12 DECEMBER THURSDAY SERIES 5

Transcription

1 12 DECEMBER THURSDAY SERIES 5 Helsinki Music Centre at Anna-Maria Helsing, conductor Johanna Rusanen-Kartano, soprano Monica Groop, mezzo-soprano Anton Webern: Passacaglia, Op min Gustav Mahler: Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children), song cycle for voice and orchestra 26 min I Nun will die Sonn so hell aufgeh n (Now the sun will rise as brightly) II Nun seh ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen (Now I see well why such dark flames) III Wenn dein Mütterlein (When your mother steps in) IV Oft denk ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen (I often think, they have only just gone out) IV In diesem Wetter (In this weather) INTERVAL 20 min 1

2 Alban Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder (Seven Early Songs), version for voice and orchestra 17 min I Nacht (Night) II Schilflied (Song amid the reeds) III Die Nachtigall (The nightingale) IV Traumgekrönt (Crowned in dream) V Im Zimmer (Indoors) VI Liebesode (Ode to love) VII Sommertage (Summer days) Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Symphony No min I Adagio Appassionato (Allegro moderato) II Toccata variata (Presto Allegro assai) Interval at about The concert ends at about

3 ANTON WEBERN ( ): PASSACAGLIA OP. 1 Anton Webern was one of the most uncompromising and most unorthodox composers of the early 20th century, a Modernist who led the 12-note technique developed by Arnold Schönberg in the 1920s in a more constructive direction and thus pointed the way to the strict serialism of the post-wwii period. The Passacaglia was a turning point in Webern s output. He wrote it in spring 1908 as an unofficial demonstration of what he had learnt in his studies with Schönberg, and it was the first piece he deemed worthy of an opus number. Before this, he had used an orchestra only once, in Sommerwind (1904) four years before. The Passacaglia marks the culmination of his Late- Romantic early period, but in its chromaticism, its sharply-etched orchestration and its sudden flares of emotion it already stands on the threshold of Expressionism. And although it does paint in broader brush-strokes than his later works, it is dominated by a striving towards concentrated expression. The passacaglia theme, anchored on D minor and lasting eight bars, is first heard on the strings, pizzicato. It is nevertheless threatened by the increasingly dense chromatic texture, breaks away from the low register, rises into higher spheres, is fragmented and towards the end vanishes completely for long periods at a time. The music gathers force in waves, momentarily subsides on slow passages and drifts towards a furious climax before finally reaching a calmer conclusion. GUSTAV MAHLER ( ): KINDERTOTENLIEDER It is easy to understand why Gustav Mahler s young wife Alma was shocked by her husband s stubborn desire to finish his Kindertotenlieder song cycle. He had composed the first of its songs in 1901, before they ever met, but by the time he wrote the last two in 1904, they were married and their second child had just been born. The death of a child is a difficult topic for a song cycle, but Mahler handles it with phenomenal sensitivity. He scored the cycle for a smallish orchestra, and it is full of the pure beauty of graphic lines. There are no direct thematic links between the songs, but they are closely bound together by the homogeneous mood. Mahler s mastery of little details is already evident from the first song, Nun will die Sonn so hell aufgeh n, hovering on the borders of light and shade. The second, Nun seh ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen, is slightly more romantic in its approach and calls to mind the famous Adagietto from the fifth symphony he was working on at around the same time; it does, on the other hand, look ahead to Das Lied von der Erde. In Wenn dein Mütterlein, the woodwinds weave a gossamer web 3

4 round the singer s sometimes lullaby-like melodies. Oft denk ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen tries to distance itself from death by means of imagery; Mahler borrowed a fragment from this song for the end of his ninth symphony, taking leave of this world. The storm in In diesem Wetter abates on a serene D major that brings the cycle to a balanced conclusion. Reality can sometimes be quirkier than art. Such was the case with Mahler s song cycle in summer 1907, when he and his wife were forced to watch as their four-year-old daughter Maria died of scarlet fever and diphtheria. ALBAN BERG ( ): SEVEN EARLY SONGS In autumn 1904, by which time he was already making a name for himself, Arnold Schönberg placed an advertisement in a local Viennese paper for private tuition in music theory and composition. A certain Charley Berg saw the ad and secretly took some songs by his younger brother, Alban, for Schönberg to say what he thought of them. The master realised that the 19-year-old Alban, completely self-taught, had great talent and invited him to become his pupil. Meanwhile, Anton Webern was also asking Schönberg to teach him and together the three came to be known as the Second Viennese School. Berg remained a pupil of Schönberg s until 1910, and in six years hatched from a gifted amateur into a fullyfledged artist. It was also during this period that he made his public debut as a composer, when three of his songs were performed at a concert of works by Schönberg s pupils given in Vienna in November These songs Liebesode, Die Nachtigall and Traumgekrönt were also in the set of seven Berg decided to publish, delicately revised and orchestrated, in 1928, by which time he was a mature master. The Seven Early Songs represent an interesting stage in Berg s artistic growth, juggling as they do with Late Romanticism and the latest modern trends. Among the most traditional in style are Die Nachtigall and the simple, idyllic Im Zimmer in moods evocative of Schumann, while the opening Nacht, with its impressionist tone painting and whole-tone figures, is the most excitingly innovative. The sentimental yearning of Schilflied and the pangs of love expressed in Liebesode are in similar nocturnal mood. The love theme is particularly personal in Traumgekrönt, inspired by Berg s infatuation with his future wife, Helene, but most glowing in the closing Sommertage. 4

