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FRIDAY SERIES 4 Sir Mark Elder, Conductor Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op. 20 20 Min I Lacrymosa (Andante Ben Misurato

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FRIDAY SERIES 4 Sir Mark Elder, Conductor Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia Da Requiem, Op. 20 20 Min I Lacrymosa (Andante Ben Misurato 28.10. FRIDAY SERIES 4 Helsinki Music Centre at 19.00 Sir Mark Elder, conductor Benjamin Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 20 min I Lacrymosa (Andante ben misurato) II Dies irae (Allegro con fuoco) III Requiem aeternam (Andante molto tranquillo) INTERVAL 20 min Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C, Op. 60, 69 min “Leningrad” I Allegretto II Moderato (Poco allegretto) III Adagio IV Allegro non troppo Five students at the Sibelius Academy will be playing with the orchestra tonight under the training scheme between the Sibelius Academy and the FRSO. They are: Olivia Holladay, I violin, Kaia Voitka, II violin, Valerie Albrecht, viola, Anna Westerlund, cello, and Pauli Pappinen, double bass. The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) and the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki launched an Orchestra Academy based at the Helsinki Music Centre in autumn 2015. Its aim is to raise the standard of training for orchestral players, and to make the training even more international and in line with practical working life. The scheme is an opportunity for players, conductors and composers to work with an orchestra under the guidance of professional musicians. Interval at 19.30. The concert ends at about 21.20. Broadcast live on Yle Radio 1 and at yle.fi/rso. 1 BENJAMIN BRITTEN The Dies irae is a wild orchestral out- burst – in Britten’s words a “dance of (1913–1976): SINFONIA death”. It is reinforced by spiky, ham- DA REQUIEM mering, deathly rhythms, in the midst of which a saxophone flashback to the His early period was, for Benjamin first movement creates an unreal and Britten, his most active as a compos- rapidly evaporating pool of tranquillity. er of orchestral music, before he be- The dance of death shatters the mu- gan addressing himself more to vo- sic into fragments, so that only a re- cal music and in particular opera. The strained ostinato remains, throbbing most notable work of this early period away in the background in the closing was the Sinfonia da Requiem of 1940. movement. Though nominally dedicated to the After the gloomy, bruising emo- memory of his parents (who had died tions of the first two movements, the in 1934 and 1937), it in fact became a Requiem aeternam affords a gleam of powerful musical outcry in a world at hope. Three flutes strike up a hymn war. In this sense, it could be described tune that admits more light. The main as a small-scale orchestral predecessor theme of the first movement weaves of the great War Requiem of 1961–1962. its way into the texture, but now in a Of all the works by Britten, the major key, confidently transporting the Sinfonia da Requiem comes closest to a music to its zenith. pure orchestral symphony, though one removed from the older generic tra- dition. It has only three movements, performed without a break, equipped DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH with headings that are quotations from (1906–1975): the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, to SYMPHONY NO. 7, the annoyance of the commissioning “LENINGRAD” Japanese authorities. The music bears echoes of Mahler, Berg and Stravinsky, who served as models for the young Few symphonies have been shroud- Britten. ed in such a mantle of myth as the The symphony begins with a “Leningrad” by Dmitri Shostakovich, en- Lacrymosa, rising from the depths out tangled as it is in a whole web of con- of crashing chords and trudging along flicting views about its genesis, early in the manner of a slow march. As its performances, content and interpreta- title suggests, it is a lament, a move- tion. So thick is this web that it threat- ment of dark shadows. It is construct- ens to engulf the symphony itself. ed on three motifs, all similar in mood, Viewed objectively, the symphony and builds up on a wave of brass to a has a traditional four-movement con- mighty climax with the return of the struction, though cast on a very broad main theme. scale. There are, however, some special 2 features, especially in the first move- fairly light one combining elements of ment, and even if its background and a scherzo and a more restrained inter- symbolical meaning are ignored, there mezzo, and the third is an intense, pon- is still something unusual about it. derous slow one in typical Shostakovich The first movement begins with a style. Both movements also have a self-confident, optimistic theme, fol- more sharply-defined, even grotesque lowed by a lyrical second theme that episode. The symphony ends with the gradually dreams away. The music then victorious return of the first move- takes