2 MAY FRIDAY SERIES 13

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1 2 MAY FRIDAY SERIES 13 Helsinki Music Centre at 19 Jakub Hrůša, conductor Sol Gabetta, cello Miloslav Kabeláč: Mystery of Time 27 min Bohuslav Martinů: Cello Concerto No min I Allegro moderato II Andante moderato III Allegro INTERVAL 20 min Leos Janáček: Sinfonietta 25 min I Allegretto Allegro Maestoso (Fanfare) II Andante Allegretto (The Castle) III Moderato (The Queen s Monastery) IV Allegretto (The Street) V Andante con moto Allegretto (The Town Hall) Interval at about The concert ends at about Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and the internet (yle.fi/rso). 1

2 MILOSLAV KABELÁČ ( ): MYSTERY OF TIME Czech composer Miloslav Kabeláč is best remembered for his eight symphonies, and nowadays as the chief successor of the symphonic work of Dvořák and Martinů. But he also composed some other notable orchestral works, of which Mystery of Time is one of the most frequently performed. The title reflects his interest in philosophical reflection, while the subtitle passacaglia for large orchestra indicates the underlying structure. The reflection on the mystery of time begins mysteriously on the borders of silence, in a musically static state in which only a muffled rhythmic pulse serves as a reminder of the unpreventable passing of time. The texture gradually begins to grow, melodic motifs emerge, the tempo quickens, the music gains strength and becomes increasingly heated and assertive as it approaches its zenith. At the climax the texture spreads out into broader sweeps, subsiding back into the mood of the opening. BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ ( ): CELLO CONCERTO NO. 1 Bohuslav Martinů was a true cosmopolitan. He spent all his life from 1923 onwards living abroad, first in Paris, from the war years onwards in the United States, and from the 1950s mostly back in Europe, though he retained strong lifelong ties with his homeland. From Paris, he often visited his native Czechoslovakia for performances of his works, and in summer returned to the town where he was born Polička on the border between Bohemia and Moravia for his summer holidays. It was in Polička that he wrote his first cello concerto, in summer The first version was in the nature of a chamber concerto, but he later did a new version for large orchestra on the very eve of the Second World War in The final version of the Cello Concerto No. 1 has become one of the most popular works by Martinů. The emotional heart is the slow middle movement. Its beautiful, tenderly serious mood is set by the clarinet but acquires greater intensity when the cello joins in. The atmosphere of the movement also carries over into the meditative rather than virtuosic cadenza. Framing the slow movement are two quick ones. Both are marked by a boisterous drive that, especially in the finale, becomes strikingly Baroque-like and motoric. Yet both also have a more restrained dimension: in the opening movement a devout, chorale-like sec- 2

3 ondary theme and in the finale a lyrically impassioned Andantino from which the cello leads to an accelerating closing section. LEOS JANÁČEK ( ): SINFONIETTA strings and woodwinds, to bring the work to a brilliant conclusion; the second and fourth movements mostly proceed Allegretto, and between them is a slow movement in nocturnal mood with a violent outburst in the middle. Abridged programme notes by Kimmo Korhonen translated by Susan Sinisalo The works of Leos Janáček were often the result of programmatic or autobiographical impulses. One of his bestknown works, the Sinfonietta (1926), would seem at first glance to be an exception, in the absolute-music category, but according to the composer, it does have a semi-official programme: pictures of his home city Brno. The work nevertheless proceeds more according to its own musical logic than to any programmatic narrative. The Sinfonietta requires more than the usual number of trumpeters: in addition to the normal brass section, no fewer than nine trumpets in C and two bass trumpets, plus a further two tenor tubas. The musical is typical late Janáček: original, distinctive orchestration, expressively bleak harmonies, brief, recurring motifs and sudden cuts. The five-movement format may be viewed as a conventional four-movement symphony; in this case, the extra element is the opening introduction. But the Sinfonietta could just as well be seen as constructed according to a symmetrical, Bartók-like scheme: the brass fanfares of the opening movement return at the end, enhanced by JAKUB HRŮŠA Born in the Czech Republic and described by the prestigious Gramophone magazine in 2011 as one of the ten young conductors on the verge of greatness, Jakub Hrůša is Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Prague Philharmonia, Music Director of Glyndebourne Opera and Principal Guest Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest with many of the leading European orchestras, such as that of the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Philharmonia, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the BBC Symphony and the WDR Symphony Cologne. His US debut in 2009 was followed by appearances with, among others, the Cleveland, Dallas and Atlanta orchestras and the Washington National Symphony, and his engagements in Australia have included the Melbourne Symphony. In Asia, Hrůša has been the guest of the Hong Kong, Seoul, New Japan and Osaka Philharmonic. In the field of opera he has conducted at the Royal 3

4 Danish Opera, the Prague National Theatre and elsewhere. Highlights of the present season include his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna Radio Symphony, the Russian National Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic. Early this year he conducted the Finnish National Opera s production of Janáček s Jenůfa starring Karita Mattila in the leading role. In addition to her solo career, Sol Gabetta is a distinguished chamber musician. She has given recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. She has founded a chamber music festival, Solsberg, of her own, held annually in Switzerland. Sol Gabetta plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini cello of SOL GABETTA When Argentinean Sol Gabetta made her debut in 2004 as the soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, she was immediately the talk of the town. Only ten when she won her first cello competition, she has since reaped victory in contests as prestigious as the Moscow Tchaikovsky and the Munich ARD. Her guest appearances have taken Sol Gabetta to concerts with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Philadelphia, the Zurich Tonhalle, the City of Birmingham Symphony, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony and the French National Orchestra. She is a regular guest at many festivals, among them the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Verbier, and Schleswig-Holstein, where she is Artist-in-Residence this summer. The present season also takes in appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Washington National Symphony. THE FINNISH RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mission is to produce and promote Finnish musical culture and its Chief Conductor as of autumn 2013 is Hannu Lintu. The Radio Orchestra of ten players founded in 1927 grew to symphony orchestra strength in the 1960s. Its previous Chief Conductors have been Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The latest contemporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle commissions. Another 4

5 of the orchestra s tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. During the 2013/2014 season it will premiere six Finnish works commissioned by Yle. The FRSO has recorded works by Eötvös, Nielsen, Hakola, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the debut disc of the opera Aslak Hetta by Armas Launis. Its discs have reaped some major distinctions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Académie Charles Cros Award. The disc of the Sibelius and Lindberg violin concertos (Sony BMG) with Lisa Batiashvili as the soloist received the MIDEM Classical Award in 2008, in which year the New York Times chose the other Lindberg disc as its Record of the Year. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of the world. During the 2013/2014 season it will be visiting Central Europe under the baton of Hannu Lintu. All the FRSO concerts both in Finland and abroad are broadcast, usually live, on Yle Radio 1. They can also be heard and watched with excellent stream quality on yle.fi/rso. 5

Antonín Dvořak: Carnival Overture, Op min. Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Concerto No min

Ludovic Morlot, conductor Olli Mustonen, piano Antonín Dvořak: Carnival Overture, Op. 92 9 min Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 3 25 min I Allegro II Andante poco moderato III Moderato Allegro INTERVAL