Juha Uusitalo

• Bass-Baritone

Reviews

Juha Uusitalo press reviews

"Central to these operatic excerpts was Finland's so-called answer to Bryn Terfel, the burly bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo. It's a claim that is not overstated. Both performances revealed a voice that can harness the power required to project above Wagner's orchestral might, yet still have the latitude to imbue the music with a poetry and passion that can be as subtle as it is explosive."

Kenneth Walton, Scotsman.com, 17 August 2010

"Elsewhere I have been effusive in my praise of Juha Uusitalo’s Wotan in the Valencia Ring. His greatest skill is to point up the vulnerability of Wagner’s great figures without losing the grandeur. So it was here: the searing pain of the Dutchman and the infinite regret of Wotan was etched into every note and the power of his interpretation was never in doubt. The highlight was the sequence at the end of the Dutchman’s monologue when he looks forward to Judgement Day, a climax the intensity of which I will remember for a long time."

Seen and heard international, Simon Thompson, 18 August 2010

'Juha Uusitalo is a titan of a Macbeth, with a huge yet cultivated sound and truck-loads of charisma. Everything he does confirms his growing international status; here is another Finnish baritone set to conquer the opera world.'

Shirley Apthorp, The Financial Times, 24th July 2007

'As Kurwenal, a giant of a Finnish bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo sang so magnificently that one felt Bryn Terfel should look to his laurels.'

Rupert Christiansen, The Daily Telegraph, 01/09/05

'Juha Uusitalo's Kurwenal was vocally sumptous...'

Robert Thicknesse, The Times, 01/09/05

'Fresh from his majestic Wotan in the recent Helsinki 'Ring', the now-great Finnish bass-baritone surpassed himself as Scarpia...What Uusitalo does these days is difficult to describe without superlatives. His voice is obviously beautiful and a huge insturment: against the vast sounds of the CBSO, the two choruses and the other soloists, he was perfectly audible throughout the whole Te Deum. His diction is also outstanding: every word is crystal clear whether in English, German or Italian...but the real thrill in hearing him again is the effortless and apparently limitless technique with which he manages his vocal range. His low notes are a genuine bass yet he soars seamlessly to true baritone without noticeable 'gear changes'; always (and it really is always) regardless of the volumes required. When you couple these gifts to his talents as an actor with a remarkable stage presence, and remember that he is still a relatively young man whose development over the past five years has seemed almost exponential, you have the ingredients for an outstanding and long-lasting career. If he is this good now, you ask yourself, whatever might he be in five or ten years' time?'

Bill Kenny, Seen and Heard, 30/09/04

'He was immense, physically and vocally...with such power and precence that he dominated the show.'

Richard Morrison, Times, 28/09/04

'The timbre of Juha Uusitalo's baritone...had an inherent ability to express the suffering of this eternal wanderer, and his ability to sing with quiet intensity proved telling.'

George Loomis, Financial Times, 21/04/04

'...the show really belonged to Juha Uusitalo, a beefy and commanding shaklovity, the Boyar. His Act III soliloquy was the high-point of the evening, Uusitalo's dense and rich baritone peppered with crisp consonants which bounced across the auditorium and hit the audience between its collective eyes.'

Erkki Arni, Opera Now, January/February 2003

'The vocal find was the Finnish baritone, Juha Uusitalo...Rugged but flexible, his voice has the kind of magnetic authority that brings everything-even orchestral details-into sharper focus.'

Brian Hunt, Evening Standard, 16/12/02

'The third principal is a monstrous young Finnish bass-baritone, Juha Uusitalo...towering presence, scrupulous musicianship...'

David Murray, Financial Times, 17/12/02

' Indeed it was a good evening for basses, with Juha Uusitalo boasting a sonorous, sepulchral voice as the High Priest.'

Matthew Rye, Daily Telegraph, 17/12/02