Finnish bass Matti Salminen made his debut in 1969 in Verdi's Don Carlo, often sang the big Mozart bass roles in the 1970s, became known as a Wagner specialist in the 1980s, and later added Monteverdi to his repertoire, working with historical-performance specialists. This disc is something between a sampler and a single-CD career retrospective; it covers all of the above-named Salminen specialties and gives an idea of the versatility that has contributed to his remarkable career longevity. The individual recordings, ...
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Finnish bass Matti Salminen made his debut in 1969 in Verdi's Don Carlo, often sang the big Mozart bass roles in the 1970s, became known as a Wagner specialist in the 1980s, and later added Monteverdi to his repertoire, working with historical-performance specialists. This disc is something between a sampler and a single-CD career retrospective; it covers all of the above-named Salminen specialties and gives an idea of the versatility that has contributed to his remarkable career longevity. The individual recordings, apparently all previously released, involve various backing forces. They come with no dates or other indications of their origins, but given that they must have been made on widely spaced occasions chronologically, Salminen is impressive in the consistency of his sound and personality. His voice is smooth, with a reserved kind of power, and the unusual choice of the lofty "O Isis under Osiris"/"In diesen heil'gen Hallen" from Die Zauberflöte for the opening of the program seizes the...
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