Joulun tähdet. Star Christmas

featuring Karita Mattila · Soile Isokoski · Lilli Paasikivi · Johanna Rusanen-Kartano · Jorma Hynninen · Matti Salminen

Pertti Pekkanen, conductor
Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano
Soile Isokoski, soprano
Tapiola Choir
Matti Hyökki, conductor
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Matti Salminen, bass
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Timo Nuoranne, conductor
YL Male Voice Choir
Kyösti Haatanen, conductor
Jorma Panula, conductor
Ulf Söderblom, conductor
Jyväskylä Sinfonia
Jorma Hynninen, baritone
The Musica Choir of Jyväskylä
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
Karita Mattila, soprano
Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir
Erkki Pohjola, conductor
Johanna Rusanen-Kartano, soprano

ODE 1138-2 · CD · October 2008

Christmas

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Track listing

20 tracks · 60:38

Listen to samples on selected tracks.

Leevi Madetoja

1 Arkihuolesi kaikki heitä (Cast Off Thy Everyday Cares) 2:03

Jean Sibelius

2 Jo joutuu ilta (Over Hill and Dale), Op. 1/3 2:31
3 En etsi valtaa, loistoa (We Ask for Nothing Rich or Rare), Op. 1 3:57
4 On hanget korkeat nietokset (The Shining Snows Are Driven High), Op. 1 3:08

Heino Kaski

5 Mökit nukkuu lumiset (The Snowbound Cabins Sleep) 4:05

Martti Hela

6 Jouluihme (Christmas Miracle) 3:46

Jean Sibelius

7 Tervehtii jo meitä 2:09

Traditional

8 O Tannenbaum (Oi kuusipuu) 2:33

Pekka Juhani Hannikainen

9 Tuikkikaa, oi joulun tähtöset 1:58

Selim Palmgren

10 Ja neitsyt pikku poijuttansa (The Virgin Rocks Her Baby Boy) 1:36

Traditional

11 Maa on niin kaunis (The Earth is Beautiful) 3:43

Karl Collan

12 Sylvian joululaulu (Sylvia's Carol) 4:20

Adolphe Adam

13 O Holy Night (Oi, jouluyö) 3:43

Ahti Sonninen

14 Jouluhymni 2:22

Otto Kotilainen

15 Varpunen jouluaamuna (A Sparrow on Christmas Morning) 4:11

Franz Gruber

16 Jouluyö, juhlayö (Silent Night, Holy Night) 4:09

Traditional

17 Tuo armon valkokyyhky 2:17

Otto Kotilainen

18 Jouluyö (Tyyni on ilta jääpuvussaan) 2:09

Säde Rissanen

19 Olen löytänyt sen 3:14

Jaakko Löytty

20 Ilouutinen 2:44

Ondine's 2008 Christmas album features six Finnish star singers with famous Christmas carols of Finnish tradition: sopranos Karita Mattila (1-2, 11-12), Soile Isokoski (5-6, 14-15) and Johanna Rusanen-Kartano (9-10, 19-20), mezzo Lilli Paasikivi (7, 17-18), baritone Jorma Hynninen (3-4, 13) and bass singer Matti Salminen (8, 16).

Booklet in Finnish

Lilli Paasikivi

Lilli Paasikivi notable performances have included: Schoenberg's Gurrelieder with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Jukka-Pekka Saraste; Wagner's Wesendonk-Lieder with Janos Furst; Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and also Gurrelieder with Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen; the world premiere of Shchedrin's The Enchanted Wanderer with New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel; Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and On Guard for Peace with the Philharmonia under Vladimir Ashkenazy; Zemlinsky's Maeterlinck Lieder with Münchner Philharmoniker under Susanna Mälkki; Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons; and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontious with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Ashkenzay. Last season she made her concert débuts with Cincinnati Symphony and London Symphony Orchestra both under the baton of Paavo Järvi, New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas and Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. As principal soloist at Finnish National Opera, roles have included Carmen, Angelina (La cenerentola), Cordelia in Sallinen's King Lear, Dorabella (Cosiì fan tutte), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Marchesa Melibea in Dario Fo's production of Il viaggio a Reims; Varvara (Katya Kabanova), Aleksandra Fjodorovna in Rautavaara's Rasputin and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier). Elsewhere she made her début at the Châtelet in the role of The Pilgrim in Saariaho's opera L'amour de loin, sang the role of Jitsuko Honda in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's Hanjo at Festival d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provence, made her house and role débuts at Opéra de Lyon as The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) and returned to Aix to sing Fricka in Das Rheingold.

Full biography

Soile Isokoski

Soile Isokoski is recognized as one of the world's finest lyric sopranos. After graduating from the Sibelius Academy, she gave her début recital in Helsinki in 1986 and subsequently won a number of important international singing competitions. She made her début at the Finnish National Opera as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème and has since delighted audiences and critics alike at opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, London, Milan and Paris, at The Metropolitan Opera and at music festivals in Salzburg, Savonlinna, Edinburgh and Orange.

Full biography

Tapiola Choir

The Tapiola Choir is one of the world's leading children's choirs and consists of 70 young musicians aged 9 to 18, all of whom also play at least one musical instrument in addition to singing. Erkki Pohjola founded the Tapiola Choir in Espoo in 1963. After meeting Zoltan Kodály and Carl Orff in 1964, he adapted their ideas into a free-form education method with a chamber-music approach, building on the innate creativity and musical talents of children. He continued to pursue this new music education ideal as conductor of the Tapiola Choir for over three decades. During that time, the Choir evolved from a run-of-the-mill school choir into one of the most acclaimed vocal instruments of our time. International critics called its unique sound the ‘Tapiola Sound'. Kari Ala-Pöllänen continued the work of Erkki Pohjola from 1994 to 2008, until he was succeeded by Pasi Hyökki, one of the Choir's own alumni.

Full biography