Riikka Rantanen, mezzosoprano

Riikka Rantanen graduated from Sibelius Academy in 1987 and gave her debut recital in 1988. She has been a regular guest at the Finnish National Opera since 1984 and a permanent ensemble member since autumn 2002.

At the Finnish National Opera, she is renowned for her brilliant roles. Her recent assignments there have included Octavian in R. Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel in Humperdinck’s
Hänsel und Gretel, Feodor in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Varvara in Janácek’s Katya Kabanova, Adalguisa in Bellini’s Norma, Flosshilde in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Polina in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. Her repertoire also includes Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

In autumn 2006, she was heard as Sofie in the world premiere of The Hour of the Serpent by finnish composer Mikko Heiniö and as Dorabella in W.A.Mozart's Cosi fun tutte. Spring 2007 includes The Hunt of King Charles the first Finnish opera ever. Season 2007-2008 includes the new production of Bizet's Carmen and Rossini's La Cenerentola.

La Cenerentola (Riikka Rantanen), Finnish National Opera, Photo Stefan Bremer

Ms. Riikka Rantanen is a much sought-after performer in many world premieres of Finnish operas. She has sung the leading role in Kalevi Aho’s opera Before We All Have Drowned, the role of Liisa Kärmäki in Kimmo Hakola’s chamber opera The Mustard Seed, the role of Maria the Merchant Olli Kortekangas’ opera The Book of Jonah, the role of Karnak in Jani Kääriä’s opera Osiris, the role of Bird in Kirmo Lintinen’s children’s opera Nuts about Nosh and the role of Irina Jusupova in Einojuhani Rautavaara’s latest opera Rasputin. She has also performed as Second Lady in Kokkonen’s Last Temptations, Second Daughter in Tapio Tuomela’s Mothers and Daughters and in Einojuhani Rautavaara’s opera Aleksis Kivi at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. She has also performed in a number of productions of regional operas. From 2000 to 2001, she sang the title role in Anna Karenina: the Musical.

In addition to having performed in Finland, Riikka Rantanen has also given numerous recitals in the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, France and the Russia. She is also an extremely versatile concert performer and her extensive repertoire ranges from sacred music and baroque works all the way to contemporary compositions, such as György Ligeti’s Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures (under Esa-Pekka Salonen) and Peter Maxwell Davies The Medium. In 2004, she performed as a soloist with the Avanti! Orchestra for Continuum by Colin Matthews at the Berliner Festspiele Festival. Her CD recordings include the internationally and critically acclaimed Kaija Saariaho’s From the Grammar of dreams, full-length recordings for Fr. Pacius’ Die Loreley and The Princess of Cypress (Princessan af Cypern) and more recently, Aulis Sallinen’s Barabbas Dialogues. Riikka Rantanen is one of the founding members of Taite r.y., a multidisciplinary group.

AMONG FORTHCOMING PERFORMANCES 2009-2010:

Thursday 19 November 2009 at Sellosali Soittoniekanaukio 1, Espoo (FI)
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Ilmo Ranta, piano
Antti Tikkanen, violin
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, cello
Mikael Helasvuo, flautist
Petteri Salomaa, baritone
Riikka Rantanen , mezzosoprano

FNO: The Marriage of Figaro

FNO: Aleksis Kivi

FNO: Rigoletto

FNO: Faust

PAST PERFORMANCES 2008-2009:

The Finnish National Opera: Musorgsky, Boris Godunov, Feodor

The Finnish National Opera: Verdi, Rigoletto, Maddalena

The Finnish National Opera: Mozart, The Magic Flute, 2nd Lady

The Finnish National Opera: Kortekangas, Daddy's Girl, Anna

The Finnish National Opera: Madetoja, The Ostrobothnians, Maija Harri

The Finnish National Opera: W.A.Mozart, The Magic Flute, Second woman

Thursday 20 March 2008 at 8pm, Helsinki, J. S. Bach: St. Matthews passion, Choir Suomen Laulu, The Sixth Floor Orchestra, cond. Juhani Lamminmäki

Friday 7 March at 7:00pm, Helsinki, Temppeliaukio Church, The Finnish National Orchestra, cond. Kari Tikka, J.S.Bach: St. Matthews Passion


CD recordings for labels:

CBO RECORDS
Aulis Sallinen, Barabbas Dialogues op.84

ONDINE
Einojuhani Rautavaara, Rasputin, opera in three acts (DVD Video)
Aulis Sallinen, The King Goes Forth to France, opera Read review

Photo I by Heikki Tuuli: The Finnish National Opera, Bizet: Carmen, in the picture from left mezzosoprano Lilli Paasikivi, soprano Mari Palo and mezzosoprano Riikka Rantanen