Bubbling Under (2023)
Meri Metsomäki, Eleriin Müüripeal, Martti Anttila, Jussi Linnanmäki, Linda Suolahti, Taavi Oramo, Inka Pärssinen, Antti Suoranta, Emil Holmström, Meidän Festivaali, Tuusula 22.-25.7.2023
Occasionally, one comes across with something artistically genuinely different. This was precisely the case with Bubbling Under… (Bubbling Under) steps out of traditional categories, combining elements of opera, concert setting, spatial and conceptual art, yielding to thought-provoking multimodal journey, where the pre-determined and the free-floating merge in artistically meaningful ways… Presented in the manner of extended meditation, Bubbling Under does not teach nor preach, and this is exactly why the piece is so profoundly compelling. In terms of text and music alike, the production comes off as a spacious affair, inviting the audience to really contemplate on the subject matter.
An intimate realization of rare intensity and insight, the premiere production of Bubbling Under constituted a multi-layered spatial quest, rooted in engrossing musical setting and well-wrought text. A mirror on which to dwell, the ”nonoperatic” setting communicates on several levels, conscious and subconscious, resulting in transformative experience.
Devised in transportable manner, Bubbling Under is tailor-made for touring. Hopefully set for a trajectory to travel far and wide, this production deserves to be recreated in numerous different settings.
Jari Kallio, jarijuhanikallio.wordpress.com, 28.7.2023
(Bad) Dreams come true (2022)
Uusinta Ensemble in Musiikkitalo, Musica nova Helsinki, 11.3.2023
The very idea of the work aroused interest: how to create different acoustic spaces by means of instrumental techniques… The half-hour journey succeeded in sweeping the listener along. On the way, it afforded some amazingly intensive, barely audible pianissimos charged with tremendous energy. This journey is one worth making – as is getting to know more of Tiina Myllärinen’s works.
Jari Hoffrén, elementori.blogspot.com, March 2023
(Bad) Dreams come true (2022)
Uusinta Ensemble in Oberstdorf Internationales festival forum für neue musik, 25.3.2023
Until the Russian attack on Ukraine began, we in Europe hoped to be spared such a nightmare in the future. But now it is mercilessly returning. And the composition “(Bad) Dreams Come True” by Tiina Myllärinen, which leaves the most shattering impression at the Forum for New Music in Oberstdorf, is just as merciless. Tiina Myllärinen has chosen for her work the richly relational form of the string quartet. It is considered the crown of chamber music genres – at least since Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s characterisation of it as a spiritual conversation between four protagonists.
But the four protagonists don’t have time for a spiritual conversation in Tiina Myllärinen’s piece. A brutal sound attack startles them. And violence, horror, chaos also characterise what follows. With tremendous intensity, the musicians of the Finnish Uusinta Ensemble unleash the musical images of horror, dominated by screams, groans and shrill signals. The world of harmony is out of joint. And every desperate attempt to find our way back into it fails. Although there are even quiet phases in these constant eruptions of sonic violence, they offer no relaxation, but only fuel the ominous foreboding of what may come.
Railo (2017)
Helsinki Chamber Choir in Kiasma, Musica nova Helsinki, Feb 7th, 2017
In the same room, the new composition “Railo” by Tiina Myllärinen had a more spacious sound than Ligeti’s Hölderlin fantasies. Partly because Myllärinen placed the singers of the choir in four groups around the audience. Spoken and whispered excerpts, as well as reasonably loud page turns, were overlapped in the beginning a bit like in the Ligeti’s piece. Well-sounding glissando gestures in the mid-section were the culmination of the piece.
Samuli Tiikkaja, Helsingin Sanomat, Feb 9th, 2017
Traces (2014)
Pro Musica Foundation anniversary orchestra in Musiikkitalo, Helsinki, June 5th, 2014
“Traces”, a commissioned work by Tiina Myllärinen (b. 1979) opened the festivities with a passionate statement of the 2010’s. The tremor of quick and sharp sound spectrums, very demanding for the orchestra, is like our digitalized life: full of stimuli and surprises, even to the point of being aggressive at times.
Annmari Salmela, Helsingin Sanomat June 7th, 2014
And surely the choice of composer for the evening’s commissioned work had hit the bullseye. “Traces” by Tiina Myllärinen (b. 1979) started as a testimonial of modernist clichées, but there was an energy under the rough surface that effectively attracted one’s attention. In places there was an attempt for a unique expressive timbre. A name to keep in mind.
Mats Liljeroos, Hufvudstadsbladet June 6th, 2014
Ballo in Maschera (2012)
Defunensemble in Musiikkitalo, April 2nd, 2012
I liked the opening number of the concert, Ballo in Maschera by Tiina Myllärinen. By building creatively something new, it thrilled me with how the old theme from classical music was varied and was manifested in new ways. I admit to having been skeptical at first, as my mind started to go around in circles, and I had to wait long before the circle of forced repetition shattered and the composer was able to move forward with her idea. I recommend listening to this skillful composition, and the fine performance.
Mikko von Bruun, yle.fi, April 16th, 2012