FRIDAY SERIES 3

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1 FRIDAY SERIES 3 Helsinki Music Centre at ALEXANDER NEVSKY (Soviet Union 1938) Frank Strobel, conductor Anna Danik, mezzo-soprano Helsinki Music Centre Choir, coach Nils Schweckendiek Production company: Mosfilm Directed by. Sergei Eisenstein, Dmitri Vasilyev Assisted by: Boris Ivanov, Nikolai Maslov Written by: Sergei Eisenstein, Pyotr Pavlenko Cinematography: Eduard Tissé Production design: Iosif Shpinel, Nikolai Solovyov, Konstantin Eliseev after the sketches by Eisenstein Music: Sergei Prokofiev Lyricist: Vladimir Lugovskoi Sound: Vladimir Bogdankevich Editing: Sergei Eisenstein Editing assistant: Esfir Tobak Historical consultant: A. V. Artsihovsky Military consultant: K. G. Kalmykov CAST: Nikolai Cherkasov (Prince Alexander Nevsky), Nikolai Okhlopkov (Vasili Buslaev), Andrei Abrikosov (Gavrilo Oleksich), Dmitri Orlov (Ignat, master armourer), Vasili Novikov (Pavsha, Governor of Pskov), Nikolai Arsky (Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod boyar), Varvara Massalitinova (Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslai s mother), Valentina Ivashova (Olga Danilovna, a maid of Novgorod), Aleksandra Danilova (Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov), Vladimir Yershov (Hermann von Balk, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order), Sergei Blinnikov (Tverdilo, the traitor of Pskov), Ivan Lagutin (Anani, a monk), Lev Fenin (the Archbishop), Naum Rogozhin (the Black-Hooded Monk) 1

2 Premiere: Moscow FILMPHILHARMONIC EDITION Film by courtesy of the EUROPEAN FILMPHILHARMONIC INSTITUTE / Mosfilm, Music by courtesy of Sikorski Musikverlage. There will be no interval. The concert will end at about 20:55. 2

3 THE FILM After his death, Prince Alexander of Novgorod, began to be called Alexander Nevsky, meaning of Neva. The Orthodox Novgorodians had been fighting the Catholic Swedes, the Finns (whose spiritual leader was the Dominican Bishop Thomas) and the pagan Tavastians. The Battle of the Neva has already been waged when Eisenstein s film begins. Novgorod is now threatened from the east by the Mongol Golden Horde. They are already running riot in the fishing village, but Alexander, a man blessed with great diplomatic skills, manages to appease them. There is an even greater threat from the west, an attack by the Teutonic knights. Swedes first, then the Teutonic knights, and finally the Mongols is Alexander s strategy. To ensure that he did not stray into formalism, Eisenstein was surrounded with colleagues who towed the party line. Nikolai Cherkasov, in the leading role, was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The film is constructed around two great epic sequences. Novgorod is bristling with life. The battle on frozen Lake Peipus ends in death and disarray and is one of the most legendary battle scenes in cinematographic history; it would later serve as a model for many. In the barbaric Battle on the Ice, Alexander, brilliantly portrayed by Cherkasov, entices the invading Teutonic knights onto the frozen lake. The knights are dressed in white mantles, the Russians in dark attire. The knights attack with geometrical precision (in formations known as a pig and a Macedonian phalanx ), while the Russians swarm hither and thither in irregular waves. The knights are accompanied by an ice theme, the Russians by one of fire. Alexander defeats the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in a duel, the ice cracks beneath the attackers dressed in heavy armour, the fleeing mob drowns and by nightfall the battle field is littered with corpses. Antti Alanen THE SCORE Works of a propaganda nature are easily affected by the ongoing political climate, and purely aesthetic values are difficult to see. Both the director, Eisenstein, and the composer, Sergei Prokofiev, adopted a pragmatic attitude to their job. In addition to writing the score, Prokofiev was in charge of the patriotic lyrics in collaboration with Vladimir Lugovskoi. The topic of the film and its music was quite definitely the mythical, legendary Alexander, not historical fact. In 1939, the Soviet Union having entered into a Nonaggression Pact with Germany, the film was put on hold. Instead, Prokofiev decided to use its material for a cantata (op. 78) that took longer to compose than the original film score. The two do not, however, differ greatly; mostly, he just cut some of the repeats and effects and linked certain scenes together. 3

4 Prokofiev did not draw on authentic material to illustrate the opposition between Russian and Germanic culture, thereby underlining the story s universal application. For the Russians he used strings and woodwinds, uplifting hymn tunes and folkloristic motifs, and for the Germans harsh, screeching brass. The whole film is conceived as an epic panorama divided into scenes dominated by music or dialogue. To accompany the opening credits, Prokofiev chose music from the battle scene on frozen Lake Peipus (Russian Chudskoe), looking ahead to the drama s culmination. The prologue describes the threat from the west, but the music focuses on the unease and bloody history of the 13th-century Russian city states under threat from the Mongols. Against this gloomy background, the film unfolds a summery vista of Lake Pleshcheyevo and a song about Alexander Nevsky. In the same way, the spectacle of Pskov, the cruelties imposed by the ruling Teutonic knights and the peregrine hymn contrast with the call to arms of the opposing Slav forces: Arise, Russian people. The film s most famous sequence is the one showing the Battle on the Ice. Prokofiev quickly matches Eisenstein s montage technique with his darting music, making the orchestral sections and contrasting themes fight with one another. The heavily-armed knights are defeated by the Russian music and finally drown to a timpani accompaniment as the ice cracks beneath them. Field of the Dead, for mezzo-soprano, evokes associations with the realist tradition of Mussorgsky s Songs and Dances of Death, in which Death is always the greatest victor in battle. It also highlights the role of women in future battles, assuring the men departing for battle that they will be faithful and, should they be widowed, their men they will have died a hero s death. But the film also places women on a pedestal as a military resource when Vasilisa, a maid of Pskov, is proclaimed the greatest hero(ine) in battle. The orchestration of the final scene in the film, when Alexander has reclaimed Pskov, is less brilliant than the longer cantata version. The rowdy pipers that dashed past in the battle (the skolory ) now rejoice in a triumphant scene brimming with happiness and humour. The film was restored in the 1990s and the poor sound track was re-recorded. In 2003, Frank Strobel reconstructed the whole score in collaboration with Russian music archives. This has since been published and can be used for screenings of the film. Programme notes translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo FRANK STROBEL Even as a youngster, Frank Strobel was already interested in films and their music. Born in Munich in 1966, he worked in the cinema owned by his parents, fascinated by the marriage of image and music. At the age 4

