Track listing
23 tracks · 52:28Gustav Mahler
- 1 Ablösung im Sommer 1:48
- 2 Frühlingsmorgen 2:00
- 3 Erinnerung 2:59
- 4 Hans und Grete 2:26
- 5 Serenade 1:48
- 6 Phantasie 2:30
Alban Berg
- 7 Sehnsucht I 1:14
- 8 Er klagt, daß der Frühling so kurz blüht 1:04
- 9 Regen 1:30
- 10 Schließe mir die Augen beide (1907) 1:04
- 11 Schließe mir die Augen beide (1925) 1:39
- 12 Schlafen, schlafen 2:56
- 13 Leukon 1:18
Arnold Schoenberg
- from: Brettl-Lieder (Cabaret Songs)
- 14 Galathea 3:17
- 15 Einfältiges Lied 2:34
- 16 Der genügsame Liebhaber 2:47
Dmitri Shostakovich
- Two Fables, Op. 4 7:28
- 17 The Dragonfly and the Ant 2:41
- 18 The Ass and the Nightingale 4:47
Benjamin Britten
- A Charm of Lullabies 12:07
- 19 A Cradle Song 2:25
- 20 The Highland Balou 2:00
- 21 Sephestia's Lullaby 2:01
- 22 A Charm 1:45
- 23 The Nurse's Song 3:55
About this recording
Virpi Räisänen has made a career like a comet in recent years. Her debut album on Ondine, "The Legacy of Mahler", is a collection of late Romanticism lieder. In addition to Mahler you find lieder by Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten, all strongly inspired by Mahler. Räisänen's duo partner at the piano is Marita Viitasalo.
Virpi Räisänen's unique sound and strong artist's personality make her one of the most interesting new singers. She completed her vocal studies at the Utrecht and Amsterdam Conservatories with the highest distinction. Following her recent career change from a successful violinist to a concert and opera singer, she has appeared on the stages of the Salzburg Festival, Radio France's Festival Présences, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Musashino Recital Hall in Tokyo, the Helsinki Music Centre, the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Netherlands Opera and the Handel Festival in Halle. Virpi Räisänen made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2009 in Luigi Nono's opera Al gran sole carico d'amore, with Ingo Metzmacher conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. She was invited back to the Salzburg Festival in 2010 for the premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Dionysos, which was presented in Amsterdam and Berlin as well. She also appeared in Frank Martin's Le vin herbé in the Netherlands. In addition to her achievements in contemporary repertoire, she has sung the leading roles of Elmira in Handel's Floridante, Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and the double roles of the Muse and Nicklausse in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann. In addition to her singing career, Virpi Räisänen is Artistic Director of the Oulunsalo Soi Chamber Music Festival.
Features
Booklet with liner notes in English and Finnish and the lyrics in the original language and English
The artists
Virpi Räisänen
Mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen completed her vocal studies at the Utrecht and Amsterdam Conservatoires with the highest distinction under Eugenie Ditewig and Udo Reinemann. Afterwards she has been coached by Margreet Honig. After her career change from a successful violinist to a concert and opera singer in 2009, she has appeared on the stages such as Milano La Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, Radio France’s Festival Présences, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Musashino Recital Hall in Tokyo, the Helsinki Music Centre, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Netherlands Opera and the Händel Festival Halle, Savonlinna Opera Festival and Finnish National Opera.
Marita Viitasalo
Marita Viitasalo began her performing career after winning a prize in the Maj Lind Piano Competition. She studied with Professor Timo Mikkilä at the Sibelius Academy and went on to study at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome on a scholarship, completing her final examination there in 1971. She then studied with Professor Dieter Weber at the Vienna Music Academy for four years and completed a piano diploma with excellent marks both at the Sibelius Academy (1972) and in Vienna (1976).