Customer Reviews

Gabriel Suovanen: Sydämeni laulut

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This album of Finnish folk songs is amazing. I had not heard of Gabriel Suovanen before I listened to this cd, but at only twenty-six years old, he has a lot of potential. His voice sounds very much like a younger Fischer-Dieskau. Some of the repertoire is not my favorite, but extremely enjoyable to listen to because of Suovanen's beautiful voice. The Sibelius songs are definitely the highlight of the album.

I have listened to many good baritones but Gabriel Suovanen is overwhelmingly the best of them. His voice is somehow so beautiful. He has lived whole his life in Sweden but yet he sings all the Finnish songs correctly, with a lot of emotion. I am not sure if he considers himself Swedish or Finnish but that doesn't matter; no other male singer has sung these songs so beautifully. "Oi muistatko vielä sen virren" is my favourite song; I listen it again and again and never get tired. I also enjoy the other Merikanto-songs. Yet most of the Sibelius songs are less enjoyable because of the Swedish language; I don't like it. "Demanten på marssnön" with simply piano backing is somehow even better than Jussi Björlings too massive orchestra-backed version. The Finnish folk songs that I have never heard before, are also very nice!

I recommend this cd to anyone who wants to familiarize himself with Finnish art songs. If you already know these songs and don't like them, I still recommend it. I also used to dislike Finnish songs but after listening to Suovanen, I totally changed my mind.