"I am sick with love," goes Rachmaninoff's "What happiness."

"Sick with love...with the pains of love... I cannot hide my agony."

And she didn't, Karita Mattila, singing the song in Zellerbach Hall this
afternoon at a Cal Performances recital that instantly went into hundreds
of record books for superlatives.

She hid nothing. Arms flailing, chest heaving, gasping for air, tears
in her eyes, Mattila exhibited the kind of extreme passion I have never
seen or heard in a recital hall... especially not from a native of
Finland, the country of famously shy, introverted people.

It was a stunning performance, a whole Janacek opera squeezed into
four minutes of raw, powerful drama, sung - almost incidentally - with
overwhelming brilliance. None of the 1,800 people in the audience will
ever forget this performance... and yet that was just a tiny portion of
an utterly wonderful concert.

Another Mattila to treasure today was the proper recitalist, standing still
and pouring out beautiful lines in six Duparc songs, the set climaxing with
the still-restrained, but deeply felt passion of "Phidyle."

Sibelius songs followed, "A Dragonfly" soaring in long a capella passages,
bringing tears, but this time to the faces of audience members.

Then there was the charming, enchanting Gypsy with Dvorak's songs, barefoot
and teasing, cuddling up to the accompanist, the statuesque (vertically, not
horizontally) blonde virtually squashing the diminutive Martin Katz (who has
never enjoyed a concert more and has not played better in a long time, even
after a couple of untoward local outings).

Another Mattila conquered with flawless Czech, Russian, French, Finnish,
Swedish and English - all presented with a crystalline diction.

But the most important manifestation of this multifaceted phenomenon was the
hugely bright voice and impeccable phrasing, superb legato and unflagging
musicality.

Could it be, all this talent in one person? Can a recital be presented
without a bad note, a false move? Yes, this indeed was St. Karita's Day,
an event not easy to describe.

As at other concerts of her triumphant tour, Mattila sang Marlene Dietrich's
title song from the 1947 "Golden Earrings," first in English, then ("because
I want to") in Finnish.

The closing offering was the hilarious folk song, "Minuri kultani kaunis
on..." ("My darling beautiful is..."), about the lad with blue (although
crossed) eyes, strong (although crooked) legs, etc., the Finnish equivalent
of "My Bill," but without the pathos.

In the few years between Mattila first turning up here, as a gorgeous Elsa
in "Lohengrin," and the last season's deeply affecting "Kat'ia Kabanova,"
somehow she has reached the prima donna assoluta state in everything but
behavior. She is still the tease next door, whenever not turning on a
searing dramatic intensity that's nothing short of scary... good.

(A fashion note en passant: the diagonally-cut red gown - good idea, badly
executed - must go. The second half's black cocktail dress is perfect.)

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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