Matti Salminen was born on 7 July 1945 in Heideken maternity hospital in Turku. His musical mother sang to her little boy and got him interested in music at an early age. In secret from his father, who considered singing to be “gentlemen’s tricks”, his mother took her son to the choir, where the 12-year-old young man began as a boy soprano, but overnight his voice dropped to the bass notes that would become his life’s career.
The 14-year-old boy’s life changed when his mother died of a heart attack. The father felt that the boy should contribute to the family’s support and go to work. Fortunately, the choir director, Aune Kuparinen, also agreed with Matti that he would not make a good carpenter and encouraged him to sing. The singing lessons were paid for by Esa Pasa, whose concert songs enabled him to study in Helsinki. With Esa Pasa, the older audience in Turku knows Matti Salminen better!
Gradually, the people of Helsinki got to know the Turku-born (195 cm) hooligan, who was studying at the Sibelius Academy and had already made it to the National Opera. The turning point was Philip of Don Carlos, sung at the age of 24. According to Salminen, “it’s almost suicide to sing at such a young age”, but the criticism was so positive that the world opened up.
The Turku-Helsinki native became a bass talent on his way to Cologne, Germany. From Cologne, it was easy to get to Milan, Paris, Vienna, London and finally Berlin, which became Turku’s replacement home until 1984. With the help of great directors and conductors, Matti Salmise became ‘der Hagen’, singing in almost every production of Wagner’s Ring around the world. The President of Germany awarded him a rare medal of honour, rarely given to a foreigner.
The Austrian President paid tribute to a remarkable artist for his years at the Wiener Staatsoper. Spain was awarded a couple of Artist of the Year awards. Switzerland, which is not known for its lavish honours, wanted to pay tribute to a Finnish singer who has become a favourite with the people of Zurich and who has been a star singer at the Zürcher Opernhaus since 1984, with the first donation to a foreign singer.
Supporting young singers has always been and still is close to Matti Salminen’s heart. This is how the Matti Salminen Foundation has been supporting talented young people for many years. In 1984, the Turku-Helsinki-Berlin native became a Zurich native until 2021. Boris Godunov, Parsifal’s Gurnemanz, Magic Flute’s Sarastro, Tristan’s Marke, all the bass roles in Wagner flew Matti Salminen around the world from the Met to Tokyo, from Santander to Savonlinna. Salminen became a Suvisavo resident as early as 1964 at the Musikfestival, and later the Savonlinna Opera Festival made him leave the Bayreuth Festival after 12 years, 151 performances. The City of Savonlinna’s thanks fly like a pennant on the flagpole of the summer residence.
For his work at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and his many successes with the Finnish National Opera, Matti Salminen was remembered by the President of our Republic with a high decoration and the title of Professor. With these honours – a Pro Finlandia medal, a three-time Kammersänger title and two Grammy Awards – the folk artist, who loved tango songs and enjoyed the stages, will retire in 2021. The singer, who has spent 50 years in the world and is admired by audiences and colleagues alike, is enjoying his homeland and is looking forward to Turku’s future music house. “If only I could still stand there on stage and play Ellin Boks,” which he used to play for his father’s sauna friends when he was two years old.
Matti Salminen, 80 years old, a Turku resident at heart!
