Martti Talvela
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Martti (Olavi) Talvela
(b Hiitola, 4 Feb 1935; d Juva, 22 July 1989). Finnish bass. He studied at Lahti and in Stockholm, where he made his opera début in 1961 as Sparafucile (Rigoletto); in 1962 he joined the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, and sang at Bayreuth. His large, deep voice and impressive stage presence served him well in Musorgsky (he sang Boris Godunov at the Met in 1974), Verdi and Wagner; he also recorded songs by Sibelius and Kilpinen.
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Martti Talvela
Biography
Martti Talvela had a Wagnerian bass voice of uncommon power and richness. He was noted for his expressive legato singing, and exceptional focus of tone. He also dominated the operatic stage by his sheer size: He was an immense man, standing six foot eight and weighing around 300 pounds. This suited him well for the most commanding roles in opera, such as Fasolt the Giant in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Hagen in Götterdämmerung, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Verdi's Grand Inquisitor, and a role that was written for him, the revivalist preacher Paavo Ruotsalainen in Kokkonen's The Last Temptations.He began his adult life as a schoolteacher, but pursued vocal studies. After his Stockholm operatic debut (as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto) he soon found himself in demand, singing all the Wagnerian bass roles, several Russian operas, and many Verdi parts. He also pursued a career as a recitalist, and was the greatest male champion of the songs of his countrymen Sibelius and Kilpinen. He regarded the condition of being granted artistic talent as carrying with it a God-given responsibility. In 1972, he accepted an invitation to become Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival. This yearly event, little-known then outside Finland, had been revived in 1967 after a festival that had been run by the great Finnish soprano Aïno Ackté from 1912 to 1930. Talvela immediately transformed it into one of the top international music festivals, in which operas are staged in the impressive courtyard of the St. Olaf's Castle (or Olavonlinna).
Health problems forced Talvela's retirement from Savonlinna in 1979; he had been diagnosed with diabetes, and he had other dangers to his health due to his weight. He restricted his operatic repertory to ten roles, cut back on his lucrative employment in that field, but expanded his schedule of recitals on the grounds that these were better "to bring my message." His sense of the artist's divine mission to bring something to the world was expressed in a 1986 interview. He accepted an appointment to become director of the Finnish National Opera commencing in 1992. But he was stricken with a heart attack and dropped dead while dancing at the party after his daughter's wedding on July 22, 1989, a shocking and regretted sudden deaths in operatic history. He left behind a rich legacy of recordings, including video productions, of many of his great roles. ~ Joseph Stevenson, Rovi
Discography
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Martti Olavi Talvela (February 4, 1935 – July 22, 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass.
Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), he studied in Lahti and Stockholm, and made his operatic debut in Helsinki in 1960 as Sparafucile. At 203 centimetres (6 ft 8 in), he was the tallest singer of his century. He trained as a boxer in his youth and developed the stamina necessary for the biggest roles. Originally Talvela was educated as a primary school teacher in Savonlinna, Eastern Finland (1952–1956), and he worked in that occupation at three schools (1957–1960). He sang at the Stockholm Royal Opera in Sweden from 1961 to 1962, before becoming a regularly employed singer at the Deutsche Oper (German Opera) of Berlin in 1962.
In 1970, the Senate (government) of West Berlin formally granted him the rank of chamber singer. He worked as the artistic leader of the Savonlinna Opera Festival from 1972 to 1979. At New York's Metropolitan Opera, he performed the role of Boris Godunov 39 times between 1974 and 1987.[1] He was especially acclaimed as the title character in Boris Godunov and as Pimen from the same work, as Paavo Ruotsalainen in The Last Temptations, as a Wagner singer (King Marke, Hunding, Fasolt, Fafner, Hagen (one critic described his Hagen as an "elemental force") and Titurel), as Sarastro, Dosefei, and Prince Gremin, as King Phillip II, the Grand Inquisitor and, in the later part of his career, the title character in Glinka's Ivan Susanin. As his final record he left, terribly thinned out by illness, a warm and heartfelt version of Schubert's Winterreise. He also left at least two recorded performances of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death – one with full orchestra and one with piano accompaniment.
The combination of vocal depth, dark timbre, and sheer size made him stand out in every part he sang, and his bass seemed to extend effortlessly without the "break" that most basses have to resort to hit their low notes, and without losing richness on high notes. He was a fine vocal actor who always brought a certain air of lugubrious dignity to his roles, even to pure-evil roles like Hagen and the Grand Inquisitor.[citation needed]
He can be seen performing as Boris Godunov, as Sarastro, as Osmin, and as Don Fernando.
During the last eight years of his life (1981 to 1989), he worked as a farmer on the Inkilänhovi (Inkilä Court) farm in Juva, Eastern Finland, while continuing his official career as an opera singer. His health had begun to decline in 1975, when he was diagnosed with diabetes and gout. In 1982 alone, he suffered two heart attacks at the Metropolitan Opera. Stomach problems also plagued him at times in the 1980s.[2]
Talvela died at age 54 while dancing at his daughter's wedding in Juva.[3]
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Oxford Grove Music Encyclopedia
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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AMG AllMusic Guide to Classical Music
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Mentioned in
Leonard Bernstein: Bernstein in Vienna - Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
(1970 Music Film)
Die Zauberflöte
(1982 Music Film)
Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov
(Classical Album)
Mahler: Symphony No.8
(Classical Album)
Mahler: Symphony No. 8
(Classical Album)
» More