Matti Salminen's recital includes a generous selection of late Romantic Finnish art songs and folk songs, with orchestral accompaniment. The songs, with just a few exceptions, have the darkness and passionate yearning often associated with Slavic traditions, and the theme of most is the bleak despair of lost love. Within that limited range, though, the composers find a variety of nuances to their expressions of grief and loss, and many of the songs are exceptionally lovely. The two by Leevi Madetoja, "Dark-hued leaves" and "Sometimes weeping in the evening," are especially elegant, with a more subtle and adventurous harmonic palette than most of the others, and with wonderfully delicate and evocative accompaniments. Sibelius' "The song of the Cross-spider," is also especially memorable.
Salminen's earthy, dark, voluminous voice is ideal for this repertoire. He sings with the expressive range developed in his long operatic career, but he brings a rough-hewed abandon and passion to these songs by his countrymen. His formidable technique allows him to sing them with compete assurance, and his familiarity with them and affinity for them make his performance completely unmannered, just as is appropriate for music so close to its roots in folk traditions. The
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, under
John Storgårds, plays with warmth and deep understanding.
Most of these songs were originally written for voice and piano, and the album includes the work of a number of arrangers who skillfully honor the simplicity of originals while providing orchestrally sophisticated new versions. The sound is full, clean, and present. ~ Stephen Eddins