Martti Wallén (born 20 November 1948) is a Finnish operatic bass singer. Born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, he sang both internationally and in his native country where he was a visiting soloist at the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

for many years. He created the role of the Judge in the world premiere of

Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen ...

's '' The Horseman'' in 1975.

Life and career

Wallén was born in Helsinki and initially studied in an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

theological seminary. After completing his studies as a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

in 1968, he studied voice with Pekka Salomaa at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...

, with Torsten Föllinger in Stockholm and

Luigi Ricci Luigi Ricci may refer to: * Luigi Ricci (composer) (1805–1859), Italian composer * Luigi Ricci (vocal coach) Luigi Ricci (1893–1981) was an Italian assistant conductor, accompanist, vocal coach, and author. Career Ricci began studying music ...

and Achille Braschi in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He served as the cantor for the Helsinki Orthodox congregation for several years and made his operatic debut as Colline in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '' quadri'', '' tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giusep ...

'' in 1973 at the

, where he was a regular visiting soloist from 1975.Stiftelsen Kungliga Teaterns Solister (Foundation of Soloists of the Royal Swedish Opera)
"Martti Wallén"
. Retrieved 4 February 2014 . In 1975 Wallén joined the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, where he was a soloist until his retirement in 2000. His last Royal Opera performance was in 2004. In 1980 – 1982 he was a soloist at the opera in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Wallén has appeared as a soloist internationally, including Moscow ( Bolshoi Theatre), Tallinn (

Estonia Theatre Estonia Theatre is an historic building in Tallinn, Estonia, which houses the Estonian National Opera and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The original Jugendstil building was designed by Finnish architects Armas Lindgren Armas Elie ...

), Gelsenkirchen,

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, Zurich,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, Leeds,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, Antwerp,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and Brugge. From 1970 to 1979 he was a soloist at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he sang the role of the Judge in the world premiere of

's '' The Horseman'' in 1975. He has also appeared at the

Helsinki Festival The Helsinki Festival (in Finnish: Helsingin juhlaviikot, in Swedish: Helsingfors festspel) is the largest multi-arts festival in Finland. It is Finland's biggest cultural event in terms of visitors. In 2015, around 295,000 people visited the Helsin ...

, the Naantali Festival, and several other festivals and recitals in the Nordic countries. Both of his children, Herman Wallén (tenor), and Ida Wallén (mezzosoprano) work as professional singers in Germany.Dahlström, Fabian
"Wallén, Martti"
. ''

Uppslagsverket Finland ''Uppslagsverket Finland'' ('Encyclopedia Finland') is a Swedish-language encyclopedia with a focus on Finland and in particular Finland-Swedish subjects. The encyclopedia is published by initiative of an association dedicated to this task, ...

''. Retrieved 4 February 2014 .

Repertoire

Among Wallén's most important roles were: *Mozart: Sarastro (''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...

''), Leporello ('' Don Giovanni'') *Beethoven: Rocco (''

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, wi ...

'') *Musorgsky: Pimen ('' Boris Godunov'') *Rossini: Basilio (''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

'') *Strauss: Ochs (''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'') *Tchaikovsky: Gremin (''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is ...

'') *Verdi: Sparafucile (''

Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had co ...

''), Philip II (''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'') *Wagner: Daland (''

The Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...

''), Pogner ('' The Mastersingers of Nuremberg''), Fasolt (''

Das Rheingold ''Das Rheingold'' (; ''The Rhinegold''), WWV 86A, is the first of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's '' Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National ...

''), Hunding ('' Die Valkyrie''), Landgraf (''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and ...

'') * Kokkonen: Paavo Ruotsalainen (''The Last Temptations'') Wallén has sung several other roles in Finnish contemporary operas.

Recordings

In addition to several recordings of Finnish Christmas songs and Orthodox church music, Wallén has recorded *Sallinen: '' The Horseman'' (as the Judge) – Savonlinna Opera Festival Chorus and Orchestra conducted by

Ulf Söderblom Ulf Arne Söderblom (5 February 1930 – 4 February 2016) was a Finnish conductor and music professor. He was the principal conductor of the Finnish National Opera from 1973 to 1993 and was a key figure in the revival of the Savonlinna Opera Festiv ...

. Label:

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian ...

* Bergman: ''The Singing Tree'' (as the Peddler) – Tapiola Chamber Choir, Dominante Choir, Finnish National Opera Orchestra conducted by Ulf Söderblom. Label: Ondine *Verdi: ''

'' (as the Old Monk) – Royal Stockholm Opera Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Alberto Hold-Garrido. Label:

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallen, Martti 1948 births Living people 20th-century Finnish male opera singers Operatic basses Singers from Helsinki Finnish basses 21st-century Finnish male opera singers