5 of 16, he came across the piano score by Gottfried Huppertz for the film Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang); he rearranged the music and it was performed with the film. He would later return to this silent-movie classic when a restored version of it was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in Conductor, arranger, producer and studio musician, Frank Strobel has been active for many years in the space where films meet music and is a leading figure in the field of film in concert. In addition to Alexander Nevsky and Metropolis, he is famed for Robert Wiene s Der Rosenkavalier (1925), Abel Gance s J Accuse (1919) and Sergei Eisenstein s Iwan Grozny ( ). More recent films have included The Matrix (1999) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). He is also a co-founder of the European FilmPhilharmonic Institute devoted to promoting fruitful combinations of film and music. Alfred Schnittke the composer regarded the liberal-minded Strobel as something of a kindred spirit, and Strobel has arranged Schnittke s sizeable film music as suites for concert performance. The recordings of these by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra have won prizes and glowing reviews. Strobel the conductor is also renowned for his readings of the standard repertoire, from the Classical era to the 20th century. ANNA DANIK Russian-born Finnish mezzo-soprano Anna Danik graduated as a soloist from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2007, as a pupil of Kirsten Buhl-Möller, and from the Sibelius Academy in Finland. She began her career as a dramatic soprano in 2006, with appearances at, among others, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Finnish National Opera, the Turku Music Festival and the Gulbenkian Music Festival in Lisbon. In 2012, Anna Danik switched to mezzo-soprano and two years later appeared at the Chemnitz Opera as Princess Eboli in Verdi s Don Carlos, to great critical and audience acclaim. Her other roles in Finland and abroad have included Wellgunde in Richard Wagner s Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss s Elektra, Margret in Alban Berg s Wozzeck, Amneris in Verdi s Aida and Luonnotar in the production of Die Kalewainen in Pochjolassa directed by Karl Müller-Berghausen that received its world premiere early this year. Among the items in Anna Danik s varied concert repertoire are the second and third symphonies and Rückert- Lieder by Gustav Mahler, Berg s Seven Early Songs and Modest Mussorgsky s Songs and Dances of Death. 5

6 THE HELSINKI MUSIC CENTRE CHOIR The Helsinki Music Centre Choir is a band of some 90 experienced singers all passionate about their art that can if required regroup as a male or female choir. Founded in autumn 2011 on the initiative of Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and John Storgårds, it works in close partnership with the main Helsinki Music Centre occupants: the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy. Its Artistic Director from 2011 to 2016 was Tapani Länsiö, who was succeeded by Nils Schweckendiek. The chorus master is Jani Sivén. The Choir made its debut in 2012, in a performance by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste of Brahms s Ein Deutsches Requiem. Its first year culminated in a performance conducted by Leif Segerstam of Beethoven s ninth, Ode to Joy symphony with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra that has become an annual tradition. Its own concert of unaccompanied hymns on the evening of All Saints Day has also become a regular event. The HMCC repertoire, planned jointly by the main Helsinki Music Centre occupants, consists primarily of symphonic choral and orchestral works and unaccompanied music for large choir, not forgetting contemporary music. The Choir appears in concert from eight to ten times a year, mainly at the Helsinki Music Centre but also at festivals. 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 has been Hannu Lintu. His predecessors as Chief Conductor were Toivo Haapanen, Nils- Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO celebrates its 90th anniversary in the 2017/2018 season, for the Radio Orchestra of ten players made its first appearance on September 1, 1927, at the Aleksanterinkatu 46 studio in Helsinki. It began giving public concerts a few years later and grew to symphony orchestra strength in the 1960s, during Paavo Berglund s term as Chief Conductor. In addition to the great Classical- Romantic masterpieces, 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 2017/2018 season, the FRSO will premiere six Finnish works commissioned by Yle. The programme will also include concert performances of three operas, the FRSO s first festival of its own and major 20th-century violin concertos. 6

7 The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, 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 prestigious distinctions, such as the BBC Music Magazine Award, the Académie Charles Cros Award and a MIDEM Classical Award. Its disc of Sibelius s Lemminkäinen and Pohjola s Daughter was Gramophone magazine s Critic s Choice in December 2015 and brought the FRSO and Hannu Lintu a Finnish Emma award in the Classical Album category. Music by Sibelius, Prokofiev, Lindberg, Bartók and others will be recorded during the 2017/2018 season. The FRSO regularly tours to all parts of the world. During the 2017/2018 season its schedule will include a European tour under Hannu Lintu. The home channel of the FRSO is Yle Radio 1, which broadcasts all the FRSO concerts, usually live, both in Finland and abroad. Its concerts can also be heard and watched with excellent live stream quality in the web (yle.fi/areena). 7