"Magnificent is the only adjective I can find for Juha Uusitalo’s Scarpia. This bass-baritone can obviously do anything. He has a tremendous power but also a lightness of touch that is just as impressive".

Born in Finland, Juha Uusitalo began his musical career as a flautist working with many of the country’s major orchestras, including the Orchestra of Finnish National Opera, before emerging in 1997 as a major vocal talent with the same company as Verdi’s Falstaff. Immediately re-invited for productions of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Walton’s The Bear, Juha Uusitalo then became a member of Finnish National Opera from 2000 to 2008 during which time he sang his first Ring Cycle (Wotan/Wanderer) and debuted such roles as Amfortas, Jokanaan and Scarpia.

Juha Uusitalo first attracted international attention in a performance of Wagner’s Siegfried, conducted by Gustav Kuhn, at the 1999 Tirol Festival. His international opera profile was further raised in the 2002/2003 season with his debut in new productions of Das Rheingold and Die Götterdämmerung, conducted by Zubin Mehta, at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, a house where he has gone on to sing productions of Parsifal, Fidelio and most recently the highly-acclaimed new Konwitschny Flying Dutchman.

Wagner’s Flying Dutchman has become a signature role in Juha Uusitalo’s repertory and has marked his debut at La Scala Milan, Vienna’s State Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Savonlinna’s Opera Festival, Tokyo’s New National Theatre, as well as with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine.

Juha’s Uusitalo’s engagements have further included his Paris debut at the Chatelet as Don Pizarro, the same role which marked his return to the San Francisco Opera; the title role of Aulis Salinnen’s The Horseman at Savonlinna’s Opera Festival and in Moscow; a portrayal of Scarpia to Karita Mattila’s Tosca in a new production at the Finnish National Opera; Don Pizarro in the inaugural production of Valencia’s Palau de les Artes with Zubin Mehta (recorded for DVD); his role debut as Macbeth at the Savonlinna Opera Festival; The High Priest in Samson and Dalilah in San Francisco, as well his Los Angeles Opera debut as Kurwenal.

An active concert performer, Juha Uusitalo has performed with Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra: with Riccardo Chailly (Oedipus Rex and Des Knaben Wunderhorn) and with Vassily Sinaisky (Pulcinella). He has now twice collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis, in Saint-Saens’ Samson and Dalilah and in Fidelio (recorded for LSO Live). Other concerts include Oedipus Rex with Saraste at the Proms, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 throughout Italy with Mehta, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the San Francisco Symphony/Tilson Thomas, Tosca with the CBSO/Oramo, Carmina Burana with Mehta in both Florence and Israel, Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Sinfonie with the Philharmonia/Salonen on tour and Kurwenal at the 2005 Edinburgh International Festival, conducted by Jonathan Nott.

Also a keen recitalist, Juha Uusitalo made his London debut with Roger Vignoles at St John’s Smith Square, as part of the Ian Rosenblatt Recital Series, and performs regularly throughout Finland, recently featuring in the recital series of the Savonlinna Festival.

Last season saw Juha Uusitalo embark on two major new productions of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at Vienna’s State Opera, conducted by Franz Welser-Moest, and at Valencia’s Palau de les Arts in co-production with Florence, conducted by Zubin Mehta, as well as make his highly acclaimed debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as Jokanaan/Salome.

In the current season Juha Uusitalo sings Scarpia in the Metropolitan Opera’s opening production of Tosca, directed by Luc Bondy and conducted by James Levine, as well as productions of Flying Dutchman in Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna and again at New York’s Met. Another new production of Tosca for Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper is followed by further Scarpias at Savonlinna’s Opera Festival and concert appearances this season take him to Hamburg, Paris, Edinburgh, Helsinki and Vienna.

2009/2010 Season
Date Last Edited: 18th August 2009