Olavi Virta

Olavi Virta
Olavi Virta in the 1950s
Olavi Virta in the 1950s
Background information
Birth nameOskari Olavi Ilmén
Born(1915-02-27)27 February 1915
Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died14 July 1972(1972-07-14) (aged 57)
Pispala, Tampere, Finland
GenresFinnish tango
Occupations
Years active1939–1966
LabelsWarner Music Finland

Olavi Virta (born Oskari Olavi Ilmén; 27 February 1915 – 14 July 1972) was a Finnish singer, acclaimed during his time as the "King" of Finnish tango.[1][2]

Life and career

Virta was born on 27 February 1915 in Sysmä, Grand Duchy of Finland. Between 1939 and 1966 he recorded almost 600 songs, many of which are classics of Finnish popular music, and appeared in many films and theatrical productions.[3][4] Of his most acclaimed tangos are "Punatukkaiselle tytölleni" ("For My Red Haired Girl"), "Ennen kuolemaa" ("Before Death"; French: Avant de Mourir) and "Täysikuu" ("Full Moon"), while standouts from his other popular songs are "Poika varjoisalta kujalta" ("Boy From a Shady Alley"; Italian: Guaglione), "Hopeinen kuu" ("Silver Moon"; Italian: Guarda Che Luna), "Eva" and "Kultainen nuoruus" ("The Golden Youth").[5][3][6] He was also the second tenor of the quartet Kipparikvartetti in the early 1950s.

At the beginning of his career he received three gold records for the songs "Ennen kuolemaa", "Tulisuudelma" (El Choclo) and "La Cumparsita". Virta also acted in sixteen different Finnish films, including ones of the then-popular Pekka Puupää series. When he began his career in 1939, he was marketed as the "Bing Crosby of Finland." He has also been compared to the American singer-actor Frank Sinatra.[3][4]

Virta was very much popular in the 1950s in Finland. However, around 1959 is when his life began to turn in another direction. His wife Irene, whom he had three children with, left him and moved to Sweden in that year, and he began having health issues from an ever augmenting problem with alcoholism, diabetes, and a stroke. His career was cut short one night when he was arrested for drunken driving in Ilomantsi in 1962, after which the press mockingly called him "The Singing Meatball." Ten years later he succumbed to alcoholism, living his final years in poverty.[3][4][2] Virta died in Pispala, Tampere on 14 July 1972 and was buried in the Malmi Cemetery.

Legacy

His influence in contemporary Finnish music has not been forgotten, and today a number of Finnish Schlager singers cite him as a particular role model or influence when it comes to the realm of music. At least one movie about his life, simply titled Olavi Virta and debuting in October 2018, has been produced, as well as a documentary by Finnish film director and historian Peter von Bagh. He was one of the ten people to be chosen by the upcoming Finnish Music Hall of Fame museum due to be opened in Helsinki.[3][7][8]

Film career

Virta played in various films:

Documentary films featuring Virta:

  • Iskelmäparaati (1939) (band's lead vocalist)
  • Olavi Virta (1972, dir. Peter von Bagh)
  • Olavi Virta (1987, dir. Peter von Bagh)

Discography

Juha Vainio, Eino Grön and Olavi Virta in 1965

(Post-mortem compilations)

  • 1997: Suomiviihteen legendat
  • 2005: Mestari - legendan ääni elää
  • 2011: Arkistojen aarteita vol. 1
  • 2013: Laulaja - Kaikki levytykset

References

  1. ^ "The First Tango King Archived 2006-01-18 at the Wayback Machine by Pekka Gronow, Virtual Finland, November, 2001, retrieved 17 June 2006.
  2. ^ a b "Elämän kuluttama Olavi Virta tunsi yhä arvonsa tangon mestarina". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Finland's Sinatra featured in new bio-pic". The Finnish-American Reporter. Vol. 33, no. 2. February 2019. p. 6.
  4. ^ a b c "Olavi Virta". IMDb. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Täysikuu (Full Moon), Olavi Virta. Video, Youtube". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Hopeinen Kuu (Guarda Che Luna) Olavi Virta. Video, Youtube". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  7. ^ Olavi Virta, retrieved 20 March 2019
  8. ^ Bałaga, Marta (17 August 2018). "The "king of Finnish tango" gets the biopic treatment in The Singer". Cineuropa. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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