After 19 years leading the Minnesota Orchestra, Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä will be saying goodbye this month, with performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 from June 10 to 12 and a “farewell celebration” on June 17. His tenure with the orchestra—and especially the recordings he’s made with the group—have been almost universally acclaimed: It took days of googling before we found a single negative review of any of his albums (by critic David Hurwitz of ClassicsToday). Vänskä’s Sibelius interpretations are especially renowned, with the Minnesota Orchestra’s sounding breathtakingly crisp, precise, and sparkling in the symphonies.
Before Minnesota, Vänskä led the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Finland from 1988 to 2008. Now he’s unattached, having decided not to extend his contract with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. On Zoom, we spoke with Vänskä in a mixture of Finnish and English about the ups and downs of a long-term conductor-orchestra relationship, the agendas behind the 2013 lockout at the Minnesota Orchestra, and why his home audience is always his priority.
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