Search - Unto Mononen, Uuno Mattila, Toivo Karki :: Matti Salminen: Finnish Tangos

True Finnish Tango?

Peter Mattsson | Tucson, AZ, United States | 08/11/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Having recently returned from a wonderful summer vacation in Finland, I found myself sitting here in a sweltering New York City with a mad jones for some true Finnish tango. A quick Amazon search turned up this CD, which I of course ordered straight away. The disc has all the classics of the genre, including Satumaa, Liljankukka, and Kotkan ruusu. They are, however, rendered virtually unrecognizable by Mr. Salminen's operatic bass voice and the fact that the music is done by a symphony orchestra. Not a single accordion to be heard! While the melancholy Finnish tango easily lends itself to this type of reinterpretation (and it is very well done), if, like me, you are looking for "true" Finnish tango, played in the dancehall style by a small combo with mournful, yearning vocals (as opposed to Lord of Darkness vocals), you are bound to be disappointed. Maybe this will turn some opera buffs on to Finnish tango, other than that, I can't figure the intended audience. It certainly is a curiosity. Perhaps it will grow on me (I am not the biggest opera fan)...."