8 NOVEMBER FRIDAY SERIES 5

Transcription

1 8 NOVEMBER FRIDAY SERIES 5 Helsinki Music Centre at Vasily Petrenko, conductor Yulianna Avdeeva, piano Philomela, coach Marjukka Riihimäki Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op min I Maestoso II Adagio III Rondo (Allegro non troppo) INTERVAL 20 min Gustav Holst: The Planets, orchestral suite, Op min I Mars, The Bringer of War (Allegro) II Venus, The Bringer of Peace (Adagio) III Mercury, The Winged Messenger (Vivace) IV Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity (Allegro giocoso) V Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age (Adagio) VI Uranus, The Magician VII Neptune, The Mystic (Andante) Interval at about The concert ends at about Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and the Internet (yle.fi/klassinen). 1

2 JOHANNES BRAHMS ( ): PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 IN D MINOR, OP. 15 Composing his first piano concerto was, for Brahms, to be a long and painful process. The premiere in Hanover in January 1859, in which he himself was the soloist, got a moderately good reception, but five days later in Leipzig the critics tore the concerto to shreds. They felt the symphonic scale and the stern idiom were out of place in a concerto. They were also puzzled by the fact that despite being extremely difficult and multidimensional, the solo part does not have the outward brilliance of many of the virtuoso concertos in the first half of the 19th century. The first movement is agitated in the manner of many of Brahms s early works. Its initial impact is unique in Classical-Romantic concerto literature and pitches the listener straight into the blazing drama. Equally unique is the piano s entrance, its gentle beauty representing the opposite extreme on the movement s expressive scale. While sketching the slow movement, Brahms equipped the opening theme with the words Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord). Some therefore reckon that he regarded the movement as a sort of instrumental Requiem for Schumann, who had died in But he also described it in a letter as a portrait of Schumann s wife Clara; his feelings for her are known to have progressed from friendly admiration to burning love. Whatever its pure, unadorned beauty is in complete and effective contrast to the turmoil of the first movement. The finale is a compact Rondo with themes that have motifs in common. Though in a minor key, it has a strong positive charge that wings the music along to a triumphant ending in a major key. In this sense it is evocative of many of the works by Beethoven that initially delve deep into a minor key but arrive at a positive conclusion. GUSTAV HOLST ( ): THE PLANETS The Planets was the work that really made the world aware of Holst the composer. His moment of glory was, however, to be short-lived, for not one of his later works enjoyed so much hype. The seven movements address the meanings ascribed by astrology to the various planets and their influence on human nature. The suite is scored for a massive orchestra with quadruple woodwinds, a vast brass section (including six French horns and two tubas), a large battery of percussion instruments, two harps, an organ, strings and, in the final movement, a female choir singing without words. The movements do not follow one another in exactly the same order as the planets in the solar system, though 2

3 the closest ones do come first. Our own planet, Earth, does not feature at all because it has no place in astrological theory. The overall form traces a line that begins with aspects of life (war, peace, jollity, old age) and proceeds to a metaphysical experience of the world. Holst wrote his Planets during the First World War. The opening Mars, The Bringer of War, with its persistent 5/4 rhythms and grating timbres, is often considered to be a reflection of the war raging at the time, but he did in fact complete Mars in early 1914, months before the outbreak of war. With its lingering serenity, Venus, The Bringer of Peace, is a striking contrast to Mars. Mercury, The Winged Messenger is a masterly, airy Scherzo. The most popular movement, Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity, is often performed on its own, though Holst did not like the idea. In around the middle, its radiant vitality gives way to a broad, Elgarlike hymn. Holst s own favourite was Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age, that begins in static mood but plods to a ponderous climax. Uranus, The Magician is another Scherzo working its way up to a march-like climax. The last movement, Neptune, The Mystic enters another world beyond material reality. This is underlined at the end, when an invisible female choir repeats the chords of the last bar until they vanish into infinity. The end is so impassive, harmonious and magical that when a new planet, Pluto, was discovered in 1930, Holst had no desire to add it to his suite, though some suggested it. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union deleted Pluto from the list of planets, so in this sense Holst s decision proved to be astronomically sound. Kimmo Korhonen (abridged) VASILY PETRENKO A laureate of many foremost conducting competitions, Vasily Petrenko was Chief Conductor of the St Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra from 2004 to The 2013/14 season marks his first as Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, alongside which he maintains his positions as Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Vasily Petrenko has conducted many major orchestras in recent years, such as the Philharmonia, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, the London, Tokyo and Sidney Symphonies. Highlights of the present season include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Chicago and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. Equally at home in the opera house, Vasily Petrenko made his operatic debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2010, conducting Verdi s Macbeth. He has also conducted opera in Paris, Hamburg and elsewhere. 3

4 YULIANNA AVDEEVA By the time she won the first prize at the prestigious International Fryderyk Chopin Competition 2010 in Warsaw, Yulianna Avdeeva had already taken the top prizes in other international competitions, such as the Arthur Rubinstein in Poland, the Bremen Piano Contest in 2003 and the Concours de Genève in During the present season, Yulianna Avdeeva makes her debut with the London Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and tours to Spain with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio. She can be heard in recital in Munich, Mainz, Trieste, Seoul and Hong Kong, and further ahead, she will return to Japan for a recital tour and her debut with the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. Yulianna Avdeeva s repertoire spans a wide range, from Bach to music of the 20th century. She is known for playing period instruments and has, for example, performed on an Erard piano with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Also an enthusiastic chamber musician, she has worked with members of the Berlin Philharmonic, violinist Julia Fischer and others. PHILOMELA Since the beginning of the century, Philomela has become one of the bestknown choirs in Finland. It has been conducted by Marjukka Riihimäki ever since it was born in Philomela is a choir of great originality a group of open-minded, musicloving women who together constitute a unique polyphonic instrument. Their performances are intensive, surprising experiences, often incorporating elements of theatre. They rehearse in Helsinki, perform all over Finland and annually tour abroad. The Philomela repertoire is Scandinavian contemporary spiced with world music and Finnish folk. 4

5 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, 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