Iiro Rantala’s opera Sanatorio Express scored success in Frankfurt

The Frankfurt Chamber Opera staged the German premiere of Sanatorio Express (Pikaparantola) by  Iiro Rantala on 13–31 July. The libretto, by Minna Lindgren, was translated into German.  The performances were hailed by the press: “Iiro Rantala, the enterprising jazz pianist and representative of a probably typically Finnish penchant for self-irony, has succeeded with this chamber opera in two acts, premiered in 2018 at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, in creating an absurd social critique. As always in the difficult terrain of the light musical genre, it heavily relies on competent staging. In this respect, this new production by the Chamber Opera Frankfurt leaves little to be desired musically or scenically.”
The opera transports the audience to a bizarre sanatorium where a healing charlatan conducts his business with a motley crew of patients. Full of humour and highly accessible music, it lovingly follows the classical opera buffa.
Rantala’s latest opera, The Magic Melodica – a highly acclaimed sequel to Mozart’s Magic Flute – was premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2021.