Santeri Dobrynin, Egor Masaltsev, Olga Plekhanova – Karjalan Jouhikko (Antonovka Records, 2023)
The album Karjalan Jouhikko spotlights the jouhikko, a bowed lyre central to Karelian and Finnish musical traditions. This unique instrument, kin to the Scandinavian talharpa and Welsh crwth, is distinctively played by stopping its strings with the backs of the fingers rather than the inner side.
The trio behind the traditional recording brings a mix of cultural backgrounds: Karelians Santeri Dobrynin and Olga Plekhanova have relocated to Moscow, while Russian Egor Masaltsev has chosen Petrozavodsk, Karelia’s capital, as his home. The album cover places them from left to right as Egor, Olga, and Santeri.
The majority of the tracks feature traditional Karelian melodies, with notable exceptions:
- Track 7: a Swedish traditional piece
- Tracks 10 and 11: original compositions by Olga Plekhanova
- Track 18: a fusion of two Russian songs from Karelia
- Track 19: a piece by Karelian musician Leo Sevets
- Track 20: a tune from Sampo: The Magic Mill, a play based on the Kalevala (by Maxim Gutkin)
- Track 22: a composition by Finnish musician Lassi Logrén.
Several tracks titled “Laulu,” meaning “song” in Finnish, remain untranslated for stylistic consistency. The album was recorded on December 17, 2022, at the Blagosfera Center in Moscow.
Musicians: Santeri (Alexander) Dobrynin on jouhikko, bass jouhikko; Egor Masaltsev on jouhikko; and Olga Plekhanova on jouhikko.
Buy Karjalan Jouhikko.
Author: Tyler Bennet
