A musical drama based on Leo Tolstoy´sclassic novel Anna Karenina was produced in Finland by Lahti City Theatre.

The musical was a pioneer production, a cultural cooperation the kind European theatre had never experienced before. Anna Karenina was a musical theatre development project that was carried out in cooperation with top artists from Finland and Russia.

Anna Karenina was the first musical drama ever to receive financing  from the European Union´s structural funds as well as from the Finnish Ministry of Education.

The classic Russian novel had been dramatized into a play, translated into Russian poetry, then into Finnish language, composed into an original musical score by a Russian composer and was ultimately produced to its world premier in Lahti City Theatre by a Finnish director, conductor and an original Finnish cast. This internationally high standard musical drama had its world premier on the September 2000.

The musical project itself was a part of a larger scale tourism and marketing campaign where Lahti City, the theatre and other cultural institutions were being marketed in Finland, Russia and West-European countries as tourist attractions.

Anna Karenina is a remarkable enterprise that will undoubtedly win world wide attention, in Finland, Russia as well as in Europe and USA.

 For further information: Lahti City Theatre, Sinikka Karstila, project manager,

Anna Karenina was very well received by the press, both in Finland and in St. Petersburg, and it was a tremendous economical success for a small city like Lahti (population 100 000), box office sales drawing near €2 million.

Kirkkokatu 14, FIN-15140 LAHTI, tel. +358 3 814 3107, mobile +358 50 559 4080, fax +358 3 814 3145.

Anna Karenina

Based on the Novel by Leo Tolstoi Anna Karenina
Music Vladsilav Uspenski
Libretto Tatjana Kalinina and Jotaarkka Pennanen
Finnish translation  Jaana Lappo

Director Jotaarkka Pennanen
Conductor Juhani Lamminmäki
Orchestration Markus Fagerudd
Coreography Edvald Smirnov
Stage Design Kari Junnkkala
Costumes Kaija Salaspuro

 Roles

Dancers: 14 persons Dance Group from S:t Petersburg, Russia

20 Persons Orchestra