Few nights ago was the premiere of The Marriage of Figaro in Joensuu. When I opened the newspaper that morning, this photo came across, and I must say, it was warming my heart greatly. This is exactly how I pictured this scene, back in last February, when our discussions started with director Markku Pölönen. And it was great to see the wonderful expressions on this close up of Angelika Klas-Fagerlund as Contessa, Laura Pyrrö (Susanna) and Ann-Marie Heino (Cherubino), being 120% in their role. In my opinion, the mood is quite close to the Van Loo painting, which is mentioned, regarding this situation about Cherubino's little Canzonetta, in the original Beaumarchais play, still: it is completely of ours now, enriched by our singers, orchestra, set designers, costume department, make up artists, light designers, and many-many other people behind the scenes - while we still followed Mozart's score as close as possible. In the hand of the Contessa, you can see the original handwriting of Mozart. With this team, we were able to take care of such small details. This is the way of making opera. Great people. Great team. Love you all. A few more to go!