Lebrecht cd of the Week
November 27, 2011

Kaija Saariaho: D’om le vrai sens
(Ondine)
***
The Finns say of Saariaho that she is the only French composer who writes Finnish. That is both cruel, and deadly accurate. Living in France for much of her adult life, the serene Saariaho has acquired an elegance that is alien to her origins, casting her into a stylistic no-man’s-land from which there is no visible exit. Not that she seems keen to leave. Much of Saariaho’s music, especially her operas, has a static quality that can, in the wrong hands, numb the listener to distraction. I have never been a fan.

But the present triptych of new works, written between 2006 and 2010, has melted my resistance. The title work is a clarinet concerto that performs enough Gershwin riffs and virtuosic tricks to command full attention for half an hour – and if you haven’t heard Kari Kriiku do his stuff, you must.

Laterna Magica is an impressionistic tribute to Ingmar Bergman – a kind of sound movie without pictures. Best of all is a short, fluttery set of four Leino Songs for very high voice, performed by Anu Komsi, whose husband Sakari Oramo, conducts. The sense of aptness – that this music could not be written any other way or for any different combination – is compelling. The sound, too, is impressive. That’s no small triumph for producer Laura Heikinheimo who had to record each work in a different hall.

Anu Komsi: Being Beauteous
(Alba)
*****

In peak form, the Finnish soprano has a bell-like top and unerring pitch accuracy. Both are of demonstration standard in this eclectic trawl of 20th century works by Britten (Les Illuminations – the best I’ve heard), Schoenberg, Castiglioni, Szymanowski and Henze, whose 1963 Being Beauteous gives the album its title. The conductors in these live performances are Sakari Oramo - Anu’s husband - and Juha Kangas, but the voice is central here – and often sensational. I’m falling in love with the Henze.

Being Beauteous (Britten - Henze - Schönberg - Castiglioni - Szymanowski)
Österbottens Tidnings critic
(Kaj Ahlsved on december 2011)

Blog: I'll think of something later
Post: Sibelius's 'Virgin' Symphony?
Link: http://davidnice.blogspot.com/2011/10/sibeliuss-virgin-symphony.html

25.3.-8.4.2011 New York City Opera

"The excellent Finnish soprano Anu Komsi threw herself into the music."
"Through the abstraction onstage comes the intense performance of Ms. Komsi, who was riveting on Friday."
Read more
(New York Times / Anthony Tomassini on March 27 2011)

New York Lincoln Center Festival
(19.-20.7.2010)

"The performances were consistently polished and solid, but several stood out. Anu Komsi, a Finnish soprano, brought an expressive warmth to the early “Grand Sommeil Noir” (1906) and two of Mr. Chou’s completions, the intricate “Étude pour Espace” and “Nocturnal,” with its velvety vocal line offset by almost whispered Sprechstimme." Read more

Grand Prix de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique

The CD recording of James Dillon's (composition) opera Philomela has won France's prestigious "Grand Prix de l'Académie du Disque Lyrique" award for 2010. Anu Komsi is one of the singers of the opera.

London Sinfonietta / Knussen at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London SE1 (April 2, 2010)

"But then came the wonderful Finnish soprano Anu Komsi to sing Così parlò Baldassarre - an unaccompanied monologue encompassing everything from squeals and whispers to simple tonal melodies and the hauntingly hushed Terzina. You suddenly realised that beneath Castiglioni’s icy command of avant-garde techniques was a man of profound feeling." (Richard Morrison, The Times)

"The three vocal settings were sung by soprano Anu Komsi, who as always was a marvel. She threw off the airy vocal pirouettes of Cosi parlo Baldassare - a setting of lines on love from 'The Courtier' by another Castiglione - with amazing aplomb. But she was equally attuned to the reverent stillness of 'Terzina', a setting of German mystical poetry." (Ivan Hewitt, Telegraph)

Feldman: Neither for soprano and orchestra

"Bravourös Anu Komsi" (Opernwelt 12/2004)

"Fabelhafte Anu Komsi" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung 11/2004)

"Der gütige Operngott schickte Anu Komsi, eine blonde finnin mit himmlischer sopranstimme" (Stuttgarter Zeitung nr.254)

World premiere of Hakola: Le Sacrifice

"Jälleen hullaannuttava näyte hänen osaamisestaan muusikkona ja koloratuurisopraanona" (Murtomäki, Helsingin Sanomat 8/2005)
"Again an intoxcicating sample of Komsi's skills as a musician and a coloratura soprano."

Mahler: 4th Symphony

"Komsis soprano again brought an angelic purity to the Mahler 4th Symphony Finale" (The Guardian 2004)

Sibelius: Luonnotar

"The best Luonnotar I have ever heard" (Andrew Clements, Guardian)