Veli-Matti Puumala
Anna Liisa, opera in three acts
Helena Juntunen, soprano
Jorma Hynninen, baritone
Tanja Kauppinen, soprano
Ville Rusanen, baritone
Sanna Kurki-Suonio, ethno mazzo-soprano
Juha Hostikka, baritone
Anu Hostikka, soprano
Jouni Kokora, bass
Tapiola Sinfonietta
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Jan Söderblom, conductor
Track listing
5 tracks · 139:07Listen to samples on selected tracks.
CD 1
Veli-Matti Puumala
- Anna Liisa, opera in three acts 163:45
- 1 Prologue 3:44
- 2 ACT I 31:56
- 3 ACT II 23:30
CD 2
Veli-Matti Puumala
- Anna Liisa, opera in three acts
- 1 ACT II, cont. 27:49
- 2 ACT III 52:08
About this recording
Ondine releases the world premiere recording of Veli-Matti Puumala's (b. 1965) opera Anna Liisa.
The libretto of Anna Liisa is an adaptation by the composer based on a natural-ist play by the Finnish writer Minna Canth (1844-1897). Canth's popular play describes the tragedy of Anna Liisa, caught between the norms of the sur-rounding society and her own moral conscience. Veli-Matti Puumala explores the potential of music from fresh and innovative perspectives. His music is characterised by a clash of intense and energetic textures with quiet landscapes with a quite different timescale.
Puumala started making sketches to his opera already in 1997, but the opera had to wait its long-awaited premiere until 2008 when it was included in the programme of the Helsinki Festival.
Puumala, a pupil of Paavo Heininen and Franco Donatoni, has won Prix Italia in 2001 and in 2005 his Piano Concerto Seeds of Time was awarded with the Finnish Teosto Prize. Puumala has been Professor of Composition at the Sibe-lius Academy since 2005.
Puumala's opera features several well-known Finnish opera artists, including Helena Juntunen and Jorma Hynninen. The Tapiola Sinfonietta is conducted by Jan Söderblom.
Features
Sleeve notes, synopsis and libretto in Finnish and English.
Press
This recording (...) feels tight and exciting (...). Helena Juntunen is outstanding in the title role both vocally and emotionally and Jorma Hynninen makes much of her compromised father (...) Anna Liisa is something special and deserves wide circulation outside its native land.
Mike Ashman, Gramophone, September 2015, 'Editor's Choice'
The artists
Jorma Hynninen
Baritone Jorma Hynninen is one of the most highly appreciated Finnish vocal artists of all time. His unprejudiced and profound approach to art has contributed not only to a renewal in the art of interpreting solo songs but also to the creation of a number of new contemporary operas. In Lied, he has concentrated on the song cycles of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf and the solo songs of Sibelius, Oskar Merikanto, Toivo Kuula and Yrjö Kilpinen. He has appeared at innumerable distinguished venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Musikverein, the Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony Hall, Chicago Symphony Hall and the festivals at Tanglewood, Ravinia and Salzburg.
Ville Rusanen
First prize winner of the 2004 Lappeenranta Solo Voice Competition, Finnish baritone Ville Rusanen began his musical studies as an instrumentalist, playing the double bass at Kuopio Conservatory where he also studied singing under Pertti Rusanen. He moved to the Sibelius Academy to study singing in 1999 where he was taught by Jorma Hynninen, and then later by Päivi Nisula.
Tapiola Sinfonietta
The Tapiola Sinfonietta has established itself as Finland’s premier chamber orchestra. Founded as the Espoo City Orchestra in 1987, it currently has 44 members. The orchestra is known for its adventurous repertoire planning and has been widely acclaimed for nuanced performances across a wide range of eras and styles.