Lilli Paasikivi | Mezzo-soprano

Since making her debut with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker as Fricka in the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence's production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Wagnerian roles have become central to Lilli Paasikivi's work on stage. House debuts have included La Monnaie (as Brangäne), Hamburgische Staatsoper (as Fricka) and Oper Frankfurt (as Kundry).

Highlights this season include her debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Das Lied von der Erde (Elder), the Verdi Requiem with the Orchestre National de Lille, Eboli (Don Carlos), Amneris and Brangäne for Finnish National Opera and three concerts at the Verbier Festival including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Dutoit), Schubert’s Mass in E flat (Zacharias) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (Salonen).

Lilli Paasikivi’s roles at Finnish National Opera have included Carmen, Amneris, Genevieve and Waltraute. Other appearances have included her debut at Opéra National de Lyon as Der Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos) and the world-premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's opera Hanjo - based on the novel by Yukio Mishima - at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

Key to Lilli Paasikivi's concert repertoire are the Mahler song-cycles and symphonies. Notable appearances have included Das Lied von der Erde and Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Salonen); Das Lied von der Erde with Sydney Symphony (Ashkenazy); Symphony No. 2 with the Royal Swedish Philharmonic Orchestra (Oramo); Symphony No. 3 with the London Symphony Orchestra (Paavo Järvi) and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Zinman); Symphony No. 8 with the Berliner Philharmoniker (Rattle); Kindertotenlieder with the New World Symphony (Tilson Thomas) and Das Klagende Lied with Philharmoniker Hamburg (Young). She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic in the world-premiere of Rodion Shchedrin's The Enchanted Wanderer returning for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Gilbert). Other appearances include the BBC Proms with Sibelius' The Tempest, (Vänskä), Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder (Neuhold) and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in Schumann’s Faust Szenen (Hogwood).

Paasikivi's celebrated work on disc includes Beethoven's Symphony No.9 with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (under Riccardo Chailly for Decca); Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra (under Benjamin Zander for Telarc), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the London Symphony Orchestra (under Valery Gergiev for LSO Live); Sibelius’ Kullervo (under Osmo Vänskä for BIS); Sibelius’ Maiden in the Tower (under Paavo Järvi for Virgin/EMI); Alma Mahler’s Complete Songs (with Jorma Panula for Ondine) and Stravinsky’s Mavra with the Göteborgs Symfoniker (under Peter Eötvös). Lilli Paasikivi also curates the Pyhäniemi Festival in Finland.

In 2011 Lilli Paasikivi was appointed Artistic Director of the Finnish National Opera. She takes over this position in August 2013.

For more details please visit www.lillipaasikivi.com

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