“There were sheer ecstasy of virtuosity and passionate temperament in the performances of Wieniawsky’s and Sarasate’s works.”
Hannu-Ilari Lampila, Helsingin Sanomat
“Beauty for the eyes and ears. Not many could have expected such relaxing and aesthetic pleasure which this Wednesday concert at the Festival had to offer. […] In the hands of Seeli Toivio, a Doctor of Music, the valuable cello from the 18th century sang with gracefullness and warmth. […] Overall the concert was extremely relaxing and beautifull.”
Marjaana Knuutila, Pyhäjokiseutu
“Seeli Toivio’s concert is a feast!”
Salla Korpela, Kirkko ja Kaupunki
“Franz Liszt’s Liebestraum was a super romantic song which Toivio so wonderfully interpreted. The heat increased as Toivio got into the Gipsy Melodies by Sarasate. Toivio, as if like a magician, created a violin inside her cello in this “mother of all bohiemian compositions”. A brilliant, sensational performance filled with emotion, life, longing, and force.”
Voitto Ohinmaa, Raahen Seutu
“Seeli Toivio the artist played on her cello, with the skilled accompaniment of the harp, a Fantasy by the Belgian François Servais. The performance was filled with sheer virtuosity. A wonderful athmospehere filled the hall.”
Kalevi Hakasalo, Suur-Keuruu
“The audience was mesmerized by Seeli Toivio’s personal, lively and emotional playing. Her beautiful lyrical legato got the cello singing. You could enjoy the sensitive nuances and the musical ability to emphatize into different emotions. Throughout the concert Seeli Toivio’s cello playing truly held a strong intensity in sound and frasing.”
Pertti Malinen, Iisalmen Sanomat
Seeli Toivio started the programme with Cassadós Solo Cello Suite which gave the audience a feel to the instruments versatile possibilites. Seeli Toivio’s touch was not slackened even in the last work, Sarasate’s glowing Carmen Fantasy.
Risto Ojala, Koillis-Häme
“Seeli Toivio’s performance was extremely beautiful and her interpretation was strong.”
Tuomas Muhonen, Uutisvuoksi
“At the end of their program, Seeli and Kalle Toivio performed the Sarasate Gipsy Melodies for violin and piano. The performance lifted the audience into a gipsy camp; the cello in Seeli Toivio’s hands bended into the part of violin with no trouble whatsoever. It can be predicted without a doubt, that Seeli Toivio rises to be a world class superstar either alone or with her pianist brother.”
Risto Ojala, Koillis-Häme
“Cellist Seeli Toivio is a multitalented artist: part from being a cellist, she is also a gifted arranger, composer and a literary talent. Her technical precision was remarkable in the violin virtuoso numbers, which she had arranged for cello. Wieniawsky’s Scherzo-Tarantella and Sarasate’s Gipsy Melodies were rich in sound, rhytmically solid from start to finish with no signs of fatigue. In the same way Seeli Toivio took the Russian music’s melancholity in Tchaikowsky’s and Rachmaninoff’s works.”
Janne Mäkinen, Kaupunkilehti Vekkari
“When listening to Toivio one is convinced she is a professional. She plays with much consideration, and this is reflected from her interpretations – there is space for inspiration. Her playing is not sterile.”
Rainer Palas, Aamulehti
“Seeli Toivio’s strong feautures in playing are beautiful lyrical legato, delicate sense of styles and the ability to adapt to different emotions.”
Hannu-Ilari Lampila, Helsingin Sanomat
