Finnish Legend Comes to Town : Music: Both the L.A. Philharmonic and the Music Center Opera are presenting versions of the saga of Kullervo.

Murders, incest, suicides, seductions and revenge, all driving a blood feud.

Sounds like a miniseries, right? Well, it is also the stuff of myth, in particular the Finnish legend of Kullervo, which gets an unusual double exposure at the Music Center this month.

This weekend, the Los Angeles Philharmonic presents Sibelius’ symphonic poem “Kullervo,” 100 years after its premiere established the composer’s career. Then on Feb. 25, Music Center Opera and the Finnish National Opera stage the world premiere of Aulis Sallinen’s new opera, also titled “Kullervo.”

Both projects involve recordings as well, the Philharmonic just beginning the process, while the Finnish National Opera’s “Kullervo” will be in stores by the premiere. Throw in a few peripheral events and you have the makings of a compact and serendipitous festival of Finnish music, actively promoted by the Finnish government in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Finnish independence.

The cornerstone of this sudden explosion of Finnish music here is the opera.

“I knew something of the ‘Kalevala’ (the source of the Kullervo myth) and felt it was quite suitable for opera,” says Peter Hemmings, general director of Music Center Opera. “I also felt strongly that we should do a premiere as soon as possible.”

A bit of luck helped Hemmings’ quest. A new home for the Finnish National Opera has been in the works at Helsinki for several decades, making the Disney Hall dawdle seem hectic. “Kullervo,” commissioned by the company and completed in 1988, was to inaugurate the new $165-million theater--and still will, although not until 1993.

“This opera was planned for the opening of the new opera house,” says baritone Jorma Hynninen, who will sing the title role in both the symphony and opera, and was from 1984 to 1990 the artistic director of the Finnish National Opera.

“There are very many reasons, however, why we want to play it now. For one thing, Sallinen is already well along with his next opera,” Hynninen notes. “We also have good memories of our visit to the Met (in 1983). We did think about which house in the U.S. would be good--we thought about Washington--but then this lucky situation came up.”

The results are a co-production. FNO brings the soloists, chorus, conductor, director, designers and the physical elements; MCO provides the orchestra, technical staff and some of the promotion. For the MCO’s first world premiere, Hemmings says his company’s share of the costs amounts to the equivalent of a typical borrowed, non-premiere production.

When the Philharmonic and its Finnish music director-in-waiting, Esa-Pekka Salonen, heard of the opera plans, it seemed a natural to program the Sibelius work. Salonen and the orchestra have already recorded one Sibelius disc for Sony Classical, due out soon, and are recording “Kullervo” at Royce Hall Monday and Tuesday.

The basic story in the symphony and opera is the same. Kullervo’s family is wiped out in an attack by his uncle Unto, and Kullervo is seized and sold into slavery. After a humiliating sexual encounter with the wife of his owner, Kullervo kills her and flees.

In the course of his wanderings, Kullervo is reunited with his family--who survived Unto’s remarkably inept fratricide after all--all except one sister. Kullervo has met her as well, and unaware of the relationship, seduced her. When the lovers discover their identities, the sister throws herself into a river. Kullervo also commits suicide, after slaughtering Unto and his family.

This tale is presented relatively forthrightly by Sibelius, in the fashion of a dramatic oratorio. Hynninen sings Kullervo and Danish mezzo Marianne Rohrholm makes her local debut as his sister at these performances. The Helsinki University Chorus also sings a selection of a cappella songs by Sibelius for male chorus.

The opera is something else. “In Sallinen’s opera,” Hynninen says, “all of these bad things have already happened--it’s looking back on different levels and times. It makes some very interesting things for singers and actors.”

Sallinen has also added a reflective finale that is not in the Kalevala or the 19th-Century play, which forms the basis for the libretto, Hynninen says.

“At the end in this opera, it is not all bad. There is hope and some kind of salvation for Kullervo. That is something that Sallinen created.”

The music, of course, is also very different, although Sallinen’s is firmly rooted in Romantic tonal traditions. It begins quietly and ominously in C minor, with the chorus setting the stage with what Hynninen calls the “Kalevala sound”--suggestive of both folk music and Eastern Orthodox chant.

It ends quietly as well, with tragic D minor brightening to D major in benediction. Along the way, Sallinen introduces synthesizer washes for the orchestra, and a variety of vocal techniques.

“It is not hard to sing,” Hynninen reports, “but it is difficult to memorize, because the phrases don’t follow regularly. There is much use of syncopation and polymeter. In the Sibelius, you just follow along and sing.”

Hynninen and company recorded the new opera last October, with a slightly different cast than will be appearing here. (Matti Salminen, who sings Kullervo’s father--confusingly named Kalervo--on the Ondine recording, has a prior engagement at the Met.) Though not out yet, it will be in stores by Feb. 25.

The making of the recording itself has been vigorously promoted through the Information Service of Finland. The country is quite proud of its operatic heroes, and subsidizes the Finnish National Opera, which according to Hynninen earns less than 10% of its budget from ticket sales.

A bevy of local journalists were flown to Helsinki in October, as Mirja Covarrubias of the Finnish Consulate General here cheerfully reports, “just to promote interest, so when the opera arrives here it would be more familiar. It’s all for the P.R. We’re trying to cross the threshold of awareness.”

Additional Finnish music events surrounding the attractions at the Music Center are lectures and panel discussions, and three concerts. Saturday the Kvartettilaulajat chamber singers will perform at the Angelica Lutheran Church downtown. On March 1 the Los Angeles Concert Singers offer a “Nordic Sound” program at St. Alban’s Church in Westwood, featuring the “Lorca Suite” by Einojuhani Rautavaara.