REVIEWS
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Olli Mustonen: 1. Symphony "Tuuri" - Hofkapelle Meiningen 2.10.2013
(...) Wiederholt ins Geheimnisvolle changierend, Naturgewalten zitierend, dramatische Aufgipfelungen in sämtlichen Orchestergruppen heraufbeschwörend, herrschte im stark besetzten Klangkörper mächtig Betrieb. Dennoch dominierte Petteri Salomaa mit seiner wohl grundierten, auch in den höheren Lagen äußerst flexibel einsetzbaren Stimme und auf Grund der Intensität, mit der er die Textvorlage ausdeutete, das musikalische Geschehen.
Alfred Erck / Meininger Tageblatt 5.10.2013
Monteverdi: Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Drottningholm Court Theatre
(…) and in the casting of the leading couple – the ever-admirable Finnish baritone Petteri Salomaa as a ruggedly mature hero (whose sterling stage presence and easy command of the high tessitura were completed by outstandingly idiomatic Italian delivery) and distinguished Swedish mezzo Ann Hallenberg as a dignified, tenderly unforced heroine particularly steady and affecting in her lowest lying phrases – the performance was guaranteed its true Monteverdian sublimity.
Max Loppert / Opera Magazine December 2008
Monteverdi: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, recording
This potpourri of works by Monteverdi and his contemporaries makes attractive listening (...) Petteri Salomaa is an imposing narrator in Monteverdis’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, his voice resonant enough to convey the more bellicose words of Tasso’s crusade poem, yet sufficiantly pliant to cope with the music’s intricate, ‘agitated style’. This is a fine interpretation with some stylish instrumental playing.
Kate Bolton / BBC Music Magazine, March 2005
Kemiö Music Festival, recital
The combination of Ranta and Salomaa results in lied performance that would be difficult to surpass. (...) Salomaa’s engrossing and passionate performance of the songs is underpinned by his commanding musical ability. His interpretations contain both fire and courage, while always respecting the composition. Salomaa is also something of a sensualist, which can be savoured in the subtlety of the texts (...). The performances by Salomaa and Ranta demonstrated the art of lied at its most enjoyable. The Midas touch was given by their powerful interpretive desire and obvious skill in this. Both performers have a lot to say and the ability to say it, as President Koivisto recently characterised of the essential nature of art.
Matti Lehtonen / Turun Sanomat newspaper 12.7. 2002
Bergman: The Singing Tree, Finnish National Opera guest performance at Deutsche Oper Berlin
Gesungen wurde mehr als anständig, zum Teil - von Petteri Salomaa als sensationeller Prinz - auch herausragend.
Geerd Heinsen / Orpheus, Dezember 1999
Bellini: La Sonnambula, recording
Die Firma ARTS hat eine hinreißende Aufnahme dieser gefühlvollen Oper herausgebracht. (... ) Petteri Salomaa imponiert mit sonorem Baßbariton in der Partie des Grafen. Seine Arie "Vi ravviso, o luoghi ameni" (Ich sehe euch wieder, liebliche Orte) ist ein Paradestück für stilsicheren Gesang. (...) Eine Aufnahme, die in ihrer künstlerischen wie technischen Qualität perfekt ist.
Julia Poser / JUNGE FREIHEIT September 1999
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Rodolfo is a baritone rather than the customary bass, but Petteri Salomaa is very comfortable with the role’s cantante demands. He sounds sometimes like a young Ruggiero Raimondi and may be the most classy, bautifully sung Count on disc next to Siepi on the Cetra Pagliughi-Tagliavini recording.
American Record Guide / September-October 1999
Diabelli: Gesänge für Herz und Gefühl, recording
Another piece of Diabelli I have never heard before is the Gesänge für Herz und Gefühl. It is a series of insipid greeting card-like poems written by an unknown poet and sung with guitar accompaniment and a distracting flute obbligato. Baritone Petteri Salomaa sings these so beautifully that I would like to believe every word (but how I wish he were singing Schubert).
American Record Guide May-June 1998
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Savonlinna Opera Festival
The current Papageno, Petteri Salomaa, is the tallest birdman in the history of the Magic Flute at Savonlinna. However, the character and habitus of this tall man exude a childlike sweetness and a moving nature, which immediately wins the sympathy of the audience. This Papageno seems to easily lose himself in his own world and his instinct for self-protection works completely spontaneously in various situations. Even acting in a cowardly fashion is one of the strategies for coping that is typical of this Papageno. Salomaa’s bright and warm baritone also brings a warmhearted nature to the role, which is a trait that has traditionally always been lacking in the role.
Hannu-Ilari Lampila / Helsingin Sanomat newspaper July 1997
Internationale Hugo-Wolf-Gesellschaft, Stuttgart, Schubert recital
Je weiter dieser Liederabend denn fortschritt, um so intensiver war das Eintauchen in den Kosmos Schubert. Petteri Salomaas weiter Ambitus, ein äusserst subtiler Umgang mit Stimmcharakteren ist insbesondere für Espressivo-Ambivalenzen, wie sie sich in “Die Liebe hat gelogen” stauen, wie geschaffen. - Insgesamt ein Schubert-Abend von hohem künstlerischen, auch philosophischem Niveau.
Annette Eckerle / Stuttgarter Nachrichten 8.3.1997
Purcell: King Arthur, recording
All the basses deliver their fine music with aplomb, the Frost Scene is as affecting as any on record: Petteri Salomaa is an outstanding Cold Genius, technically flawless in this deceptively hard song and he sports an irresistible self-pity.
Gramophone, June 1995
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Revealing his penchant for meaty voices, Christie exploits their individual textures with evident relish. Petteri Salomaa breaks open the work with an elastic, sonorous, full baritone; later, as the shivering Cold Genius, he becomes a paragon of the required hiccuping -- surprisingly, without hyperventilating.
