Oskari Olavi Virta ( fin. Oskari Olavi Virta ; February 27, 1915 , Sysmä , Grand Duchy of Finland - July 14, 1972 , Tampere , Finland ) - Finnish singer, composer and film actor, one of the most famous performers of tango in Finland.
Olavi Wirth | |
---|---|
Concert during the Continuation War : Olavi Wirth sings, another soldier plays the piano | |
basic information | |
Birth name | |
Date of Birth | February 27, 1915 |
Place of Birth | Sysmä , Grand Duchy of Finland |
Date of death | July 14, 1972 (57 years old) |
Place of death | Tampere , Finland |
Buried | |
A country | Finland |
Professions | singer actor composer |
Years of activity | since |
Instruments | |
Genres | Finnish tango jazz smash hit |
Aliases | Erwin Ovan et al. |
Collectives | Olavi Virta, Kipparikvartetti |
Labels | Warner music |
pomus.net/001454 | |
Content
Music education
Born February 27, 1915 in a musical family. His father played the violin , and his mother played the mandolin . Olavi began taking piano lessons at the age of eight. Later he also mastered the violin and became the violinist of the Sehrnäinen chamber orchestra. In the 1930s, he also played in the Dallapé orchestra. And while serving in the army he sang in the male choir "Karjalan Laulu" (Song of Karelia ). In 1945 - 1946, he took singing lessons from opera singer Thorild Brøderman .
Creative heritage
Over the entire period of his work (1939-1966), Olavi Virta recorded about 600 songs, including 136 songs in the style of tango [1] . Many of them are considered to be the best examples of Finnish tango (for example, Punatukkaiselle tytölleni , Ennen kuolemaa , Täysikuu , Satumaa , etc.). In addition to tango, Olavi Virta performed compositions in the popular hit genre in Finland (“iskelma”), including Mustasukkaisuutta , Sinun silmiesi tähden , Sokeripala , Kultainen nuoruus , Armi ; Reino Helismaa and Toivo Kärki composed a significant part of his repertoire. He performed world stage translations in Finnish ( Poika varjoisalta kujalta , Hopeinen kuu , Eva , Ajomies, and others); Olavi Wirth's repertoire included songs not only in Finnish, but also in English and Spanish , which distinguished him from most contemporaries. In 1950-1953, the singer was the second tenor in the male vocal ensemble Kipparikvartetti (the other members of the ensemble were Kauko Kayukhyo , Teyo Youtsela and Auvo Nuuto .) In addition, Olavi Wirth starred in 14 films (often in the same films with him played such actors as Tapio Rautavaara , Esa Pakarinen , Masa Niemi , Siiri Angerkoski and Anneli Sauli ) and took part in the revue-theater “Punainen mylly” Mill ) in Helsinki . On June 6, 1966, he recorded his last two songs, Nyt soita balalaikka and Sateinen ilta . Soon after, the singer suffered a stroke , as a result of which he was forced to leave the stage. Six years later, he died from alcoholism ; the last years of his life were spent in complete poverty.
Filmography
- "Rich Girl" ( 1939 )
- "Young People" ( 1943 )
- The Bride of Calle Aaltonen ( 1948 )
- “Hallin Janne” ( 1950 )
- " Beautiful Fans " ( 1950 )
- "Vihaan sinua - rakas" ( 1952 )
- The Skipper Quartet ( 1952 )
- “ Pekka Puupää on the Summer Holidays ” ( 1953 )
- “ I play you in the evening ” ( 1954 )
- " Pekka and Pyatkya following the snowman " ( 1954 )
- "Two old woodcutters" ( 1954 )
- Pekka ja Pätkä puistotäteinä ( 1955 )
- “ Big Parade of Melodies ” ( 1959 )
- “Iskelmäkaruselli pyörii” ( 1960 )
Screenshots
- Iskelmäparaati ( 1939 )
- Olavi Virta ( 1972 )
- Olavi Virta ( 1987 )
In the feature film Timo Koivusalo "The Swan and the Stranger " ( 1999 ), the role of Olavi Wirth was played by Raimo Grönberg.
Stage aliases
- Ovan erwin
- Paul Ilmen
- Oskari joki
- Matti lehto
- Oskari
- Salvador rio
- Pauli Ström
- Kaarto Vasa
- Kaarto Virtanen
Literature
- S.A. Niemi. Olavi Wirth - The Birth of Myth (2006) ISBN 951-29-3063-3 (liimasid.)
- L. Erola. Olavi Wirth and his world (2005) ISBN 951-20-6914-8 (sid.)
- J. Hämäläinen. Tango King Olavi Wirth: Maestro’s hopes were broken on asphalt (2005) ISBN 951-1-19994-3 (sid.)
Sources
- ↑ Radio Suomi, Yöradio, 6.9.2009
Links
- Olavi Wirth on Pomus.net
- Olavi Virta at Last.fm
- Youtube
- Olavi Wirth (Eng.) On the Internet Movie Database
- Olavi Virta - The Best Singer in the World
- The course of life / Dedication to the memory of Olavi Wirth
- Archive YLE TV: The Golden Season of the King of Tango
- Download MP3 with songs by Olavi Wirth (inaccessible link)