Lea Piltti

{{Short description|Finnish soprano (1904–1982)}} {{Use British English|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = ''Professori'' | name =  | honorific_suffix = | image = Lea-Piltti-1943.jpg | image_size = | alt = Picture of Lea Piltti taken in 1943 | caption = Lea Piltti in 1943 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Lea Maire Piltti | birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|02|01|df=yes}} | birth_place = Rautjärvi, Grand Duchy of Finland | baptised =  | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|02|05|1904|02|01|df=yes}} | death_place = Helsinki, Finland | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | partner = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | family = | awards = ''Pro Finlandia'' (1956) | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website =  | module = }}

'''Lea Piltti''' (1 February 1904 – 5 February 1982)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|page=3670|first1= K. J.|last1= Kutsch|first2= Leo|last2= Riemens|encyclopedia=Grosses Sängerlexikon|publisher=K. G. Saur Verlag|editor-first=Hansjörg|editor-last= Rost|title= Piltti, Lea |year=2003|isbn= 978-3-598-44088-5}}</ref> was a Finnish opera singer and voice pedagog, one of the leading coloratura sopranos of the 1930s and 40s, and one of Finland's most successful singers on the international stage.<ref name="kb">{{cite web |title=Piltti, Lea (1904-1982) |url=https://kansallisbiografia.fi/kansallisbiografia/henkilo/1507 |website=Kansallisbiografia.fi |publisher=National Biography of Finland |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=fi}}</ref><ref name="uv">{{cite web |title=Piltti, Lea |url=https://uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-170045-PilttiLea |website=Uppslagsverket.fi |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=sv}}</ref><ref name="yle">{{cite news |title=Lea Piltti |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/12/08/lea-piltti-yon-kuningattaren-aaria |access-date=30 April 2022 |publisher=Yle |date=8 December 2006 |language=fi}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Lea Piltti was born to Juho Piltti and Elsa Maria {{nee}} Korhonen; both her parents were teachers.<ref name="kko">{{cite book |title=Kuka Kukin On (Who's Who) |date=1978 |publisher=Otava |location=Helsinki |pages=736–737 |url=https://runeberg.org/kuka/1978/0736.html |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=fi}}</ref> Her father was a keen singer, and singing helped form a strong connection between him and his daughter.<ref name="yle19">{{cite news |last1=Saulo |first1=Sandra |title=Kansallissosialistisen Saksan tähtikoloratuuri Die Piltti |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2019/01/02/oopperalaulaja-lea-piltti-musiikin-syntymapaivakalenteri |access-date=1 May 2022 |publisher=Yle |date=2 January 2019 |language=fi}}</ref>

After completing her secondary education, she went to the Jyväskylä teacher training college to train also as a teacher; she completed her training, but never worked as a teacher, choosing instead a musical career.<ref name="yle" /> Alongside her studies she took singing lessons from the age of 16, most notably under Anna Hagelstam at the Helsinki Music Institute (later Sibelius Academy, now part of the University of the Arts Helsinki).<ref name="kko" />

She later continued her training on numerous study trips mainly to Paris, where she was tutored by Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi, and to Berlin, working with Olga Eisner and Hertha Dehmlow throughout the late 1920s.<ref name="kko" /><ref name="yle" />

==Career== Piltti made her operatic debut at the Finnish Opera (now the Finnish National Opera and Ballet) in Helsinki, in the title role of ''Lakmé'', in September 1927.<ref name="kb" /> She returned there a few more times in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Encore performance database: Lea Piltti |url=https://encore.opera.fi/fi/person/1948 |publisher=Finnish National Opera |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=fi}}</ref>

For much of her active singing career, however, Piltti worked in Germany, where she was nicknamed ''Die Piltti''.<ref name="yle19" /> She was attached to opera houses in Königsberg, Danzig, and Darmstadt, followed by several years as the first coloratura soprano at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (1934–1938) and finally at Vienna State Opera (1938–1943), before returning to Finland.<ref name="kko" /> She also made many guest appearances in opera houses and concerts in Berlin, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Budapest, and Salzburg, among others, as well as in the USA.<ref name="kko" />

