Tapiola Sinfonietta

Finland hosts an unusually abundant array of distinguished orchestral ensembles for a nation of only five and a half million inhabitants. Serving as the official municipal orchestra of Espoo, the Tapiola Sinfonietta maintains its base in the Tapiola district at Tapiola Hall within the Espoo Cultural Center. In 2022, honorary conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow led the ensemble in support of pianist Alexandre Kantorow for a BIS recording of Saint-Saëns works for piano and orchestra that included the popular Piano Concerto No. 2.

The orchestra was established in 1987. Its 43 members initially focused on Viennese Classical-era repertory, employing forces close in scale to those of the period. Growing success encouraged expansion into Scandinavian compositions, contemporary scores, and broader terrain. Local obligations remain central, encompassing appearances for school audiences and in senior citizen residences, yet the group has also completed many tours abroad.

The Tapiola Sinfonietta has functioned as a notably consistent springboard for international conducting careers. Artistic directors have included Jorma Panula, Osmo Vänskä, and violinist-conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, who served as artistic director from 1993 to 1999 and conductor from 2000 to 2006 and who, according to the orchestra, “was of decisive importance to the shaping of the orchestra’s current sound.” Kantorow received the title of honorary conductor in 2011. Guest conductors have featured Paavo Berglund, Hannu Lintu, and Masaaki Suzuki, among others. The ensemble’s stable membership has additionally enabled frequent performances without a conductor.

By 1997 the Tapiola Sinfonietta had drawn the interest of leading classical labels and has recorded regularly for BIS and Ondine. It has issued premieres of works by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Kaija Saariaho, and Magnus Lindberg. In 2017 the orchestra joined pianist Yevgeny Sudbin for Beethoven’s first two piano concertos, and the following year it appeared with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra on a recording of music by composer Matthew Whittall. In 2019 the orchestra and Kantorow accompanied the conductor’s son Alexandre Kantorow on a BIS release of Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4, and 5. The same forces reconvened in 2022 to record Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 together with additional works for piano and orchestra. As of the early 2020s the Tapiola Sinfonietta has issued more than 70 recordings.