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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Crusell: Clarinet Quartets Nos. 1-3
Osmo Vänskä, Pekka Kauppinen, Anu Airas, Ilkka Palli
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei BIS am 28.02.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kokkonen: Complete Kokkonen Edition, Vol. 1
Torleif Thedéen, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.05.1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Song of the Earth / Hymn of the Earth
Juha Hostikka, Helena Juntunen, Dominante Choir, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Chorwerk (für den Chor) - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.06.2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Spirit of Nature (Luonnotar)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.04.2006
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (1888 version)
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 15.05.2010
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mellnäs - Khachaturian - Rimsky-Korsakov - Holst - Lundquist
Stockholm Symphonic Wind Orchestra, Kjell Fageus, Brian Priestman, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei Caprice am 01.01.1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Aho: Clarinet Quintet - Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano - Sonata for 2 Accordions
Kammermusik - Erschienen bei BIS am 08.05.2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Snofrid / Cantata for the Coronation of Nicholas Ii / Rakastava
Chorwerk (für den Chor) - Erschienen bei BIS am 28.08.2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paulus, S.: To Be Certain of the Dawn [Oratorio]
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei BIS am 31.03.2009
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suomalainen Kansanlaulu (Finnish Folk Songs)
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.12.2002
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suomalainen Virsi (Finnish Hymns), Vol. 3
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gubaidulina: Bassoon Concerto / Detto Ii / Concordanza
Harri Ahmas, Ilkka Palli, Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 6
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Sinfonietta / Serenade / Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal / Nocturne
Christoph Prégardien, Ib Lanzky-Otto, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crusell: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1-3
Karl Leister, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Lied Von Der Erde (Das)
Monica Groop, Jorma Silvasti, Sinfonia Lahti Chamber Ensemble, Osmo Vänskä
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei BIS am 30.11.1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kajanus: Finnish Rhapsody, Op. 5 / Sinfonietta, Op. 16 / Kullervo
Matti Hyökki, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.03.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 30.04.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, Tuireadh & The Exorcism of Rio Sumpúl
Martin Fröst, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 31.08.2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pizzetti: Orchestral Music
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei Hyperion am 01.10.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leifs: Geysir and Other Orchestral Works
Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä
Klassik - Erschienen bei BIS am 01.01.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo