Award‑Winning german pianist Oliver Triendl as soloist of Helvi Leiviskä’s Piano Concerto on 12th of March

Published 27.02.2026

KSO conducted by First Conductor Eugene Tzigane

The Kuopio Symphony Orchestra’s season concert on Thursday, 12th of March at 6 pm travels on Divergent Paths Through Light and Dark with the sounds of Helvi Leiviskä’s Piano Concerto and Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 4. The richly resonant piano concerto will be performed at the Kuopio Music Centre by Oliver Triendl, who received the prestigious OPUS KLASSIK Award in October. The orchestra is conducted by its First Conductor, Eugene Tzigane.

The KSO’s season concert on 12th of March portrays the eternal struggle between light and darkness. However, the two works of the evening — Leiviskä’s Piano Concerto and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 — reach very different conclusions. “Brahms’ final foray into the symphonic form is a clear swan song, in which austerity and bitter contrast with heartbreaking moments of piercing beauty and festive joyfulness. And though Leiviskä’s concerto is also painted in similarly deep colors and hues, unlike Brahms’ symphony, the concerto ultimately transcends the darkness with a sense of resilience and fortitude, reaching a luminous, optimistic, and epic conclusion,” describes conductor Eugene Tzigane.

In 1935, Helvi Leiviskä made her debut as a composer with her Piano Concerto, Op. 7. Despite the positive reception, the work was completely forgotten. Its full score has disappeared, and the Savo’s Musical Society rescued the work using the surviving orchestral parts and piano score. These revealed that the 1935 premiere had in many ways been incomplete, as also suggested by correspondence between Leiviskä’s friends. Only in 2020 did Mirka Viitala and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra perform the work in a form as close to the original as could be reconstructed from the available materials.

German pianist Oliver Triendl, who is making his first appearance in Kuopio, received the prestigious OPUS KLASSIK Award in October 2025 — Germany’s most important recognition in classical music. Of Helvi Leiviskä’s piano concerto he says: “it is certainly the most significant concerto of its kind by a Finnish female composer. Her profound and serious style fascinates me, as does her treatment of an epic form. A challenging piano part meets masterful instrumentation — an absolutely rewarding undertaking!”.

Before the concert, at 5.30 pm at the Hall of Light, there will be a Pre-Talk open to all, with the artists of the evening.

On the same day, March 12th at 12 pm, you can enjoy the orchestra’s open rehearsal, featuring musical highlights from the evening’s program under Eugene Tzigane’s baton. Admission to the open rehearsal is free. In addition, Kuopio Music Centre’s Restaurant Oodi offers lunch at the Hall of Light between 11 am – 2 pm for €12.

Tickets: 34,60 € / 28,10 € senior citizens and groups min. 20 persons / 10,60 € children under the age of 16 and students.

The Copilot AI service was used in the production of this text.

KUOPIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Producer & Publicity Manager Elina Prepula, tel. 044 718 2364, elina.prepula(at)kuopio.fi
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