Over
in the country of Finland, the surname Tolonen is considered gold
when it comes to the guitar. In musical twist of fate, a new Tolonen
is making waves on the six string horizon. Were talking about
Otto Tolonen and his 2013 CD called Toccata.
Ottos album is very much rooted in modern classical guitar
and on his new Siba Records CD, Toccata, he covers a number
of guitar composers including Erik Bergman (SuitePour Guitare -
from 1949) all the way through till Sauli Zinovjev (Elegietta
- from 2013). Speaking about his new album with mwe3.com, Otto
explains, "Toccata is a musical form from the late renaissance
and baroque era. It is also the name of the last movement of Erik
Bergmans Suite pour Guitar which is featured on
the album. My previous solo album was called Tiento Français.
Tiento is also a musical term from the Renaissance period. Although
these both albums contain music from the 20th and 21st centuries I
wanted to point out the dimension of tradition the works on these
two recordings more or less have. To perhaps
be
more clear: they reach out for the past." A must for modern
day classical guitar disciples, Otto Tolonen's Toccata is superbly
recorded and the colorful album artwork and packaging is enhanced
by in depth liner notes (in both Finnish and English) about the guitarist
and all the composers covered here. www.OttoTolonen.net
/ www.siba.fi/sibarecords
mwe3.com presents an interview
with
OTTO TOLONEN
mwe3:
Can you tell us where youre from originally and where you live
now and what you like best about it?
Otto Tolonen: I was born and I'm currently living in Espoo.
It is a town just next to Helsinki. I moved back here some four years
ago. Before this I lived in Helsinki, Brussels, Weimar and Paris.
Espoo is a rather quiet place to live and still Helsinki center is
just 20 minutes away. I love to travel but every time I have lived
abroad Ive always felt a need to go back to Finland. Don´t
know why it is so.
The musical life is quite active in Helsinki. As a classical concert
goer there is a lot to choose from. We have a new music house in the
center of the city where three symphony orchestras perform. Also the
programs are quite interesting. Just the other day I heard Luigi Nonos
Como una ola de fuerza y luz played by the Radio Symphony Orchestra.
A rare treat! Also what I like about the programming here is that
you can hear, and audiences are used to modern, or modernist music.
There is an avant-garde music festival every year here. Active young
people and fearless experimentation!
mwe3: When did you start playing guitar and were you always
drawn to classical guitar and classical guitar music? You were born
in 1980 so you didnt grow up in the first rock era 1964-1978,
so what music did you originally become inspired by and who are some
of your favorite guitarists?
Otto Tolonen: I started to play the guitar when I was 10 or
11. Before this I played the piano and sang in a choir. I do not come
from a family of musicians but we listened to quite a lot of music.
I think the earliest memories of hearing something significant for
me was when I was perhaps five. The song was The Boxer
by Simon & Garfunkel. I did play electric guitar for a few years
when I started out with guitar. Back then I lived really close to
Aleksi Laiho who started to play at that same time around 1991. Aleksi
is touring the world now days with his band Children Of Bodom. And
we played all the time right from the start!
Metallica was the Beatles for us. I think this was the case for the
most of us in my generation. But I did play classical guitar right
from the start too. I had a fantastic classical guitar teacher Andrzej
Wilkus who had just moved to Finland from Poland in the beginning
of the 1990s. He was such an inspiring teacher that I soon gave
up the electric guitar and when I was fourteen I decided to become
a classical guitarist. Back then the music of Heitor Villa-Lobos was
a great inspiration for me as a classical guitarist. To mention guitarists
Julian Bream was the greatest and maybe still is. Nowadays I have
to say that I also really admire Argentinean guitarist Pablo Marques.
Especially the way he plays Renaissance vihuela music and modern repertoire!
Also I have to mention Teemu Viinikainen who is a Finnish jazz guitarist
Ive been listening to lately. Fantastic musician!
mwe3:
What is the concept of your album Toccata? Why choose the name
Toccata and how does that name reflect the variety of music
on the album?
Otto Tolonen: Toccata is a musical form from the late Renaissance
and Baroque era. It is also the name of the last movement of Erik
Bergmans Suite pour Guitar which is featured on
the album. My previous solo album was called Tiento Français.
Tiento is also a musical term from the Renaissance period. Although
these both albums contain music from the 20th and 21st centuries I
wanted to point out the dimension of tradition the works on these
two recordings more or less have. To be perhaps more clear: they reach
out for the past.
mwe3: Many of the composers you interpret on Toccata
are Finnish and Hungarian. Can you tell us something about the rise
of classical guitar music in Finland during the 20th century? I now
realize its quite deep.
