{"id":151475,"date":"2026-08-24T14:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/151475\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T14:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T14:16:16","slug":"helsinki-opera-summer-a-hungover-passion-and-other-musical-surprises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/151475\/","title":{"rendered":"Helsinki Opera Summer: a hungover passion and other musical surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There is still some summer left \u2013 opera summer, at least. The independent opera and musical theatre festival <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Helsinki Opera Summer<\/a> returns for its sixth edition from 27 August to 6 September 2026. Its programme brings together remarkable women from history, the Finnish Friday night and improvised opera.<\/p>\n<p>The festival\u2019s main venue is the Alexander Theatre, with performances also taking place at Kallio Church, the Old Church and elsewhere around the city.<\/p>\n<p>The festival opens with the world premiere of Olli Kortekangas\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/diivat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Divas in the Studio<\/a>. The great names of Finnish cultural history, Ida Aalberg and Aino Ackt\u00e9, find themselves under the lights of a modern television studio, discussing celebrity, their careers and the struggle to balance work and family.<\/p>\n<p>Kallio Church hosts the world premiere of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/bilepassio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bilepassio \u2013 Praise of Friday<\/a>. In Tarmo Anttila\u2019s work, the traditional Passion form of Western sacred music collides with the Finnish Friday night. Its protagonist, Markku, does not suffer on Golgotha but after work: he cracks open a can of Finnish long drink and invites his friends round. Baritone Waltteri Torikka sings the role of Markku.<\/p>\n<p>The international programme includes the British production <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/cover-her\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Cover Her<\/a>, which connects the stories of medieval virgin martyrs with the contemporary MeToo movement.<\/p>\n<p>Produced by Ooppera Skaala, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/songs-from-the-uproar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Song from the Uproar<\/a> explores the life of adventurer and writer Isabelle Eberhardt. The festival marks the Finnish premiere of the opera by American composer Missy Mazzoli.<\/p>\n<p>The programme also includes Rimsky-Korsakov\u2019s Mozart and Salieri, Mascagni\u2019s Zanetto and the family musical<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/hein%C3%A4hattu%2C-vilttitossu-ja-suuri-pamaus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Hayhat, Feltslipper and the Big Bang<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The free programme carries opera beyond the auditorium through improvisation, outdoor concerts and the travelling<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oopperakesa.fi\/en\/oopperakesa-2026\/oopperapy%C3%B6r%C3%A4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> Opera Wheel<\/a>, which roams the streets of Helsinki.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is still some summer left \u2013 opera summer, at least. The independent opera and musical theatre festival&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[459,158,113,4085,458],"class_list":["post-151475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-news-events-festivals","tag-things-to-do"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/117150914067932458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}