Osmo Vänskä
Conductor Osmo Vänskä has been the longtime music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, with a vigorous conducting career in Europe and Asia as well. He excels in the music of Sibelius and other Scandinavian composers, but also Beethoven, Mahler, and other continental European music of various periods.
Vänskä was born in Sääminki, Finland, on February 28, 1953. Though he studied conducting under Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, his initial focus there was the clarinet. For the first part of his career, Vänskä was an orchestral clarinetist, first with the Turku Philharmonic from 1971-1976. While there, he made his conducting debut (in 1975), garnering approval from both critics and the public alike. From 1977 to 1982, Vänskä was the co-principal clarinetist for the Helsinki Philharmonic. He won the 1982 Besançon Young Conductors Competition and thereafter turned largely to conducting, landing his first major post in 1985 when he was appointed the guest conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. In 1986, he made his recording debut with that orchestra, backing clarinetist Karl Leister on composer Bernhard Crusell's three clarinet concertos. He became the orchestra's chief conductor in 1988, holding the post until 2008.
During this 20-year stint, he held several other posts as well: chief conductor of the Iceland Symphony (1993-1996), principal conductor of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (1996-2002), and music director of the Minnesota Orchestra from 2003. The Minnesota Orchestra has remained at the center of Vänskä's musical life and his personal life as well: he married Erin Keefe, the orchestra's concertmaster, in 2015. Vänskä was at the helm in Minneapolis through a bitter labor dispute in 2013 and 2014, during which he temporarily resigned his position. He has attempted to weave the orchestra into the city's daily life with such enterprises as an appearance at a 2016 halftime show for professional football's Minnesota Vikings. He has also maintained European ties, serving in the 2010s as the principal guest conductor of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, returning to his former home in Lahti, and making many guest appearances with top-level orchestras.
Vänskä is known for his advocacy of Finnish music, particularly from the 20th century, with the names Aho, Crusell, Klami, Kokkonen, Kajanus, and Rautavaara appearing regularly on his programs. Vänskä is probably best known for his spirited Sibelius, both in the concert hall and on recordings. That said, Vänskä has hardly limited himself to Finnish music: his repertory includes works by a vast array of composers, including Beethoven (whose cycle of nine symphonies he recorded for BIS), Bruckner, Poulenc, and even Leroy Anderson, among many others.
Many of Vänskä's well over 100 recordings have appeared on BIS and have featured the Minnesota Orchestra, which he has returned to the top rank of the world's symphonic ensembles. His recording work in the 2010s centered on a new cycle of Sibelius symphonies with the Minnesota Orchestra; the year 2016 saw the beginning of a new cycle devoted to Mahler; that cycle was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic but continued with the Symphony No. 9 in D minor in 2023. That year, Vänskä concluded his tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra but stayed on as conductor laureate. He also conducted the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019 to 2022.
© James Manheim & Robert Cummings /TiVo
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Yevgeny Sudbin, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 31.03.2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Music From Finland
Lahti Laulupuu Choir , Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 28.10.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1-7 & Kullervo
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 02.10.2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 3, 6 & 7
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 05.08.2016
Gramophone AwardGramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Finlandia: A Festival of Finnish Music
Dong-Suk Kang, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.10.1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 (Original Version and Final Version)
Leonidas Kavakos, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Yun: Three Late Works
Sueye Park, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 02.09.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 26.03.2013
Gramophone Editor's ChoiceGramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Unknown Sibelius
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 30.07.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite & The Wood-Nymph
Osmo Vänskä, Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.04.2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Sound of Sibelius
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Rondo of the Waves
Lasse Junttila, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.03.2003
Gramophone Award16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Korngold & Marx: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 18)
Marc-André Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.02.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No. 10 in F-Sharp Major "Unfinished" (Completed by D. Cooke)
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 05.02.2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 - Bax: Tintagel
Osmo Vänskä, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonien - Erschienen bei London Philharmonic Orchestra am 01.11.2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jean Sibelius: Kullervo, Op. 7 - Olli Kortekangas: Migrations
YL Male Voice Choir, Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Chorwerk (für den Chor) - Erschienen bei BIS am 03.02.2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Tone Poems
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.04.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 / En Saga
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.02.1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Kullervo, Op. 7
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 02.10.2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7 / Tapiola
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.11.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Swan of Tuonela (The) / Tapiola
Tytti Vänskä, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 28.02.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo