Rajaton delivers rhapsodic show with WSO

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This article was published 22/03/2025 (514 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra let its hair down and rocked out Friday night as it presented the final instalment in its Live at the WSO series, Rajaton Sings Queen.

The first of two weekend shows led by assistant conductor Monica Chen welcomed back Finnish vocal ensemble Rajaton, performing what felt practically every song in the legendary British rock band’s discography, with many of its set list’s whopping 26 numbers strung together to create one big, blended musical mosh pit.

Founded in Helsinki in 1997 — “rajaton” translates as “boundless” — the six-member a cappella group performs around 100 concerts worldwide, with its diverse repertoire spanning sacred classical music to Europop.

Queen itself needs little introduction. Originally formed by the late, great Freddie Mercury (lead vocals/piano), Brian May (guitar/vocals) and Roger Taylor (drums/vocals) in 1970, it is still going strong a remarkable 55 years later.

It’s likely many of the mixed-age audience members were also at the concert hall back in April 2023, when the colourfully garbed artists enthralled listeners with a smorgasbord of ABBA hits.

This time, the singers bolted out of the gate with We Will Rock You, complete with thundering backbeat courtesy of their travelling rhythm section, kicking things off with a bang.

Early crowd-pleasers included Killer Queen (albeit with a scary moment when a featured singer stumbled on her words — not an everyday occurrence) and Somebody to Love, with each member of the group taking his or her turn to shine during the respective solos.

Bicycle Race included nifty bike bells emanating from the orchestra’s ranks, with Chen ably navigating through the 125-minute (including intermission) program’s endlessly morphing tempi and stylistic changes like a skilled headbanger herself.

One of the night’s best proverbial pin-drop performances belonged to mezzo-soprano Aili Ikonen, whose deeply stirring solo, You Take My Breath Away, nearly stopped the show, offering a softer landing from the otherwise mostly loud ‘n’ proud offerings.

Soprano Essi Wuorela likewise delivered a soulful Love of My Life, sensitively accompanied by local collaborative pianist Leanne Regehr Lee and earning loud cheers from the mesmerized audience. More of these anthems and ballads would have been welcome for greater contrast.

Winnipeggers love some good stage banter, but there was relatively little offered, making the program feel overly scripted and at times even rote, as it did during the group’s prior ABBA show. It’s also numbing to hear so many individual pieces segue into each other in a medley that began to feel overly homogenous.

However, one exception to all this was dynamo tenor Antti Annola, whose natural charisma and stratospheric vocals lit up the stage during I Want it All and Under Pressure; he appeared to be having the time of his life. He also plays a mean air guitar, channelling his own inner May on wailing licks and riffs like a hard-rock lifer.

A handful of a cappella selections included Somebody to Love and Don’t Stop Me Now, showcasing the singers’s spot-on, tightly knit harmonies. Kudos to Jussi Chydenius who grounded the group with his booming bass, and displayed a jaw-dropping knack for creating an entire rhythm section via beat-box vocal effects.

Once again, more of these unaccompanied works would have made this an even stronger show and mitigated several balance issues between singers and orchestra that marred the evening.

Alto Soila Sariola turned on the heat during Innuendo, which included an effective, though all-too-fleeting, section of Spanish-flavoured “palmas,” her fellow musicians now clapping out rhythms à la flamenco artists.

Last but not least, baritone Ahti Paunu proved at his best during Made in Heaven and the hard-driving Another One Bites the Dust, on which he was joined by Chydenius, who was right in the pocket on a number that also featured audience participation.

Rajaton saved the best for last, as it performed Queen’s greatest masterpiece of all: an encore of Bohemian Rhapsody, which came in response to an oddly sluggish ovation. After its a cappella intro — with the six singers cleverly re-creating the band’s famous A Night at the Opera 1975 album-cover formation — the group cut loose to shrieks of delight from the hall’s balcony, with this final burst of energy inspiring a now thunderous ovation.

The concert repeats tonight at at 7:30 p.m. at the Centennial Concert Hall. For ticket information, see wso.ca.

holly.harris@shaw.ca