Alma Kuula ( Silventoinen; 1884–1941) was a Finnish operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

and pianist, and the wife of composer

Toivo Kuula Toivo Timoteus Kuula (7 July 1883 – 18 May 1918) was a Finnish composer and conductor of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, who emerged in the wake of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1906 to 1908. The core of Ku ...

. Born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to Finnish industrialist Pekka Silventoinen and Johanna ('Hanna') Häggson, and raised mostly in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

, Alma Silventoinen graduated from a girls' school in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in 1901. In 1903, she began studying first the piano, and subsequently voice, at the Helsinki Music Institute (later

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

), completing her studies there in 1908. She went on to further her voice training in Milan and Paris from 1908 until her marriage in 1914. She toured extensively throughout the 1910s and 1920s, in Finland and around Europe. Alma Silventoinen met Toivo Kuula in 1906, and they fell in love, but as he was already married and could not obtain a divorce until 1912, they were only able to get married in 1914. The couple had one daughter, , born in 1917; she later became a professional pianist, and accompanied her mother at concerts. Most of Toivo Kuula's lied production was written for her, and his 1907 song ''Tuijotin tulehen kauan'' ( 'Long I Stared Into the Fire'; op. 2 no. 2) is dedicated to her. She is also considered his

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

and inspiration for many of his other works. In 1918, Toivo Kuula was murdered by an unknown assailant at the victory celebrations of the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

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. She never got over her loss, and dedicated the rest of her life to performing her late husband's music in his memory. In the 1930s she recorded some of his works, including ''Tuijotin tulehen kauan'' (

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, 1937). In later years, Alma Kuula resided in Helsinki. However, in 1941, she was scheduled to give a concert in Lappeenranta, but on her way there she suffered a heart attack, and died, very close to her childhood home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuula, Alma Finnish sopranos 20th-century Finnish women opera singers Finnish pianists Finnish women pianists Sibelius Academy alumni 1884 births 1941 deaths People from Lappeenranta 20th-century women pianists