Rautavaaras "Rasputin" - et spenningsfylt drama

Abstract

The Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (born 1928) has written numerous different types of music. In his work we can find songs, choral music, chamber music, symphonic music, electronic music, etc. Notably, many of his 10 operas have become quite popular in his homeland, Finland. His last opera, Rasputin (2003), takes us to Russia in the years before the 1917 revolution and focuses on the close relationship between the enigmatic monk Rasputin and the last Tsar family of the House of Romanov. Rautavaara wrote both the music and libretto, and the opera shows the composer s complete mastery of this genre.