Will Osmo Vänskä's next gig involve waving his baton at Netflix?
Did Minnesota Orchestra conductor really ink $75 million deal to work for Netflix?
Announcement about Osmo Vänskä's plans for streaming shows about Finnish folk legends is another April Fool's Day surprise.
April 1, 2022 at 2:55PM
The Minnesota Orchestra announced Friday that its outgoing conductor has signed a 5-year, $75 million contract to create and produce original series and films for the streaming service.
"Since I came to the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, we have made so much music and done so many good things together," said Vänskä, according to an orchestra news release. "But now it is time for new kinds of challenges. I am excited for this partnership with Netflix where we can bring classical music to places it has never gone, and I can also continue my life's work toward the EGOT."
Among the shows Vänskä is thinking about creating, are an "Alfonso Cuarón-directed feature film about the life of Johann Christoph Denner, the 17th-century German instrument maker credited with inventing the clarinet; 'High Sticking,' a 10-episode limited series about a 60-something orchestra conductor who moonlights as an NHL hockey coach; 'Keeping Up with Kalevi,' a weekly unscripted look at the musings and music of contemporary Finnish composer Kalevi Aho; and 'Re-Score,' an animated anthology series in which each episode explores an alternate version of the Minnesota Orchestra's history if just one event turned out differently."
"What if Leonard Bernstein had become music director in 1949 rather than Antal Dorati?" Vänskä offered as an example, then continued: "What if the ensemble permanently banned violas in 1903? What if the protrusions on Orchestra Hall's walls and ceiling were octagons instead of cubes?"
The orchestra's veteran baton swinger also said there will be a Jean Sibelius series. And in conjunction with his new partnership with Netflix, the orchestra will premier "Tiger King in Concert," a marathon 9-hour long performance of the hit documentary series with a live performance of the score by the orchestra.
The orchestra has a history of dropping bombshell announcements in early spring.
On April 1, to be exact.
On April 1, 2019, for example, it announced it would be going on tour — to Antarctica. On April 1, 2018, the orchestra announced it would be recording a symphony composed by Twins star Joe Mauer.
Today's announcement, coincidentally, was also on April 1.
Lefse-wrapped Swedish wontons, a soothing bowl of rice porridge and a gravy-laden commercial filled our week with comfort and warmth.
