Leevi Madetojan oopperat Pohjalaisia ja Juha

Kirjan kuvaus

Pohjalaisia and Juha, the operas of Leevi Madetoja : the works, the texts and the contexts. The strongest suit of the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947) is in orchestral and vocal music, reaching climax in his two operas: Pohjalaisia ('The Ostrobothnians'; 1923, Fp. 1924) and Juha (1934, Fp. 1935). - This study examines the elements of Madetoja's personal style, especially the operatic solutions and dismisses the old, sometimes even pejorative clichés associated with the composer. Gino Stefani's theory of musical competence serves as the theoretical frame of reference for this study. The texts written on Madetoja's operas and their performances become more understandable within this frame: Madetoja's music has been neglected when peripheral, regional and national(istic) intonations have formed the basis of presentation (historical criticism and demand for authenticity). - Pohjalaisia, having the attribute of a national opera, has been tied to social traditions, not only in the contents of the texts but also regarding the performances. - One of the most important findings of this study is that Leevi Madetoja can no more be reganrded unambiguously as a typical 'national romanticist'; he was instead a cultural relativist and his personal operatic style is, more than national, a synthesis of the European syles from the beginning of the 20th century.It has always been 'the' work when Finnish National Opera or the State of Finland has needed an opera to celebrate an important anniversary. It was only in the late 1960s when some Finnish critics began to question the status of Pohjalaisia. The former hypothesis that Juha drained the creative forces of Madetoja is doubtful. The first performance of Juha was a great success and the critics praised its unity and artistic values. The decrease in the performances of Juha since 1940s are most likely, not due to the weakness of Madetoja's libretto as some critics have claimed, but rather stem from a sign of change in musical culture: opera and art music in general suffered a temporary loss to other forms of entertainment. Juha bore the imprint of a torso opera for more than 30 years but there have been signs of a new estimation. Summary: Leevi Madetoja's operas 'The Ostrobothnians' and 'Juha' : the works, the texts and the contexts.