Coloratura Anu Komsi
- 1I. Andante09:19
- 2II. Allegro05:04
- 3Hamlet, Act V A vos jeux, mes amis12:33
- 4Lakme, Act II Ou va la jeune indoue, Bell Song09:00
- 5Solovei05:31
- 6Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), K. 620, Act II Aria Der Holle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen03:23
- 7I. teteme04:11
- 8II. le revele03:26
- 9III. entremeles04:14
- 10Luonnotar, Op. 7009:41
Info for Coloratura
Coloratura – the colouring of a note, a phrase, an entire aria with trills, ornaments, death-defying leaps and dynamic shadings of infinite variety. For more than two centuries, the art of coloratura was a central aspect of the vocal art, and especially of opera, developed largely by the castrato singers at first, and later by generations of star performers and their vocal coaches. In the mid-nineteenth century this great tradition was all but broken – neither Wagner nor Verdi were prepared to accommodate it in their different brands of music drama, and as both the opera houses and their orchestras grew larger, a different, heavier and more powerful style of singing was favoured. But the fascination and awe inspired by this almost supernatural phenomenon has never died, among audiences, singers or composers. Anu Komsi, Finland’s ‘coloratura assoluta’, here presents a selection almost as wide-ranging as her own vocal technique, with mad scenes and rage arias from 18th- and 19th-century operas, Alyabyev’s ever-soaring Nightingale and the silvery tinkling of Lakmé’s Bell Song. Later examples of the lengths a singer may be expected to go to are Glière’s glittering (and strikingly anachronistic) Concerto for coloratura and orchestra from 1943, and La Machine de l’être by the composer John Zorn (b. 1953). Described by Zorn as a monodrama, this 11 minute-long work in three parts received its scenic première in 2011, by Anu Komsi at the New York City Opera. Throughout the programme, Anu Komsi is supported by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo, and in the closing work all involved find themselves on familiar ground in a thoroughly idiomatic performance of Sibelius’ Luonnotar, with its text from the Finnish national epos Kalevala, and a vocal part which is among the most challenging in the literature.
“Are coloratura soprano showcases ever supposed to be this provocative?...Placing Gliere and Zorn on the same disc is a brilliant stroke of programming. Komsi is at her inventive best in creating subtexts to the wordless vocal lines, suggesting a sunny lifetime of experience in Gliere...[Her] artistry comes together fully in Sibelius's Luonnotar” (Gramophone Magazine)
“Anu Komsi's cosmopolitan experience and technical expertise show in the breadth and quality of her programme. And Sakari Oramo makes much of her accompaniments.” (BBC Music Magazine)
Anu Komsi, soprano
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor
Recorded September - October 2011, Sibelius Hall, Lahti, Finland
Produced by Martin Nagorni
Sound engineer: Matthias Spitzbarth
Praised for her multifaceted musicianship and dynamic coloratura voice, Anu Komsi
appears regularly across Europe and in the USA. She is a versatile recitalist and chamber musician with a repertoire ranging from Renaissance to con- temporary music, and her 2011 performance in John Zorn’s La Machine de l’être at New York City Opera was described as ‘pyrotechnic grace’ in the New York Magazine. Engagements at leading opera houses such as the Finnish Na- tional Opera, Opéra Bastille, Théâtre du Châtelet, Oper Frankfurt and Staatsoper Stuttgart include some 50 roles, among them Lulu, Zerbinetta, Nannetta, Olympia, Micaela and Gilda. Anu Komsi also appears in contemporary works such as Lady Sarashina by Peter Eötvös, Philomela by James Dillon and George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill, with a role especially written for her.
Anu Komsi has performed with orchestras such as the Berlin, Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Wiener Symphoniker, Ensemble Modern and London Sinfonietta. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Sir Roger Norrington, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Heinz Holliger, Sakari Oramo, Franz Welser-Möst and Alan Gilbert. Recent highlights include performances of Szy- manowski’s Six Songs of a Fairy-Tale Princess at the Berlin Philharmonie, Britten’s Les Illuminations at the Vienna Musikverein and a highly acclaimed début at the Salzburg Festival in Morton Feldman’s Neither.
Since 2006, Anu Komsi has been the artistic director of the West Coast Kok- kola Opera company, of which she is a founding member. Productions include Le Nozze di Figaro, Lulu and Sebastian Fagerlund’s Döbeln, commissioned by the company and released on BIS in a highly acclaimed recording in 2010. Anu Komsi has a wide-ranging discography on various labels, including, on BIS, the world première recording of Shostakovich’s Suite on Finnish Themes (BIS-CD- 1256). In 2008 Anu Komsi was honoured with an award from the Finnish Cul- tural Foundation.
The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti)
has, under the direction of Osmo Vänskä (principal conductor 1988–2008), developed into one of the most notable in Europe. In 2011 Okko Kamu took up the post of principal conductor. Since 2000 the orchestra has been based at the wooden Sibelius Hall. Its many outstanding recording projects for BIS has earned it a number of prestigious awards including two Gramophone Awards and a Diapason d’or de l’année. Besides appearing at numerous festivals, including the BBC Proms in London, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra has also performed in Amsterdam, at the Musikverein in Vienna and at the Philharmonie in Berlin, and has toured in Spain, Japan, Germany, the USA and China. Each September the Lahti Symphony Orchestra organizes an international Sibelius Festival at the Sibelius Hall.
Sakari Oramo
began his musical career as a violinist, and for some years was leader of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He made his breakthrough as a conductor in 1993, since when he has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including the Vienna, Berlin and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, Dresden Staatskapelle and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. For ten years he conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; during this time he was awarded honorary doctorates by two English universities, the Elgar Medal and the title of Birmingham’s most popular cultural personality. Oramo is currently principal conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and after nine years at the helm of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, will take over as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2013. In the Finnish city of Kokkola, Oramo is artistic director of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and the West Coast Kokkola Opera. Sakari Oramo appears on a large number of highly praised recordings, primarily as a conductor but also as a violinist and chamber musician.