Susan Kerschbaumer / Opera News December 1995
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Stuttgarter Schlosskonzerte
Don Giovanni will Tatsachen schaffen, und Petteri Salomaa, mit seinem noblen, einfühlsamen, bei aller Macht keineswegs auftrumpfenden Bariton der Rolle in jeder Hinsicht gewachsen, macht denn auch aus dem Cavaliere einen Marquis de Sade, der die Liebe zum Tod auf die Spitze treibt - und erst im Liebestod seine Erfüllung findet.
Stuttgarter Nachrichten 1.8.1994
Mendelssohn: Elias, levytys
Et les solistes sont tous d’uno exceptionelle qualité. Elie, c’est le basse finlandais Petteri Salomaa: voix d’airain superbement malléable, puissante et souplement conduite, avec une intelligence et une musicalité permanentes.
Pierre Petit / Le Figaro 5.2.1993
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The soloists are happily on a par with the choir and orchestra. Salomaa may make a little too much of his consonants and rolled 'r's, but he is a deeply expressive, vital and exact Elijah, a more youthful prophet than usual and none the worse for that. He brings a greater sense of urgency to the part than Miles (Masur) and just as much as Adam (Sawallisch). All the solos also disclose the actual beauty of his singing, the fast vibrato as attractive as it was in his Figaro for Ostmann (L'Oiseau-Lyre 12/88).
Alan Blyth, Gramophone 11/1993
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Petteri Salomaa is in such robust vocal health that it is a little difficult to hear in him the old prophet who can look back on life and say "It is enough": but he sings splendidly, with dramatic instinct and respect for the melodic line.
Gramophone January 1994, Quarterly retrospect
Prokofjev: The Fiery Angel , recording
… yet how one appreciates it when a genuinely excellent voice arrives, as it does when Bryn Terfel, Petteri Salomaa and Kurt Moll sing.
John Steane / Gramophone April 1992, Quarterly Retrospect
Britten: Billy Budd, Theater Freiburg
But Petteri Salomaa’s Billy was excellent. With his muscular frame and easy smile, he was a natural champion, capable of arousing jealosy as well as devotion. He sings with a beautiful-produced lyric baritone in the Thomas Allen mould - a rare species in Germany, where young baritones are invariably taught to ape the Prey and Fischer-Dieskau school of voice production.
Andrew Clark / Financial Times 5.3.1991
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, Michigan Opera Theatre
As Figaro, Petteri Salomaa from Finland, made an impressive debut. His young baritone is on the light side but he found meaning in every phrase and conveyed the youth, sexual feeling, and smarts of the character his “Se vuol ballare” was charming, funny and convincing.
Michael H. Margoli / September 1989
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In his MOT debut, Salomaa made an attractive Figaro, sandy-haired and youthful. The Finnish baritone possesses a sonorous voice that is particularly resonant in the lower range. This is a singer to watch.
Edith Leavis Bookstein / 5.5.1989
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But there wasn’t a weak link in the ensemble. Finnish baritone Petteri Salomaa, making his American operatic debut in this production, was an unusually youthful but vocaly mature Figaro. If he keeps singing and acting as splendidly as he did on Saturday, he has a bright operatic future.
John Quinn / Detroit Free Press 1.5.1989
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, recording
The real find here is Petteri Salomaa as Figaro. This young baritone has a rich lyric voice, with great flexibility and the color of a much larger instrument. A thrilling free vibrato brings to mind the young Tito Gobbi. In Figaro’s aria “Se vuol ballare” Salomaa manages to summon all the servant’s bitterness as well as the wit that is his saving grace in both Mozart and Beaumarchais. There are manyt different ways to sing Figaro, but none are better than Salomaa’s portrayal. There is not a word about him or any of the other singers in the accompanying booklet, which is a pity.
Octavio Rocio / CD Review, September 1989
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Petteri Salomaa, the Figaro, is a real find. The voice is on the darkish side rather than a true baritone. He does not at first seem to do a lot with the words, but he is a tidy and even graceful singer, with plenty of spirit; and he expresses “Aprite un po’ quegl’occhi” with conciderable force, with hints of bitterness in his tone, using the consonants of convey depth of feeling.
Gramophone December 1988
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Grand Théâtre de Geneve
Son répondant populaire, Papageno, est remarquablement servi par la carrure et la solidité de voix de Petteri Salomaa.
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Dans les grands rôles, la Pamina `de Barbara Bonney, d’une agilité, d’une pureté et d’une finesse confondantes, et le Papageno de Petteri Salomaa, un Finlandais au jeu de scéne fascinant et à la voix splendide, ont de loin remporté la palme de ce spectacle inégal.
Pierre Gorjat / Le Matin 3.11.1987
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Vocalmente primeggiano Barbara Bonney, il finlandese Petteri Salomaa (un colosso di Papageno dalla “verve” irresistibile) e il maestoso e ieratico Sarastro di Hans Tschammer. . . .
Rossana de Simone / Corriere del Ticino 4.11.1987
Hampurg, student exchange concert
Der Baumlange Bassbariton Petteri Salomaa war die Entdeckung des Abends. Imponierendes Stimmvolumen, markante Deklamation und vor allem die gestalterische Reife seines Vertrags von Loewe-Balladen und Spielmannsliedern (Kilpinen) verblüfften geradezu. Selten ist man so sicher wie bei diesem 19jährigen, ihm nach einem einzigen Arien-Beispiel (Rossini) eine glänzende Opernzukunft vorauszusagen.
Sabine Tomzig / Hamburgr Abendblatt 20.11.1980