5 KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN ( ): SYMPHONY NO. 6 The war years marked a decisive watershed in Hartmann s career as a symphonist, the genre in which he most excelled. His eight symphonies were composed at a brisk pace in the postwar period The seeds of the first six were, however, sown in works composed either in the late 1930s or during WWII, from which he either drew material or produced updated versions. The sixth symphony ( ) is commonly regarded as Hartmann s greatest. The slow first movement was based on the earlier symphony L Œuvre ( ) inspired by the novel by Emile Zola, but the second was completely new. The symphony is strongly dualistic, consisting of two movements clearly differing in tempo and expression. The salient features of the slow opening movement are the expressive, soul-searing melodic lines that continue the tradition of Alban Berg and sweep the music along to a frenzied agitato outburst. The movement ends in more tranquil and even lyrical mood. The second movement is headed Toccata variata. More Neoclassical in style, it contrasts with the first movement in its sharply-defined rhythms and rich use of counterpoint. It is made up of a series of three fugues, the themes of the second and third being variations on the theme of the first. Hartmann also exploits the principle of diminution inherent in the fugue as a genre and creates a movement of orchestral brilliance and build-ups lashed by percussions. Kimmo Korhonen (abridged) ANNA-MARIA HELSING Finnish conductor Anna-Maria Helsing is one of the most talented graduates of the conducting class of Leif Segerstam at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Shortly after beginning her studies, she was chosen to take part in the International Conductor s Academy Allianz in London in 2008/09. One of three trained by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel, she got to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra. Anna-Maria Helsing was Artistic Director of the Oulu Symphony from 2010 to 2013, has been conductor of the Wegelius Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Pietarsaari Sinfonietta. Within a short time she has conducted all the major Finnish orchestras, such as the Finnish Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonic, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Finnish National Opera Orchestra. She has also conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Trondheim and Odense Symphonies, the Braunschweig State Orchestra and the Estonian National Orchestra. Major forthcoming engagements in- 5

6 clude debuts with the Gothenburg and Norrköping Symphony Orchestras, at Malmö and Åland Opera. For her Finnish National Opera debut in 2008, Anna-Maria Helsing conducted Kaija Saariaho s Adriana Mater. In 2006 and 2007 she was Assistant Conductor at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and for Pacius s The Hunt of King Charles at the Finnish National Opera. Anna-Maria Helsingin holds violin diplomas from the Pietarsaari Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz, Poland. She has attended masterclasses in conducting with Jorma Panula, Vladimir Jurowski, John Carewe and others, and in 2011 she was the first conductor to be awarded the Louis Spohr Medal in Seesen (Germany). JOHANNA RUSANEN-KARTANO Winner of the Timo Mustakallio Competition in 1995 and the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 1996, Johanna Rusanen-Kartano (soprano) studied at the Sibelius Academy, in Berlin and Vienna. She was awarded the Martti Talvela Scholarship in 1997, a scholarship for the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the period , and the Karita Mattila Prize in Launched on an operatic career at Kuopio Opera in 1994, Johanna Rusanen-Kartano has since made guest appearances at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Finnish National Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vantaa Opera, Opera Cavaradossi, Oulu Opera, the Central Finland Regional Opera and in a Savonlinna Opera Festival production at the Moscow Bolshoi. Her roles include Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Margareta in Faust, the First Lady in The Magic Flute, Mimi in La bohème and the High Priestess in Aida. In 2000, she sang the female lead in the opera Paavo Nurmi televised all over Europe from the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. In great demand for orchestral repertoire and oratorio, Johanna Rusanen- Kartano has also given Lieder recitals in many parts of Europe and in Japan, Chile, the United States and North Korea. Her versatile repertoire also takes in lighter music, such as operettas, musicals, movie tunes and jazz standards, and she has performed with many front-line Finnish artists on the light-music scene. MONICA GROOP With her naturally rich, distinctive voice and luminous stage presence, mezzosoprano Monica Groop is known the world over and enjoys a multi-faceted career combining music of the Baroque, operatic, recital, symphonic and chamber music engagements with a discography of critically acclaimed recordings. Monica Groop got launched on an international career after reaching the fi- 6

7 nals of the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in Then came invitations to perform at such illustrious venues as Covent Garden in London, New York City Opera, and the opera houses in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and Madrid, and at the famous Aix-en-Provence and Glyndebourne Festivals. In the course of the present year, Monica Groop has appeared in concerts in Lisbon, Istanbul and Munich, at the Mozart Festival in Würzburg and the Haydn Festival in Eszterháza. In November she was the soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Oliver Knussen at the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, and at the Kokkola Opera Festival, where she sang in Holt s seldom-performed chamber opera Savitri with Sakari Oramo conducting. Monica Groop has an exceptionally wide repertoire, being equally renowned for her brilliant performances of music of the Baroque as for numerous contemporary works. In recent years she has given the premiere performances of works by Kalevi Aho, Olli Kortekangas, Pehr Henrik Nordgren, Tapio Tuomela and others. In autumn 2009 she premiered Mikko Heiniö s Moon Concerto for mezzo, piano and orchestra with the FRSO. Her upwards of 80 recordings are proof of her versatility as a singer and cover works ranging from ones by Baroque masters to operetta. Awarded the Pro Finlandia medal in 2005, Monica Groop is a member of the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden. 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 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, 7

8 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/klassinen. 8