The Lahti Symphony

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It's true. Think of Esa-Pekka Salonen in Los Angeles, creating an orchestra equally compelling with Beethoven as with Boulez. Think of Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Toronto, creating an orchestra equally convincing with Debussy as with Dallapiccola. And think of Osmo Vnsk in Minneapolis, creating an orchestra that can play anything and make it sound honest and real and true and, above all, deeply musical.

So for local classical cognoscenti, the must-see concert of the 2004-2005 UMS season is Osmo Vnsk and the Lahti Symphony on Wednesday, January 26. Although Vnsk has done tremendous things recently in Minnesota, he first came into his own as the music director of the Lahti Symphony. In his nearly two decades with Lahti, Vnsk took a provincial ensemble from the coldest corner of Europe and turned it into one of the hottest orchestras on the continent. Lean, hard, tight, and muscular, the Lahti may not have the voluptuous warmth of the Vienna Philharmonic or the stupendous power of the Berlin Philharmonic. But when it comes to orchestral virtuosity and, more important, to utter dedication to the music, the Lahti stands with the best in the world.

It achieved that position thanks to Osmo Vnsk. He was trained as an orchestral musician and spent more than a decade playing the clarinet in various Finnish philharmonics before he put it down to pick up the baton, so he understands how an orchestra works. Vnsk knows how to mold a tempo, how to shape a phrase, how to clarify a texture, how to put musical mass in motion and drive it to a climax. To listen to a Vnsk recording is to hear a piece as if for the first time.