composer Kalevi Aho, librettist Maritza Núñez, conductor Markus Lehtinen and director Vilppu Kiljunen are the four kids we met together in our first big production meeting. They have known each other for ages and know how to share and play. From the first moments it was clear how much of their own persona they had invested into the project and how much they loved working on it. Sincere passion is a virus, which infects the people one interacts with - a virus that we, the students, will gladly receive from the highly motivated professionals guiding us through the new project.

Maritza Núñez had received several phone calls from Kalevi Aho during the composing period. Kalevi had been really happy when he had completed some segment of work and called Maritza to tell her that: “Maritza! Maritza! Today I completed the Stalin monologue!” The next week he was really excited when he had completed the quarrel he expressed that excitement between Trotsky and David Siqueiros. Of course with Maritza the first chance he got! Like kids who got a new video game!

They are all good friends, so it is only natural that they have fun with each other. Vilppu Kiljunen, always energetic in his work, was joking with us how he had no idea what the hell was going on in the end of the opera. So he had met with Kalevi to ask about it, but, sadly, he didn't have any idea either. The hilarious side-stories, immense energy, sometimes brutal philosophy about life are the things which make working with Vilppu great. And you could never forget the face he made in secret to the singers when conductor Markus Lehtinen tried to imitate a Theremin' s sound!

The green philosophy and “you-are-what-you-eat” movement are getting more and more popular in the world. That is how we, the singers kind of feel in this production. We are nursed into artistic fruits, ready for the picking, in a friendly, happy, and perfectly ecological environment. We have the four great people to thank for it – Núñez, Aho, Lehtinen and Kiljunen