Her signature piece was the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's ''Magic Flute'''. In 1936, during a guest appearance at the Berlin State Opera to sing this role, she sang the aria in a much faster tempo than the conductor Leo Blech would have wanted, and Blech at first stopped conducting in protest at the singer's insolence, but by the time the piece was finished, he along with the audience was shouting out for an ''encore''.<ref name="yle19" />

In 1939, Richard Strauss personally invited Piltti to sing the challenging Zerbinetta aria from ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' at his 75th anniversary concert.<ref name="yle" />

Piltti recorded extensively, mostly collections of arias, but also at least one complete opera recording, namely Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' (1936).<ref name="yle" /> She also had a singing role in the German 1942 film ''Wiener Blut (Vienna Blood)'', directed by Willi Forst.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wiener Blut (1942) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035559/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1 |website=IMDb.com |access-date=30 April 2022}}</ref>

Upon her return to Finland in 1943, Piltti initially received a cool reception due to her association with Nazi Germany, and it took many years for her talents to be appreciated again in her native country.<ref name="kb" /><ref name="yle19" />

Her singing career was effectively over, but later on, Piltti taught voice for over 20 years, in music institutes and conservatoires in Lahti, Jyväskylä, and Turku, as well as privately.<ref name="kko" /><ref name="yle" /> Some of her more notable students included soprano Anita Välkki, bass Matti Salminen, and tenor Seppo Ruohonen.<ref name="yle19" />

During her career, Piltti performed in {{circa}} 50 roles, as well as over 2,000 concerts.<ref name="yle" />

She retired in 1961.<ref name="yle" />

==Awards and honours== In 1956, Piltti received the ''{{ill|Pro Finlandia|fi}}'' medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland.<ref>{{cite web |title=SUOMEN LEIJONAN PRO FINLANDIA -MITALIN SAAJAT 1945-2021 |url=https://ritarikunnat.fi/ritarikunnat/palkitut/suomen-leijonan-pro-finlandia-mitalin-saajat-aakkosjarjestyksessa/ |website=Ritarikunnat.fi |publisher=The Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=fi}}</ref>

In 1974, the honorary title of ''Professori'' was conferred on Piltti.<ref name="kko" /><ref name="uv" />

==Lea Piltti Prize== The Finnish Cultural Foundation occasionally awards the Lea Piltti Prize, based on Piltti's 1979 endowment, to distinguished opera singers; recipients include Kim Borg, Anita Välkki, Jorma Hynninen and Matti Salminen.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raili Viljakaiselle Lea Piltti -palkinto |url=https://skr.fi/ajankohtaista/raili-viljakaiselle-lea-piltti-palkinto |website=SKR.fi |publisher=Finnish Cultural Foundation |access-date=30 April 2022 |language=fi |date=12 May 2014}}</ref>

==Personal life== Piltti was an extremely shy and reserved person.<ref name="yle19" />

She was married twice. During her time in Germany she was married to a German man, as well as taking German citizenship. The marriage ended in 1943, and Piltti returned to Finland, where, in 1946, she married Olavi Killinen.<ref name="kko" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *Nivanka, Leena: ''Lea Piltti'' (biography, in Finnish) WSOY (1992), {{ISBN|951-0-18311-3}}

==External links== {{Portal|Finland|opera}} *[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/12/08/lea-piltti-yon-kuningattaren-aaria Lea Piltti singing] the Queen of the Night aria on Yle Archives *{{Discogs artist|3014534-Lea-Piltti}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piltti, Lea}} Category:Finnish operatic sopranos Category:20th-century Finnish opera singers Category:Sibelius Academy alumni Category:People from Rautjärvi Category:1904 births Category:1982 deaths Category:Pro Finlandia Medals of the Order of the Lion of Finland

Lea Piltti

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