an unexpected turn in a march ment’s main theme. Many have nev- that begins soft and light before work- ertheless asked how genuine and con- ing up to colossal climax in a way some- vincing this victory is. Is it the product times likened to Ravel’s Bolero. The of Shostakovich’s own inner conviction march goes on and on, until it becomes or the consequence of political pres- more than “just music”, a musical met- sure to lead the symphony to a liberat- aphor. But of what? Hitler’s assault on ing, uplifting conclusion? the Soviet Union, or the iron hand of Stalin that crushed his own people? Programme notes by Kimmo Korhonen The march in the first movement translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo has come to be known as “the invasion theme”, evoking images of the German army steamrolling into the Soviet Union. Despite ample proof that the SIR MARK ELDER theme predates the attack, the war as- sociations are understandable. Bartók, who had fled to the United States to Sir Mark Elder has been Music Director escape the war, did not like the march of the Hallé Orchestra since 2000, hav- theme and mercilessly made fun of ing previously held the corresponding it in his Concerto for Orchestra, but post with English National Opera and Shostakovich’s use of it is a deliberate the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. pastiche of a fragment from the oper- He has been Principal Guest Conductor etta The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar of the City of Birmingham Symphony, (which happened to be a favourite of the BBC Symphony and other orches- Hitler’s). The theme becomes all the tras. He has worked with many of the more enigmatic when, at the climax, it world’s leading symphony orchestras, further incorporates a reference to the including the Berlin Philharmonic, “fate” motif in Tchaikovsky’s fifth sym- the Chicago, London and Boston phony, the roots of which in turn lie Symphonies and the Royal Amsterdam in the words “turn not into sorrow” in Concertgebouw, is a Principal Artist the opera A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail of the Orchestra of the Age of Glinka. Enlightenment and has appeared an- The last three movements are along nually at the Proms for many years. He more traditional lines. The second is a works regularly at the most prominent 3 international opera houses, including THE FINNISH the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the New York Metropolitan and the RADIO SYMPHONY Opéra National de Paris, and at the cel- ORCHESTRA ebrated Glyndebourne and Bayreuth Festivals. His operatic engagements The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra include a complete performance of (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Parsifal at the BBC Proms with the Broadcasting Company (Yle). Its mis- Hallé in 2013. sion is to produce and promote Finnish Sir Mark has made many record- musical culture and its Chief Conductor ings with the Hallé, the London as of autumn 2013 has been Hannu Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony, the Lintu. The FRSO has two Honorary Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste and other orchestras, in repertoire rang- Sakari Oramo. ing from Verdi, Strauss and Wagner to The Radio Orchestra of ten play- contemporary. The CD of The Dream of ers founded in 1927 grew to sympho- Gerontius he made with the Hallé won ny orchestra strength in the 1960s. a Gramophone Award in 2009. Hannu Lintu was preceded as Chief Knighted in 2008, Sir Mark Elder and Conductor by Toivo Haapanen, Nils- was awarded the CBE in 1989. He won an Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund, Okko Olivier Award in 1991 for his outstand- Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka ing work at English National Opera and Saraste and Sakari Oramo. in 2006 the Royal Philharmonic Society In addition to the great Classical- named him Conductor of the Year. Romantic masterpieces, the latest con- temporary music is a major item in the repertoire of the FRSO, which each year premieres a number of Yle com- missions. Another of the orchestra’s tasks is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. uring the 2016/2017 season the FRSO will premiere five Finnish works commissioned by Yle and feature such pioneers of Finnish Modernism as Väinö Raitio and Uuno Klami. The programme will also include orches- tral works by Stravinsky, symphonies by Mahler and Bruckner, Haydn’s The Seasons oratorio and concertos by con- temporary composers. Among its guest artists will be soprano Karita Mattila and mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, 4 conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Teodor Currentzis and Gustavo Gimeno, and pianist Daniil Trifonov. The FRSO has recorded works by Mahler, Ligeti, Sibelius, Hakola, Lindberg, Saariaho, Sallinen, Kaipainen, Kokkonen and others, and the de- but 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.
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