DESCRIPTION:
Rachmaninov Romances Reetta Haavisto, sopran Jouni Somero, piano
www.fcrecords.fi order: www.fuga.fi
1 "Oh, never sing to me again" Op.4/4 4,57'
2 The Harvest of Sorrow Op.4/5 4,56'
3 The Lilacs Op.21/5 2,12'
4 Dreams Op.38/5 3,42'
5 Before my Window Op.26/10 2,20'
6 The Little Island Op.14/2 2,23'
7 The Answer Op.21/4 2,00'
8 The Muse Op.34/1 5,05'
9 Melody Op.21/9 3,48'
10 Vocalise Op.34/14 6,21'
11 "I wait for Thee" Op.14/1 1,53'
12 "No Prophet I" Op.21/11 1,38'
13 Sorrow in Springtime Op.21/12 2,02'
14 "How fair this spot!" Op.21/7 2,31'
15 Daisies Op.38/3 2,38'
16 "What wealth of rapture" Op.34/12 2,18'

Total time 50,50'

isrc: FI FCR 14 00001...00016
EAN:6418770 8 02795
FCRCD-9752
The Finnish Lyric Soprano Reetta Haavisto is known for her beautifully sonorous voice with it's buoyant, luminous tone.
In the Spring of 2011 Reetta made her debut at the Finnish National Opera in the role of Madama Cortese in Il viaggio a Reims. This season (2013-2014) she sings performances of Don Pasquale (Norina) and in Turandot (Liù) there.
She first studied at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. In 2013 she graduated from the Sibelius Academy with an honours degree and a diploma in singing. Her teachers have included Irja Auroora, Pirkko Törnqvist-Paakkanen, Juha Karvonen and Raija Kemppainen. Reetta has also studied Lied repertoire with Heikki Pellinen, Ulrich Rademacher and Helmut Deutch.
In the 2010 Lappeenranta Singing Competition she was awarded a special prize, and in 2012 she took part in the Belvedere singing competition in Wien.
Jouni Somero (b. 1963) is one of the most active Finnish musicians on the scene today. So far he has given over 2,600 concerts all over the world, including Australia, Japan, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Kosovo, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Finland. He began studying the organ when he was eight years old but switched to the piano at the age of 12, studying the latter in Switzerland and at the Music Academy in Cologne under Professor Herbert Drechsel. Under the legendary Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra he gained a deeper insight into the music of Liszt. Michael Ponti, the American virtuoso, has also acted as Somero's musical advisor. From 1981 to 1989 Somero lived in Germany, working as an assistant at the Music Academy of Düsseldorf and in other capacities. Since 1990 he has pursued his career solely as a concert pianist. He was awarded a diploma at the International Music Competition in Rio de Janeiro.

Jouni Somero's recording career began in 1989 (with Liszt's 12 Transcendental Etudes), since when he has made about 90 discs for different labels (Naxos, BMG, MILS, Jubal, FC-Records etc). These include Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier and Die Kunst der Fuge, Liszt's Harmonies Poètiques et Religieuses, Liszt's Transcriptions of Beethoven's Symphonies 1 and 5, Rebikov's Piano Works, Henselt's Concert Etudes Op. 2, Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Rachmaninov's Piano Works ( Vol.1-4 ), An Anthology of Finnish Piano Music (Vol. 1-5 ) and the world premiere recording of several piano works by Felix Blumenfeld, Benjamin Godard and Hugo Reinhold. He also recorded the complete piano music of Sergei Bortkiewicz ( Vol.1-9 ) Pjotor Tchaikovsky ( Vol.1-6) and Erkki Salmenhaara.
Somero's wide repertoire includes almost all the solo piano works of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Bortkiewicz as well as seldom heard music by such composers as Alkan, Godard, Arensky, Godowsky, Henselt, Thalberg, Glinka, Blumenfeld, Rebikov, Reinhold, Seeling, Rubinstein and Gottschalk. He has also made many piano arrangements of orchestral, operatic and pop music.

Recorded at Kuusaa Hall in Kuusankoski Finland on 6-7.8.2013
Recording engineer Jouko Ahera
Producer Jouni Somero
Grand Piano Steinway&Sons D
Piano technician: Sauli Terävä
Cover design: Juankosken kirjapaino Oy, Kirmo Lehtonen
Photos: Eero Kokko (Haavisto) Anna-Claudia Somero (Somero)