COMPOSERS: etc,Kokkonen,Kuula,Mozart,Mussorgsky,Sibelius,Verdi
LABELS: Ondine
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: A Tribute to Martti Talvela
WORKS: Ostrobothnian Folksongs; From the shore; Summer night
PERFORMER: Martti Talvela (bass), Hertha Klust, Eero Heinonen (piano); Finnish RSO/Jussi Jalas, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam
CATALOGUE NO: ODE 945-2 Reissue
When Martti Talvela died suddenly at his daughter’s wedding in 1989, aged just 54, the whole of Finland went into shock. This tribute to the sheep-farmer, boxer and huge-hearted bass ensures that Talvela is remembered not only for his Osmin, his noble Philip II, his deeply human Boris _ but also for his love of Finnish song.
In between the arias (skilfully remastered from Finnish Radio tapes) come seven of Toiva Kuula’s dark and stirring Ostrobothnian Folksongs, and the simplicity of Yrjo Kilpinen’s ‘From the shore’ and ‘Summer night’. For the man who forsook Bayreuth for the fish and forests of a Finnish summer, this is just as it should be. Hilary Finch