This could be the shortest
review I’ve ever written for Music Web,
for as David Mellor says on Classic
FM, ‘If you liked that, you’ll like
this.’ If you liked the King’s Singers
that is, then you’ll like Talla. Instead
of six young men though, you’ll find
eight: two basses, two baritones, two
tenors, a counter-tenor and a soprano
/ counter-tenor, the extraordinary Pasi
Hyökki. It’s all terribly good,
but kind of samey regardless of which
country the music comes from.
Talla was founded in
1991 and its members have excellent
musical CVs. They have actually appeared
with the King’s Singers (at the AmericaFest
Choir Festival in Minnesota in 2000)
and they sang the first ever performance
of Rachmaninov’s All- Night Vigil
by eight male voices in 2003. Pasi
Hyökki himself founded the group
and is its Artistic Director. He has
attended master classes by the Hilliard
Ensemble and conducts a number of choirs
including the splendid Cantabile
chamber choir in Helsinki.
There’s nothing wrong
with the music either, a couple of the
pieces are arranged by Bo Holten and
the Estonian item Laulusild is
by Veljo Tormis. The problem is that
the songs really are quite similar to
one another and after a while it all
seems rather much, particularly since
helpful key changes between items aren’t
very evident. All in all then, given
Talla’s capabilities, seventeen tracks
of folk (or pseudo-folk) songs don’t
seem the best possible selection to
show off their undoubted talents. Better
perhaps, to listen to Baltic folk song
specialists like the excellent Finnish
group Värttina or the Finno
– Swedish ensemble Gjallahorn.
Gjallahorn’s version of Herr Olof
is a different kettle of crayfish. (Finlandia
0630-189627-2)
Bill Kenny
Talla Vocal Ensemble