SILJA AALTO

Biography

The Finnish soprano Silja Aalto studied with Eeva-Liisa Saarinen at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, where she graduated in 2018. She made her opera debut the same year, as Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) with Estonian National Opera, of which she is now a regular guest and for which her roles have included Mimi (La boheme), Leonora (Il Trovatore) and Elsa (Lohengrin). Last year she made her debut with Finnish National Opera, Helsinki, as the soprano soloist in Christian Spuck’s choreographed production of Verdi’s Requiem. Her operatic repertoire also includes Leonore (Fidelio), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), First Lady (Last Temptations), Mrs. Alice (Falstaff), Helena (Midsummernights’s dream) and Minna (E. Rautavaara: The Gift of Magi).

Last season’s concert engagement included Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo at the Barbican, London. Her forthcoming engagements include Saariaho’s Mirage with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo at the Royal Albert Hall; her role debut as Elisabetta di Valois (Don Carlo) in Helsinki; Riitta (The Last Temptations) for Tampere Opera and Savonlinna Opera Festival; and Mahler’s Symphony No 8 with the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No 2 with the Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski.

Having won the 2016 Toivo Kuula Singing Competition (Alavus, Finland), in 2017, she won the Grand Prize in the Opera Division of the Metropolitan International Vocal Competition (New York); the Opera Division of the Lyra New York International Vocal Competition; Secon Prize and the Lieder Prize in the Elizabeth Connell Prize International Singing Competition (Sydney); and Second Prize in the PMLF Vocal Competition (Tallinn).

Photo Gallery

Aalto was a commanding presence on stage, her pale-blue gown studded with sequins which matched the shimmering effects of the composer’s inspiration. Hers is a big powerful voice, easily negotiating the wide leaps in the tessitura and gliding effortlessly upwards in the microtonality which is one of Saariaho’s hallmarks. The incantatory elements, evident in the much-repeated “I am” phrases of Sabina’s poem, form an important structure in what is essentially a short psycho-drama, beseeching, imploring, pleading to be set free from all earthly constraint. Whether this amounts, in the words of the BBC publicity machine, to a “hypnotic snapshot of womanhood”, is debatable, but the mesmerising qualities of the piece are palpable. Equally effective were the many whispered moments which travelled very effectively across the Royal Albert Hall as well as the churning of the lower strings that provided a counterpoint to Aalto’s floating of her solo line.

Opera Today
Alexander Hall

Finnish soprano Silja Aalto, trained at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, has a voice of great purity (it sounded even more so live than on the broadcast). Her voice is incredibly strong, yet warm of tone; she even projected a whisper to the ends of the Royal Albert Hall. A particular emphasis on the phrase ‘sacred clown’ seemed to be important to both composer and interpreters. – – – A mesmerising moment of magic: a true Proms highlight.

Seen and Heard International
13/08/2024 by Colin Clarke