The boy choir Cantores Minores sang in the Helsinki Cathedral ”Ein deutsches Requiem” by Johannes Brahms. The soloists were Helena Juntunen (soprano) and Tommi Hakala (baritone). The Lohja City Orchestra was conducted by Hannu Norjanen.
This Requiem turned out to be an excellent end to a week at work. The acoustics in the Helsini Cathedral is often able to destroy the most beautiful music, but this time I managed to have a seat, to which the music circled beautifully. “Ein deutsches Requiem” is a bit unusual, since most of them are based on catholic requiems. Brahms, however, had chosen to his work texts from different parts of the Bible and the base tone of the piece is rather comforting, even joyful. The first song “Selig sind” already gives you goose bumps.
Cantores Minores is definitely one of my favourite choirs and thanks to my good seat, this time I was really able to enjoy the combination of different voices. What an experience! Acoustics truly matters when you listen to music.
Out of the soloists the baritone has in this requiem clearly more to sing than the soprano and that is why I have to say that my evening’s favourite was Tommi Hakala. His voice and performance was a full score. The low and high notes and pianos and fortes were exhilarating. I could have listened to his performance again immediately after the concert, if it had been possible. Helena Juntunen was also very good, but she only had one short solo, so the evening was Hakala’s. And what is a better sign of a great concert than a member of the audience who walks away from the church feeling refreshed!
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