Archives of FMQ - Finnish Music Quarterly

The Darker Arts

The Darker Arts

The Darker Arts

"Talented, bold and versatile, Anni Elif Egecioglu is a welcome role model to all yearning to test the strength of their ideas and resolve."

Petri Silas

March 29, 2018

Real and surreal standards

Real and surreal standards

Real and surreal standards

"A key feature on this album is amalgamating both traditional approaches and contemporary touches. The outcome is occasionally even surreal. This makes for a brilliant album by two master musicians."

Jan-Erik Holmberg

March 29, 2018

A shining star on the rise

A shining star on the rise

A shining star on the rise

"A secret destined to come out globally sooner than not, Pauli Lyytinen is THE current Finnish jazzer to follow if woodwinds are your penchant."

Petri Silas

March 29, 2018

Tales of a master guitarist

Tales of a master guitarist

Tales of a master guitarist

"Teemu Viinikainen's light touch on the delay, sustain and looping pedals creates a spacious, floating sound that triggers all kinds of pleasure synapses."

Wif Stenger

March 29, 2018

Twenty years on

Twenty years on

Twenty years on

"Rather than thinking through choruses, the Joona Toivanen Trio approaches their works through variations and development, with intense focus on dynamics, colors, and sound quality."

Jan-Erik Holmberg

March 29, 2018

Groovin’ through the decades

Groovin’ through the decades

Groovin’ through the decades

Sonja Virtanen Quartet's debut album draws from hard bop and soul jazz from the 50s and 60s. The sound is warm and, in a good sense, somewhat rough around the edges. The music, however, is not as retro as the sound.

Jan-Erik Holmberg

March 29, 2018

Meditations of a librettist

Meditations of a librettist

Meditations of a librettist

Author and musician Maritza Núñez has written the librettos for 42 operas to date. In 2018, operas based on her libretti will be performed in Finland, Estonia, Russia and Peru. Here she discusses the art of writing a libretto.

Maritza Núñez

March 22, 2018

Too many words, too little music

Too many words, too little music

Too many words, too little music

Olli Kortekangas excels at sensitive ensemble writing in his opera My Brother’s Keeper about the Finnish Civil War, but the work is hamstrung by its amateurish libretto.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

March 22, 2018

Okra Playground - Live at De Ploter, Ternat

Okra Playground - Live at De Ploter, Ternat

Okra Playground - Live at De Ploter, Ternat

"Each of the three female voices is strong in her own right, but blended together there seems no end to the variation in mood and colour they can create," describes Ton Maas in his review of the group's gig in Belgium.

Ton Maas

March 16, 2018