Otto Tolonen: Actually all of the composers on this album are
Finnish. Only Adam Vilagis parents are Hungarian but Adam himself
has lived all his life in Finland.
The rise of the classical guitar started here in the 1970s so
it is a fairly new instrument in Finland. There had been activity
also before of course. For example Segovia visited Helsinki in the
1950s.
The musical education system in Finland has been really good so if
youd have a tendency towards music it wouldnt go unnoticed.
Unfortunately presently they are reducing music education in the schools
which is a very disturbing fact.
There
is a very high level in classical guitar just as in any other instrument
here. The curious and the best thing about the classical guitar here
is that we dont have a separate guitar culture. By this I mean
that the guitar is strongly integrated in the actual musical world
in Finland. We play a lot of chamber music, composers write concertos
for the guitar, we commission solo pieces, guitar recordings are appreciated
in the media etc. So there is no danger that we would be separated
in guitar festivals just among other guitarists. The key is to learn
from other instruments and to teach others about yours.
mwe3: What guitar or guitars are you featuring on Toccata
and what are some of your favorite types of guitars? Do you have
electric guitars too?
Otto Tolonen: Since 2011 I have been solely playing an instrument
made by Keijo Korelin from Finland. It is a so called doubletop guitar.
Very strong sound but subtle colors too. And very clear and easy to
play. One of the most important things for me in a guitar is that
you have to be able to play quiet and still be heard. I use DAddario
strings. I have two guitars made by Korelin: a cedar top which Im
using on my last two recordings and a spruce top which I got just
a few months ago.
I have an electric guitar too. I played Steve Reichs Electric
Counterpoint in a festival in Helsinki last January so for this I
bought a Duesenberg guitar. Of course there is plan to do more music
on this instrument in the future!
mwe3: What music are you planning to perform at your concerts
this year?
Otto Tolonen: Next summer Im recording a work called
"Royal Winter Music" by a German composer Hans Werner Henze
and "Nocturnal", after John Dowland by Benjamin Britten.
So these are the works I'll be living with for the next months. Besides
this Im playing, in May and June, some concerts in the States
(Cincinnati and Louisville) and in Finland (Tampere Guitar Festival)
with some Renaissance music, Reich and some French and Spanish pieces
from my previous album.
I also play in group called Tjango! And we're playing gigs around
Finland next summer. We just released our debut album last January.
The music is a mix of swing and Latin American rhythms. Great fun!
mwe3: How did you become signed to Siba Records, which is part
of the Sibelius Academy?
Otto
Tolonen: Siba Records is a small record label of the Sibelius
Academy. They release two or three recordings a year. I proposed the
program which is now featured on Toccata to them and it was
approved. I was really glad and honored by this since the program
is very uncompromising, featuring five world premiere recordings from
older generations of Finnish composers but also the youngest ones
too.
mwe3: Your last name, Tolonen is quite synonymous with the
guitar, especially considering Jukka Tolonen is one of the original
Finnish progressive rock giants. What do you think of Jukka Tolonen?
I realize there must be a lot of Tolonens in Finland so maybe its
just a coincidence!
Otto Tolonen: The most frequently asked question I get is that
is he my father. Even the president of Finland asked me this when
I was playing for her some fourteen years ago. But no, we are not
related. I have never even met him. I do know his music and he has
been an unbelievable guitarist!! His first solo album Tolonen!
is my favorite.
mwe3: What other activities are you planning for 2014 and beyond?
Do you have plans to write, cover or record new music this coming
year and what direction are you planning to take your music and recordings
in next?
Otto
Tolonen: Im doing doctoral studies at Sibelius Academy in
Helsinki at the moment, so the next few years will be quite intensive
around this. Im doing research around European guitar music
written in the latter part of 20th century. Especially Hans Werner
Henzes music has a big part in my work. In April 2015 Im
performing with a baritone, flutist and percussionist on a huge work,
"El Cimarrón" by Henze in Helsinki. Like I mentioned
I'm recording my next solo album this summer. Also besides the gigs,
we are starting to write new material for a new album with Tjango!
Thanks to Otto
Tolonen and to Siba
Records
Otto
Tolonen plays guitars made by Keijo
Korelin
Otto
Tolonen uses D'Addario
strings exclusively