Sinfonia Finlandia was founded in 1955, after predecessors stretching back to 1949. Since 2003 the artistic director has been the Frenchman Patrick Gallois. In
addition to its regular symphony concerts, the orchestra has toured widely throughout Finland with such illustrious soloists as Karita Mattila, Viktoria Mullova, Yehudi Menuhin and Ruggiero Ricci, and has also made light music tours with leading Finnish musicians. The orchestra toured Japan in 2000 and 2004, as well as France, Spain and Poland.
For some years now Sinfonia Finlandia has appeared at various festivals, and collaborates closely with the Jyväskylä Opera. The orchestra’s activities include recordings, notably the first recording of the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s opera Aleksis Kivi. Amongst other acclaimed releases, Sinfonia Finlandia’s discography includes Haydn’s Symphonies, Vol. 29 (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) (Naxos 8.557571), Haydn’s Symphonies, Vol. 32 (Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12) (8.557771), Gounod’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 (8.557463) which was chosen as record of the month in September 2006 by Naxos Germany, and Sibelius’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Desbrière’s Sinfonia (8.557985F).
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death, a special 34-CD Box Set of THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES (8.503400) has been released featuring Sinfonia Finlandia.
Photo by: Pekka Rötkönen
Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä with Patrick Gallois (foreground); Photo by: Pekka Rötkönen
