The Last Temptations

The corrected and updated edition of the piano reduction of the opera The Last Temptations (Viimeiset kiusaukset, 1973-75) is made by Pekka Asikainen, who has worked with it as a répétiteur for decades, and the conductor Ulf Söderblom. The publication marks 100th anniversary of Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996), celebrated in 2021.

The Last Temptations (Viimeiset kiusaukset), an opera in two acts by Joonas Kokkonen to a libretto by Lauri Kokkonen, is considered one of the most important Finnish operas. The opera deals with the life of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century folk preacher Paavo Ruotsalainen. Kokkonen worked on the opera for 16 years before finishing the work. It was premiered in Helsinki by the Finnish National Opera in 1975. The opera consists of two acts divided in 14 scenes. The combining element of the work is the hymn number 382 in the current Finnish hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, My Lord, my God in all distress Finnish: Sinuhun turvaan Jumala (382) which is a reoccurring theme throughout the opera. A chorus containing the whole hymn concludes the opera.