Segerstam at 70

Photo: Sami Kero, Helsingin Sanomat.

Back in 2004, in one of the first posts on this blog, I noted that Leif Segerstam, the merrily volcanic Finnish composer-conductor, was about to surpass Haydn by writing his 105th symphony. Segerstam is now celebrating his seventieth birthday, and, Vesa Sirén informs me, he is at work on Symphony No. 270 — a number unlikely to be challenged in the record books. Here is a Finnish-language interview by Sirén, with fun photos, and an accompanying video, in which Segerstam says, "I can see an eye, and a camera, but they are on the other side. That's why 'border crossing' is needed."