Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 3 (Symphonie liturgique) W. A. Mozart: Piano Concerto 32 min No. 25 in C Major KV 503

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1 12 February WEDNESDAY SERIES 9 Helsinki Music Centre at Mario Venzago, conductor Paul Lewis, piano Arthur Honegger: Symphony No. 3 (Symphonie liturgique) 30 min I Dies irae (Allegro marcato) II De profundis clamavi (Adagio) III Dona nobis pacem (Andante) INTERVAL 20 min W. A. Mozart: Piano Concerto 32 min No. 25 in C Major KV 503 I Allegro maestoso II Andante III Allegretto Maurice Ravel: La Valse, a choreographic poem for orchestra 15 min (Mouvement de valse viennoise Un peu plus modéré Premier mouvement Assez animé) Interval at about The concert ends at about Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and the internet (yle.fi/klassinen). 1

2 ARTHUR HONEGGER ( ): SYMPHONY NO. 3 (SYMPHONIE LITURGIQUE) Arthur Honegger, who initially regarded himself as a composer of pure, absolute music, deviated from this ideal in his Symphonie liturgique of Composed at the end of the Second World War, it superimposes elements in the nature of a chorale or a prayer on brutally aggressive machine-like music. The movements are named after the parts of the Catholic Mass: Dies irae (Day of Wrath), De profundis clamavi (Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord) and Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace). In his symphony, Honegger sought to express revolt against the tumult of the modern world the suffering, increasing bureaucracy and mechanisation. The first movement could be described as a mechanical, hammering play with rhythm in which the theme presented on the cellos is evocative of Stravinsky s Rite of Spring. The heartrending melodic motifs on brass instruments in various combinations paint a picture of the hypnotic chaos of the modern world. The second movement opens in warm, caressing string tones. The woodwinds and a muted trumpet add shades of their own to the pastoral mood. Honegger said he wanted the movement to have a rich, lush, freebreathing melodic line that symbolised happiness. Setting out on the orchestra s lowest notes, the third movement presents a rhythmic melody, first on the bassoons, then the trombones and trumpets. A French horn comments on this melodic relay in ominous tones. The trills, chromatic plunges and polytonality create a tension that is not resolved until the very end. The tonal weave is made all the more aggressive by the trumpet sounds familiar from jazz. The symphony ends with a slow, calm, string carpet of sound coloured by a warbling flute reminiscent of a tin whistle. Sanna Qvick (abridged) W. A. MOZART ( ): PIANO CONCERTO NO. 25 In 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed his biggest and most brilliant Piano Concerto: no. 25 in C major (KV 503). He personally performed it for the last time in 1787, and for a long time thereafter it lay forgotten. The next performance was not until 1934, by which time 147 years had passed; and Mozart did not really become fashionable until the latter half of the 20th century. Since the Second World War, this majestic concerto has been recognised as one of the great masterpieces of its genre, occupying an established place in the concert repertoire. The solemn, resonant nature of the concerto is evident from the very first great, fanfarish chords that lend the 2

3 first movement a march-like, even military bearing. The second movement, though marked Andante, is more of a tranquil Adagio. It resembles sonata form without a development section and the music flows freely along. The concerto culminates in a rondo brimming with Mozartian ingenuity and genius. The dancing main theme is borrowed from the opera Idomeneo, set in ancient Greece, he had composed five years before. Despite the general heroic and jubilant mood, Mozart inserts a serious dialogue between the piano and the orchestra by way of contrast. All of a sudden the music radiates the fragile beauty and fleetingness of life. Joy alternates with pain until Mozart returns his listener to the Gavotte theme borrowed from Idomeneo to bring the concerto to a happy and glorious end in a cheerful C major. Jesse Portti (abridged) MAURICE RAVEL ( ): LA VALSE Maurice Ravel intended La Valse as a tribute to the Waltz King Johann Strauss II who had died seven years before. His beautiful idea was to compose a sort of choreographic poem and to raise a toast to the Viennese waltz. He was, however, interrupted by the First World War and service at the front. The man who returned home was sick and exhausted, his nerves in shatters, and for a while he concentrated on mourning his dead colleagues. The idea of glorifying the Viennese waltz also seemed alien in the new postwar world. When he did return to his Valse, he painted it in much more sombre tones. It first appeared in arrangements for solo piano and for two pianos; the latter he premiered in Vienna in October 1920, partnered by pianist-composer Alfredo Casella. The orchestral version was first heard in Paris a few weeks later. La Valse reveals both Ravel s impressionist mindscape and his phenomenal powers of orchestration. It begins with an ominous rumble on the basses. Soon, little hints of the waltz theme join them on various instruments, but the fragments soon merge with the heaving mass of sound. Finally, at first tentatively, the waltz grows to full strength. La Valse is a deliberate travesty of a Viennese waltz. It is packed with dissonances, fragments and instability. As the end approaches, the sound waves raise, like a storm, the tension into a noisy, despairing turmoil, and the final, fatal blows fall, unexpectedly, from somewhere outside the waltz. Helena Holsti (abridged) The programme notes were written in collaboration with students of musicology at the University of Turku. 3

4 MARIO VENZAGO The distinguished career of Swiss conductor Mario Venzago has included engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the London Philharmonic, the Melbourne Symphony, the Boston Symphony and many other great orchestras. He has also been a guest at the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals. Honorary Conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Bern Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Northern Sinfonia Newcastle, Venzago is Principal Guest Conductor of the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and Schumann Guest Conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra. Venzago s varied discography has earned him several major awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque, the Diapason d Or and the Edison Prize. He has recorded the complete symphonic works of Schumann, Nono and Ravel with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and all the orchestral works by Alban Berg with the Gothenburg Symphony. PAUL LEWIS British pianist Paul Lewis is known especially for his performances and recordings of Beethoven s sonatas, concertos and Diabelli Variations. In 2010, he was the first pianist in the history of the BBC Proms to perform all five Beethoven piano concertos in a single season. Over the past two years he has appeared at such prestigious concert halls and festivals as the Lucerne Piano Festival and London s Wigmore Hall, where he has appeared on more than 60 occasions. His most recent and forthcoming engagements include performances with the London Symphony and the London Philharmonic, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics and the NHK Symphony from Tokyo. He can also be heard in solo recitals at the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, and the Toppan Hall in Tokyo. Paul Lewis has been the recipient of many prestigious distinctions, among them a Diapason d Or, Edison and Gramophone awards. 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 4

5 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, 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. 5