Jukka Rasilainen
Bass-Baritone
The Finnish bass-baritone Jukka Rasilainen studied in Rome with maestra Tina Scapini-Rella and at the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki. While still a student, he debuted as Leporello (Don Giovanni) under the direction of Gian Carlo del Monaco. 1985-1986 he became a member of International Opera Studio Zurich.
Between 1986 and 1993, he had a fixed contract as a bass-baritone and heroic baritone with the Theater Dortmund und Krefeld/Mönchengladbach. There he acquired a big repertoire, including the following parts: the title role in Wozzeck and Falstaff, Jochanaan in Salome, and Scarpia in Tosca.
In 1991, he debuted in Flensburg in the title role of Wagner's Der Fliegender Holländer. He sang this part subsequently in many productions, including Vienna State Opera, State Opera Unter den Linden Berlin, German Opera Berlin, Saxon State Opera Dresden, Bayreuth Festival, Tokyo, Savonlinna, and the Wagner-Festival Wels.
In 1992, he made his debut at Saxon State Opera Dresden. The theater manager Christoph Albrecht took him as a regular guest with a residential contract to Dresden and promoted him. He was linked untill 2010 to this house through this special contract. There, he participated in 10 new productions and 19 other repertory productions in 27 roles in Dresden. It was an important colaboration with Götz Friedrich to work on the role of Wotan/Wanderer in his new "Ring" in Helsinki, and it developed to a deep livelong friendship.
At the Vienna State Opera he sang the Flying Dutchman (1992-1994), Jochanaan (1993), Kaspar (1997/1998), Wotan (1999-2006) and Wanderer (2004). In 1993, he made his debut at "Bregenz Festival" as Zaccaria in Nabucco.
Since 1994 Jukka Rasilainen has been a regular guest at the National Opera Finland, where he sang the following parts: Iago in Otello, Scarpia in Tosca, Escamillo in Carmen and Barak in Frau ohne Schatten. He sang his first Wotan and Wanderer in the new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle, staged by Götz Friedrich, between 1996 and 2000.
Also since 1994 he has been a regular guest at the Opera Festival Savonlinna as the Dutchman, Tonio in I Pagliacci, Amonasro, Kurwenal (conductor: Leif Segerstam) and Scarpia (stage: Keith Warner, conductor: Philipp Auguin).
In 1995, he debuted as Amfortas in Parsifal at the Opera de Montpellier. He sang this part also in London with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Plácido Domingo as Parsifal, at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, at the Opera Bastille de Paris, at Bayreuth Festival, at the Saxon State Opera Dresden and Nice.
From 2000 - 2002 Jukka Rasilainen sang a new Ring production in Zurich, staged by Robert Wilson and conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. Also in Zurich he was heard as Orest in Elektra staged by Martin Kusej and conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi.
In 2003 he sang his first Telramund in Lohengrin in concert at the Edinburgh International Festival, conducted by Donald Runnicles; Wanderer in Tokyo (stage: Keith Warner); Kurwenal and Falstaff in Taiwan; and he made his debut at Bavarian State Opera as Mandryka in Arabella in Munich.
In 2005 he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival in the title role of Der Fliegende Holländer, and in 2006 and 2007 he sang Amfortas in Parsifal staged by Schlingensief. Since 2008 he also sang Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde staged by Marthaler.
Other highlights in 2005/06 were as Kurwenal with Ben Heppner and Waltraud Meier (stage: Peter Sellars / Bill Viola, conducter: Esa-Pekka Salonen) at the Opéra Bastille de Paris and the Ring Production at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris (stage: Robert Wilson / conductor: Christoph Eschenbach).
In the 2006/07 season, he sang Wotan, Wanderer, Escamillo, Kurwenal, Barak and Dutchman in Dresden, Wanderer in concert performances of the 3rd act of Siegfried in Berlin, conducted by Marek Janowski, and at the Brucknerhouse Linz the complete Siegfried in concert performance conducted by Philippe Auguin. He also played Kurwenal there in 2008, conducted by D. R. Davis.
In 2008 he sang his first Telramund on stage in Genf, Kurwenal at Bayreuth Festival and Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen at the Opéra Bastille in Paris conducted by D.R.Davis. In 2009/10 he sang the complete production of Wagner's Ring (stage: Warner, conducter: D. Ettinger) in the New National Theater Tokyo.
Jukka Rasilainen played Kurwenal for The Tristan Project, staged by Peter Sellars, and film project by Bill Viola and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen since Paris 2005; and he remained in the role for the same production in 2007 at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles and at Lincoln Center New York. In 2010 they will be on tour with this project in Dortmund, Luzern, Birmingham and at the Royal Festival Hall in London with the London Philharmonia Orchester concucted by Salonen. In Rotterdam he also sang in this project conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Mr. Rasilainen has worked with many important conductors, including Auguin, Bychkov, Conlon, D.R.Davis, Dohnanyi, Eschenbach, Ettinger, A. Fischer, Gergiev, Janowski, Nagano, V. Petrenko, Rennert, Runnicles, Salonen, Schneider, Segerstam, Sinopoli, Thielemann, Viotti, Wallat, and Welser-Möst. He has also worked with the following important stage directors: Ruth Berghaus, Willy Decker, Götz Friedrich, Claus Guth, Kasper Bech Holten, Harry Kupfer, Martin Kusej, Marco A. Marelli, Christoph Schlingensief, Peter Sellars, Keith Warner, and Robert Wilson.
In 2004 Jukka Rasilainen received the title "Kammersänger" at the Saxon State Opera Dresden from the Free State of Saxony.
His engagements for the next seasons are following productions: Wotan in Sevilla, Kurwenal in Tokyo conducted by Kazushi Ono, Bayreuth and Dallas and at the Summer Festivals in Wels and Savonlinna.