Soprano coloratura Piia Komsi is widely known for her virtuoso technique, and exceptionally high and expressive voice. She performs baroque, classical, and modern repertoire with remarkable ease. Many contemporary composers have written music especially for her voice. One of her successes is the role of Medea in Dusapin’s Medeamaterial, performing the role in France, Portugal Argentina and at Bologna Teatro Comunale to excellent reviews:
“Piia Komsi was magnificent, a coloratura soprano with astounding expressive skills. She interprets the lament with her voice, the sounds she produces come from deep within her head, using instruments of the rarest agility and precision. Her singing is music, her body an instrument perfectly tuned and trained. This is an excellent performance, which confirms her reputation as a truly great coloratura soprano whose technique and musicality are of the finest.” – David Tosci, OperaClick
Piia Komsi made her successful debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2017.
Piia Komsi is a sought-after international performer whose vocal acrobatics, excellent musicianship and artistic talent have taken her all over the world. She debuted at Wigmore Hall in October 2016, performing Péter Eötvös’ world premiere The Sirens Cycle to excellent reviews:
“Most of all, though, the whole 40-minute work sets a fearsome test for any coloratura soprano, and Komsi passed it superbly, meeting every challenge with real operatic brilliance.” – Andrew Clements, The Guardian
Her astoundingly large range is exemplified in the roles of Venus/Gepopo in Le Grand Macabre by Ligeti, Pamina and the Queen of the Night (Magic Flute), the cello playing Daughter (Komsi began her career as a cellist) Kraut in Ahti Karjalainen by Heinz-Juhani Hofmann, and Brünnhilde in The Ring Saga by Richard Wagner and Jonathan Dove. She received outstanding critiques for these very demanding roles.
“The Finnish soprano, Piia Komsi, one of the most extraordinary signers heard in years, forms an impressive Medea, musically exact and dramaticallly immeasurable. Her performance was not only given an ovation by the public, but also — and with an effusiveness rarely seen in an operatic performance — by the instrumentalists and choir; the composer, Dusapin, who came from Paris, especially for the Argentine premiere, picked her up in his arms.”
[Clarín: Federico Monjeau]
Piia Komsi’s latest CD is a recording of Soita. Kirjoita joskus. Ruf an. Schreib doch mal (Fuga), solo works by Heinz-Juhani Hofmann.
The recording of Ahti Karjalainen: Elämä, Kekkonen ja teot by Heinz-Juhani Hofman (Alba) was also nominated for an Emma-award (Best Classical Recording) in 2016. Solaris (Proprius/Naxos) includes spiritual music from different centuries: from the baroque era until our time. The reviews were excellent: “The best art CD of the year” (Kotimaa News). The CD Gamba Nova won the classical music EMMA Prize of 2008 for “Baroque performers with skill and traditional knowledge, who form a bridge between old and new by choosing composers of our time who in turn, inspired by the performers themselves, created something new”.
Piia Komsi was nominated for the Opus Klassik Award 2022 for the recording of Heinz-Juhani Hofmann’s Soita. Kirjoita joskus. “Ruf an. Schreib doch mal.” in various categories.
Piia Komsi is the twin sister of soprano Anu Komsi.
Read more: https://piiakomsi.com/
