Obituary | The fire of Kaisa Korhonen's art spread throughout the Finnish theater

On Saturday the composer left Kaj Chydeniustoday, Thursday, April 25, in Helsinki, his long-time partner and spouse, a theater director Kaisa Korhonen (1941–2024).

How classic. Only an artist who directed the great classics of the world's dramatic literature can develop such a departure. For Kaisa Korhonen, work was one purpose of being. Maybe he could Chekhov Vanja-enon To think like Sonja: “We live a long row of days, long evenings… and when our time comes, you and I, eno, dear eno, we get to see a bright, wonderful, beautiful life… We rest. We get to see the whole sky in its diamonds.”

Kaj and Kaisa. Together, they opened the doors and windows of Finnish theater directly to the European social awakening of the 1960s. Berlin was their second home. Bertolt Brecht theater Berliner Ensemble and the city's other large drama theaters linked a new theater language to Finland through them.

The result was the founding of the Kom Theater. It was first born in Swedish, then it changed into Finnish-language nomad theater. The Kom theater was known, among other things, as the messenger of the new singing movement, whose central starting point was awareness and social movements.

Korhonen directed several Russian classics, one of which became a particularly significant interpretation Maxim Gorkin Mum. When directing Chekhov's great dramas, Kaisa Korhonen recognized the pain points of the plays. He used Finnishness as a neurotransmitter Väinö Linnan and Here under the North Star -work's worldview, and on the other hand could parody upstart life Maria Jotunin The golden calf through.

Korhonen was the interpreter of strong Finnish women both in her own performance and when guiding them on stage. His Neck mountainThe works of his series have left our legacy Hella Wuolijoki an unyielding female image.

The Finnish woman from Niskavuorte survives, taught by generations of experience.

“

Kaisa Korhonen left deep traces on many of our theater generations.

Dogs driven by a fox is one of the cornerstones of Kaisa Korhonen's literary production. In the book, together with his directing students from the University of Theater, he interviews young directors working in the profession about their working methods, values, forming and sharing theater experience. This is how he has recorded the central income angles of the theater of the 1960s-1990s in our more recent theater history. Korhonen's own long career as a pedagogue as a director and professor of theater work both at the University of Theater and Tampere can be considered their mother.

From the 1960s, Finnish radicalism gained momentum from the large theater countries of Central Europe. Alongside the German tradition rose Dario Fon the mischievous Italy of the newer Commedia dell'arte, the France of the strong visualists or the daring of the Prague schools Clearing the way for the classics as investigators of modern people's motives.

But Kaisa Korhonen brought her own kind of rough, post-war generation's conviction, often even pathetic strength in her songs.

Together Kaj and Kaisa had sons Kallen and Jussin. Their children were also the cornerstones of the new Finnish theater, starting with the Helsinki Student Theater, a new European singing movement and the birth of the musical play With Lapland operas.

The work continued at the Kom theater, Lillani, Tampere's Black Love group. Korhonen was at his best when he took the great classics to flight on big stages such as Helsinki City Theatre, Svenska Teatern and Suomen Kansallisteatteri. Korhonen's last direction in 2016 also took place there, with the main character being a strong woman of Finnish culture Minna Canth.

Kaisa Korhonen left deep traces on many of our theater generations. For him, theater work was hunting and clarifying the truth, even if time was short. When conducting, he was, according to his colleagues, an exemplary Ensemble builder and a great listener who also listened to his audience.

As a director can study from many different starting points. “However, it requires a kind of philanthropy, the need to be with people. And for the sake of explaining or improving the world”, Korhonen wrote Koirien driven by a fox in his work.

For Kaisa Korhonen, this was rarely clear as the legacy of the home. Kaisa, who was born in Sotkamo to an authentic Körtti family, had a legendary priest in the Savonlinna parish. Kusti Korhonen, who brought the concept of a strong folk church to Finland. From that, the daughter continued as a seeker of the folk theater's strengths, although she says that she also had to suffer from the role of the rovati's daughter.

Awarded at Pro Finlandia, Kaisa Korhonen will remain a key figure in Finnish cultural history with her courage, open-heartedness and straightforward theater vision. He has passed on a unique fire of art to everyone who has had the chance to work or study with him.