Pohjalaisia
| The Ostrobothnians | |
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| Opera by Leevi Madetoja | |
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The composer, c. 1920s
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| Native title | Pohjalaisia |
| Librettist | Leevi Madetoja |
| Language | Finnish |
| Based on | "Pohjalaisia" by Artturi Järviluoma |
| Premiere | 25 October 1924 Finnish National Opera, Helsinki |
The Ostrobothnians (in Finnish: Pohjalaisia; occasionally translated to English as The Bothnians), Op. 45, is a verismo opera in three acts by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, who wrote the piece from 1917–24. The libretto, also by Madetoja, is based upon the 1913 play by the same name, the authorship of which is disputed (but nonetheless is attributed commonly to Artturi Järviluoma, the play's publisher). The story, variously comedic and tragic, takes place around 1850 in the historical Finnish province of Ostrobothnia, and features as its central conflict the deteriorating relationship between the farm community and its oppressive sheriff.
On 25 October 1924, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra premiered the opera at the Finnish National Opera under the baton of Tauno Hannikainen; the enthusiasm of critics and the public quickly elevated the work to the (informal) status of the country's "national opera". Working in its favor was Madetoja's use of well-known folk melodies and the libretto's focus on freedom from oppression and self-determination, the allegorical qualities of which were particularly salient to a country that had won recently its independence from Russia. This inaugural production ran until November 1940, for a total of 90 performances, making it the greatest success of Madetoja's career. Today, the opera is recognized as Finland's first significant contribution to the operatic repertoire and has been revived numerous times.
The work is also well known in its abridged form, a five-movement suite for orchestra that Madetoja excerpted from Acts I and II of the (then-unfinished) stage production's score and which Robert Kajanus premiered to acclaim in Bergen, Norway on 8 March 1923. The most famous number is Vangin laulu (Prisoner's Song), for which Madetoja set the popular Ostrobothnian folk song, Tuuli se taivutti koivun larvan (The Wind Bent the Birch); in addition to being the prelude to Act I of the opera, the melody also serves as its key leitmotif.
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