Schumann’s Lenau Lieder constitute the album’s repertoire and core, and Arttu Kataja wanted to pair them with the Vier ernste Gesänge cycle by Brahms. They were decided to be combined with Finnish repertoire, from which songs were also chosen in German – thus bringing Finnish repertoire close to the German Lied tradition. The chosen items are the finest of all Finnish solo songs, their dark and melancholic undercurrent fits in nicely with the songs of Schumann and Brahms. This is how the album got called Serious Songs.

Finnish baritone Arttu Kataja fell in love with Lied music in his first singing lessons at the age of 16 but the idea of his own Lied record was born only after he had worked as a professional for years. The collaboration with pianist Pauliina Tukiainen had already begun years earlier, and the joint record project also felt natural. Both artists have roots and identity in Finland, but both have grown up in the profession and worked in Germany for years. In addition, both Kataja and Tukiainen share a passionate and uncompromising attitude towards Lied music. In recent years, the couple has given concerts not only in Central Europe but also in Helsinki, where their interpretation of Schubert’s Winterreise was a critical success. They will start the 2020–2021 season with a Lied concert at the Berlin State Opera.

Arttu Kataja (b. 1979) is a versatile opera and concert singer. His singing career began in 2002 with the victory of the Lappeenranta singing competition. Since 2006, Kataja has been a member of the soloists of the Berlin State Opera performing such parts as Conte (Figaro), Guglielmo, Papageno, Marcello, Belcore, Musiklehrer and Besenbinder. In addition to his home country of Finalnd, he has performed in opera houses and as an orchestra soloist in Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Paris, Toulouse, Tokyo, Soul, Shanghai and Santiago de Chile. Kataja has a master’s degree in music.

Pauliina Tukiainen (b. 1977) is an internationally sought-after performer and teacher of Lied music. In addition to the Vienna Musikverein, the Zurich Tonhalle and the Hugo Wolf Academies, she has performed at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, at the Fundación Juan March in Madrid and at the Festival classique des Hauderès in Switzerland among others. In addition to various CDs, many of her concerts were recorded by international broadcasting companies. Tukiainen studied Lied music as a student of Hartmut Höll and Anne Le Bozec and is currently active in the juries of Lied competitions and as a master class teacher. Since October 2017 she holds a professorship for Art Song at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.