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THE ANGLO-FINNISH SOCIETY -
                   FUTURE EVENTS

 
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Lordy Lordi!

 

Whatever you think of their music, there can be no doubt that Lordi’s runaway success in the Eurovision Song Contest in May has provided more publicity for Finland than anything else recently. Having to stage the contest in Helsinki next year will be a great challenge to YLE but also a great promotional opportunity for Finland.  If anyone is interested, Lordi will be on tour in Nottingham, Birmingham, Manchester and, on the night of Halloween, in London at the Forum,

Highgate Road, London
NW5

 

In July Unesco designated the Kvarken Archipelago (northwest of Vaasa) as Finland’s first World Heritage Site. It was selected for its geological features. The moraine crests, which are aligned in different directions, together with the rate at which the land is rising make the Kvarken region unique. The designation is likely to lead to some local development – in the same week as the announcement was made, 550 German tourists came to visit the site.

 

Autumn Programme 2006

 

 

Tuesday 26 September  - The Golden Age of Finnish Art

The first meeting of the Society after the summer break will be held at the Finnish Institute,

35-36 Eagle Street, London
WC1 on 26 September at 6.00 for 6.30 when James Malpas of Sotheby’s Institute of Art will give a talk on the Golden Age of Finnish Art. James Malpas has lectured at Sotheby’s Institute for 17 years and has contributed to lecture programmes at Birkbeck College, Tate Britain, the Royal Academy, the V&A and elsewhere. His Finnish interests started through playing ice hockey in London and have led to a Ph.D. in progress on Finland and its cultural fight for independence 1885-1917.  Please advise if you wish to attend by completing the Reply Slip at the end of this circular.

 

Thursday 26 October – Risto Ryti

 

On the day which is 50 years (plus one day) since the death of Finland’s wartime president, Risto Ryti, we will have a talk from Professor Patrick Salmon entitled “Risto Ryti and the Bank of England Between the Wars”. Patrick Salmon is Chief Historian at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He was formerly Professor of International History at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Foreign Member of the Norwegian Academy. His publications include Scandinavia and the Great Powers 1890-1940 (Cambridge, 1997). The meeting will be at the Finnish Institute at 6.00 for 6.30. As ever, please advise if you wish to attend by completing the Reply Slip at the end of this circular.

 

 

Finnish Events in London

The most complete listings are on the websites of the Finnish Embassy and Finn-Guild (www.finemb.org.uk and www.finn-guild.org). Here is a selection of events:

CONCERTS

 

Wednesday 13 September at 7.30 Wigmore Hall  (020 7935 2141)

 

The pianist Risto Lauriala will perform Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Chopin’s 24 Preludes and, for good measure, Sibelius’s suite of five tree sketches, the Cinq Morceaux

 

22 and 23 September at 7.30 Queen Elizabeth Hall (08703 800 400)

 

Paavo Berglund conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The programme includes Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of Saari and the Swan of Tuonela by Sibelius, Les Nuits d’été (Karen Cargill mezzo soprano) by Berlioz and Beethoven’s Symphony 6, the Pastoral

Saturday 7 October at 7.30 pm St Dominic’s Priory, Southampton Road, London NW5

 

Saturday 14 October at St John the Evangelist, Duncan Terrace, London N1

 

The Annual Festival of New Organ Music will feature works by Olli Kortekangas, Jouko Linjama, Jyrki Linjama, Jan Mikael Vainio, Juha T. Koskinen and Paavo Heininen

Admission to the concerts is free, but a collection will be taken to defray costs

Monday 13 November at 7.30 Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, SW1 (020 2773 4500)

 


A concert entitled Viva Finlandia! to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Finnish Institute is being produced in co-operation with Finn-Guild, the Sibelius Academy and the Guildhall School of Music. The Orchestra of the Guildhall School of Music will be conducted by Eva Ollikainen. The programme will include Sibelius’s Finlandia, and Arias from Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito sung by Essi Luttinen, and from Zaide and Magic Flute sung by Kaisa Ranta. They will also perform duets from Cosi fan Tutte.

17 November Pizza Express,

Dean Street
at (020 7439 8722)

 


The Ilmileikki Quartet will be performing their brand of hard bop or free jazz.

 

EXHIBITIONS 5 September to 3 October at Rokeby,

37 Store Street, London
WC1

 


An exhibition of recent work by Axel Antas

DANCE  The Place, 17 Duke’s Road, London WC1 (Box office 020 7121 1100)

 

The Place Prize, sponsored by Bloomberg is the UK’s biggest choreography competition. Over 18 nights, 20 new, specially commissioned works will be performed in a competition to find one overall winner. Tanja Råman will participate with her piece, Kaiku. The preview will be on 11 September at and the semi-final at on 16 September.

 

THEATRE 7 and 8 November at Laban, Creekside, London SE8

 

The Alien is a cross-disciplinary work created by the half Finnish artist, Matti Braun. It is based on an unrealised screenplay by Satyajit Ray which may have been the inspiration for Spielberg’s ET. The piece includes theatrical tableaux, choreographed dance sequences and sets and costumes designed by the artist. The piece has a live musical score which will be played on the kantele by Anna-Karin Korhonen, who studied at the Sibelius Academy. Together with Mirva Minkkinen she was winner this year of the Kantele Society’s Group of the Year.

Laban merged with the Trinity College of Music in 2005. The award winning premises are best reached by the Dockland Light Railway. Alight at Cutty Sark station. Turn tight out of the station and right again into

Creek Road
. Take the second left after the bridge and Creekside and Laban are on the left. It’s about a 10 minute walk.

BOOKS

 

Cambridge University Press has recently published A Concise History of Finland by David Kirby (362 pages, £14.99 paperback, £40 hardback). The author shows how Finland was able to survive not only in peace and war but was also able to preserve and develop its own highly distinctive identity, neither Scandinavian nor east European.

 

 

Paulus Thomson, 27 August  2006.

 

"_______________________________________________________________________

 

REPLY SLIP – to be returned to Mr P Thomson,
44 Elfort Road, London N5 1AZ

 

I/we would like to attend the talk on Risto Ryti on 26 October

 

NAME____________________________________________________________

 

ADDRESS_________________________________________________________

 

_____________________________________Tel No________________________

 

GUESTS___________________________________________________________

 

 

"_______________________________________________________________________

 

REPLY SLIP – to be returned to Mr P Thomson,
44 Elfort Road, London N5 1AZ

 

I/we would like to attend the talk on the Golden Age of Finnish Art on 26 September

 

NAME____________________________________________________________

 

ADDRESS_________________________________________________________

 

_____________________________________Tel No________________________

 

GUESTS___________________________________________________________

C/O

44 Elfort Road

 

, London N5 1AZ

 

, Tel: 020 7359 8689

 


E-Mail:

 

HonSec@AngloFinnishSociety.org.uk