Martti Talvela

Who was Martti Talvela?

Martti Olavi Talvela was a Finnish operatic bass.

Born in Hiitola, Finland, the eighth of ten children he studied in Lahti and Stockholm, and made his operatic debut in Helsinki in 1960 as Sparafucile. He trained as a boxer in his youth and developed the stamina necessary for the biggest roles. Originally Talvela was educated as a primary school teacher in Savonlinna, Eastern Finland, and he worked in that occupation at three schools. He sang at the Stockholm Royal Opera in Sweden from 1961 to 1962, before becoming a regularly employed singer at the Deutsche Oper of Berlin in 1962, the same year as his debut at Bayreuth.

In 1970, the Senate of West Berlin formally granted him the rank of Kammersänger. At New York's Metropolitan Opera, he performed the role of Boris Godunov 39 times between 1974 and 1987.