Review: Kielletyt laulut

Songs from prison camps

Directed by Pirkko Saisio , Forbidden Songs, consisting of poems and compositions written in Soviet prison camps, is ruggedly beautiful theatre. Saisio’s lyrics, which are also mostly translated into Finnish, are shocking and even funny at times. The songs interpreted by Saisio, Jonna Järnefelt and Janne Marja-Aho talk about prison life, death, love and longing.

Forbidden Songs also comments on the state of modern Russia. One of the highlights of the one-and-a-half-hour evening is Pirkko Saisio’s incisive interpretation of Vladimir’s Vysotsky’s Pense Horses. The orchestra consists of Jussi Tuurna, Sara Pujula and Topi Korhonen.