Petite messe solennelle in the Tapiola Church, the 6th of June, 2019

Espoo’s Organ Night and Aria Festival has had again its traditional opening concert in the Tapiola church. This time it was Gioachino Rossini’s “Petite messe solennelle”, which he composed in 1863 at the age of 71 years. Even though it is sacral music, the piece is not in any way darkly devout or pompous, but almost playful and even slightly operatic. The lyrics come from Latin Christian texts, but the general feeling felt even a bit fresh.

The accompaniment consisted of two pianos (Erkki Korhonen and Joel Papinoja) and a harmonium (Jussi Littunen). Erkki Korhonen had the main role, since he had plenty to play on his piano, but I also liked the harmonium a lot, with its occasional almost cheeky scores. As a whole the melodies were rhythmical and entertaining.

The acoustics of the Tapiola church is not perfect to all seats, but to the front row the performance of the Organ Night and Aria Festival Choir sounded good. And it was clear that the soloists had been picked up meticulously; they each sang with great ease. Baritone Arttu Kataja in the bass part in “Quoniam” was excellent and I also liked mezzosoprano Anu Ontronen’s “Agnus Dei”. Soprano Tuuli Takala’s voice is tremendously beautiful and her solos were truly enjoyable. But – of course and once again – the true champion was Tuomas Katajala. It seems that his voice had just improved since last summer, when I heard his solo concert at this same festival. What outstanding technique and superb tone! His did not spare the volume button, but I think that was necessary due to the acoustics and this wonderful a voice used in forte was a thrilling experience. And if the solos of the soloists were good, their ensemble parts were also absolutely gorgeous. We heard a great example of how beautifully different types of voices can sound together. All in all, an excellent performance and it is hard to find anything to criticize about it.